Oeller's Hotel In Philadelphia

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Four years after the French Revolution began, in January 1793 a group of about eighty men assembled in Oeller’s Hotel in Philadelphia to celebrate French victory at the battle of Valmy. This assemblage speaks not only to the camaraderie between Americans and French, but also, based on who was present at the dinner, represents a wider desire for a worldwide movement toward democracy. Even the way it was reported by the local newspapers implies the importance of this modest gathering.
Philadelphia, since before the inception of the Revolution, had been a hub of political creativity and debate, although this new political atmosphere, one in which the mob’s opinion was particularly made known, was not entirely appreciated by the higher classes. …show more content…

Oeller’s hotel that night formed a new club, spurred by this patriotic spirit that had engulfed them. La Société Française des Amis de la Liberté et de l’Égalité de Philadelphie (The French Society of Friends of Freedom and Equality of Philadelphia), led by elected President Antoine Duplaine, was formed for the purpose of sending aid when possible to France. Another purpose of the club was to help the cause domestically whenever possible, such as in the case in February of 1793 when the Society helped ten French sailors stuck in Philadelphia. The club was met with some opposition from those in the authority in Philadelphia, likely Federalists in particular, who saw it as a potential menace to local …show more content…

Two of Philadelphia’s prominent newspapers were distinctly partisan. Sometimes this partisanship was made quite obvious in opinionated articles, but other times the difference between the two papers’ reporting of same story was a little subtler. In the case of the story of the celebration at Oeller’s Hotel, The Gazette of the United States, the Federalist publication, published in its article that men had joined to celebrate the “success of the Gallic arms against those of despotism,” a perfectly Federalist idea, provided that those “Gallic arms” were led and supported by strong centralized leadership in Paris. The National Gazette, slanted towards Democratic-Republicans, reported the story using almost the exact same words as The Gazette of the United States, but adding that “fifteen toasts, truly Republican, were drank” that night. This additional information presented with a subjective point of view shows the difference of focus between the two newspapers. One publication cares more about the victory of France and the spread of strong, non-monarchical government, and the other comments equally on Republican victory and the Republican celebration of that victory – the common people’s involvement in