Fremont City (pop., 2000: 203,413), California, U.S. It is located on the southeastern shore of San Francisco Bay (there spanned by the Dum¬ barton Bridge). The site of Mission San Jose de Guadalupe (founded 1797), the city was formed in 1956 through the amalgamation of five communities: Centerville, Irvington, Niles, Mission San Jose, and Warm Springs. Freeway connections stimulated residential and industrial growth as part of the San Francisco Bay development.
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710 I Fremont ► French language
Fremont Vfre-.mantA, John C(harles) (b. Jan. 21, 1813, Savannah, Ga., U.S.—d. July 13, 1890, New York, N.Y.) U.S. explorer. In 1838 he helped Joseph Nicholas Nicollet (1786-1843) survey and map the upper Mississippi and Missouri rivers. Aided by Thomas Hart Benton, who became his sponsor and, in 1841, his father-in-law, he led government expeditions to map much of the area between the Mississippi River val¬ ley and the Pacific Ocean. In 1845, on an expedition to California (on which he may have carried secret instructions for action in case of war), he supported the Bear Flag Revolt. In the Mexican War he was appointed a major and with Robert F. Stockton helped conquer California; Stockton later appointed him military governor of the territory. In a dispute with Gen. Stephen Kearny he was arrested and court-martialed; though his sen¬ tence of dismissal from the army was set aside by Pres. James K. Polk, he resigned. He became wealthy in the gold rush and was elected one of California’s first U.S. senators (1850-51). As the new Republican Party’s presidential candidate in 1856, he was defeated by James Buchanan. In the 1870s he embarked on railroad ventures and lost his fortune. He later served as governor of Arizona Territory (1878-83).
French, Daniel Chester (b. April 20, 1850, Exeter, N.H., U.S.—d. Oct. 7, 1931, Stockbridge, Mass.) U.S. sculptor. He produced his first important commission for the town of Concord, Mass.—the famous statue The Minute Man (1874). He was the leading turn-of-the-century Ameri¬ can sculptor, with studios in Boston, Concord, Washington, D.C., and New York City. His best-known work, the seated marble figure of Abra¬ ham Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C., was dedicated in 1922. His other notable public monuments include the equestrian stat¬ ues of Ulysses S. Grant in Philadelphia (1898) and George Washington in Paris (1900) and sculptures representing Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, in front of the New York City customhouse (1907).
French, John (Denton Pinkstone), 1 st earl of Ypres \'epr 3 \ (b. Sept. 28, 1852, Ripple, Kent, Eng.—d. May 22, 1925, Deal, Kent) Brit¬ ish military leader. A soldier from 1874, he successfully led the British cavalry in the South African War. He was appointed inspector general in 1907 and chief of the army general staff in 1913. As commander of the British Expeditionary Force from the beginning of World War I, he was criticized for his indecisive leadership at Ypres, Belg., and elsewhere that caused large numbers of British casualties. Forced to resign in 1915, he served as commander in chief in Britain and later as lord lieutenant of Ireland (1918-21).
French and Indian War North American phase of a war between France and Britain to control colonial territory (1754-63). The war’s more complex European phase was the Seven Years' War. Earlier phases of the quest for overseas mastery were King William's War (1689-97), Queen Anne's War (1702-13), and King George's War (1744-48). The North American dispute was whether the upper Ohio River valley was a part of the British empire or part of the French Empire; the bigger question was which national culture would dominate the heart of North America. Brit¬ ish settlers were the majority in the coveted area, but French exploration, trade, and Indian alliances predominated. In 1754 the French ousted a British force, including a colonial militia under Col. George Washington, at Fort Necessity, Pa. Until 1757 the French continued to dominate, but in 1758 Britain increased aid to its troops and won victories at Louis- bourg, Fort Frontenac, and Fort Duquesne (Pittsburgh). The final British victory at the Battle of Quebec (1759) led to the fall of New France (1760). In the Treaty of Paris (1763) France ceded its North American territory to Britain.
French Broad River River, western North Carolina, U.S. Rising in the Blue Ridge and flowing 210 mi (340 km) north through the Great Smoky Mountains into Tennessee, it then turns west to join the Holston River near Knoxville, forming the Tennessee River. Douglas Dam, part of the Ten¬ nessee Valley Authority, is on the river near the junction.
French Communist Party French branch of the international com¬ munist movement. It was founded in 1920 by the left wing of the French Socialist Party but did not gain significant influence until it affliliated with Leon Blum’s Popular Front coalition government in 1936. From 1945 to 1968 it won almost 25% of the vote in each election and had a large rep¬ resentation in the National Assembly. It lost ground when Charles de Gaulle was elected in 1958, but in 1965 it formed an alliance with other left-wing parties. In the early 1980s it allied with the Socialist Party. It has since lost many of its traditional working-class supporters.
French Community (French, la Communaute) Association of over¬ seas territories created in 1958 by the constitution of the Fifth Republic to replace the French Union in dealing with matters of foreign policy, defense, currency and economic policy, and higher education. As the former colonies gained full independence in the 1960s and ’70s, the Com¬ munity became obsolete; it was defunct by the late 1970s.
French Congo See French Equatorial Africa French East India Co. See French East India Co.
French Equatorial Africa formerly French Congo Former fed¬ eration of French possessions, western Central Africa. It was in existence from 1910 to 1959; its capital was Brazzaville. With independence in 1960, the former territory of Ubangi-Shari, to which Chad had been attached in 1920, became the Central African Republic and the Republic of Chad; the Middle Congo became the Republic of the Congo; and Gabon became the Republic of Gabon.
French Guiana \ge-'a-no, ge-'a-no\ French Guyane Francaise
\gwe-'yan-fra n -'sez\ Overseas department (pop., 2002 est.: 172,000) of France, northeastern coast of South America. It has an area of 33,399 sq mi (86,504 sq km) and is bounded by Brazil to the south and east, by Suriname to the west, and by the Atlantic Ocean to the northeast. The capital is Cayenne. Most of French Guiana is low-lying, with mountains in the south and a swampy coastal plain. The Maroni River forms the bor¬ der with Suriname. French Guiana’s population is mostly Creole. The principal languages are French (official) and creole; nine-tenths of the people are Roman Catholic. Originally settled by the Spanish, French, and Dutch, the territory of French Guiana was awarded to France in 1667, and the inhabitants were made French citizens after 1877. By 1852 the French began using the territory for penal settlement; the penal colony at Devils Island was notorious. French Guiana became a department of France in 1946; the penal colonies were closed by 1953.
French Guinea See Guinea
French horn Orchestral and military brass instrument, a valved circular horn with a wide bell. It is normally a transposing instrument (its music written in a different tone than its actual sound) in F. It has a wide bore and three (sometimes four) rotary valves; its conical mouthpiece produces a mellower tone than the cup-shaped mouthpieces of other brass instru¬ ments. Homs long relied on separable crooks—circular lengths of tubing that could be attached and removed rapidly—for music modulating to new keys. Since c. 1900 the standard horn has been a “double” instrument, with built-in crooks in F and B-flat that can be selected rapidly by means of a thumb valve. The modern symphony orchestra usually includes four horns. Though difficult to play and prone to producing conspicuous errors, its tone is widely admired.