Who knew? Certainly not my first grade teacher. Because as it turns out, the first settlers in the present-day United States did not come from England in 1620, but from France in 1564. Mais oui. The French Huguenots, escaping the wars of religion in France, got here first and built them a nice little fortified town in Florida. But then they settlers were slaughtered as heretics by Spanish catholics. Ironic, non? Read the entire op-ed article by historian Kenneth C. Davis (author of “America’s Hidden History: Untold Tales of the First Pilgrims, Fighting Women and Forgotten Founders Who Shaped a Nation”) in the NY Times.
So today you can also give thanks that the Spaniards never made it as far as Plymouth Rock. Bon appétit!
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