The Family Capet sent to America

so I just read that Thomas Paine as a member of the French National Convention put forth the idea of sending Louis XVI and family to America rather than killing him, what if his idea had carried the day?
 
Are they guaranteed safe passage? Lofty rhetoric and diplomatic overtures might not be enough to convince angry French citizens from seizing the royal family en route and promptly executing them.

If they do manage to make it to the US, I'd suspect they'd get a rather frosty reception due to the common folk's distrust of the royalists during the Revolution.
 
If they do manage to make it to the US, I'd suspect they'd get a rather frosty reception due to the common folk's distrust of the royalists during the Revolution.

I'm unsure of that one, the future King of France in OTL (The Duke of Orléans) stayed in America during those years and was very popular, the Cape Cod town of Orléans is named for him no less.
 
In 1793, French exiles established the short-lived settlement of Azilum in Pennsylvania. The village survived somewhat well until the early 1800s when financial hardship forced the settlement to be abandoned. After Napoleon offered amnesty to those royalist sympathizers who fled, many French exiles including those in Azilium left the United States.

Supposedly, the group was building a grand mansion to house Marie Antoinette and her family after they managed to escape France.

Now, I doubt the Marie Antoinette and her family will be moving into the backwoods of Pennsylvania but the general idea is interesting. I would not be surprised if the United States is seen as a much more popular destination for French exiles. The US might see many more French immigrants early in her history, especially if the decision to grant the exiles amnesty is butterflied away.
 
So we could see 'Petite France' in New York rather than 'Little Italy' based around the original settlements of the French refugees (close enough to be linked with the city's economy, but outside the walls themselves).
 
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