who was the Marquis de Lafayette he was the most important foreign ally of the colonies
during the American Revolution join me today as I talk about the story of this remarkable man
the Marquis de Lafayette was America's most prominent helpful and famous foreign participant
in the revolution his contributions to the Americans revolutionary cause are so numerous
that dozens of places around the country are named after him and American citizens regularly
name their children after him for more than a century after the war he was a protege of George
Washington who considered the Marquis as a son and a close personal friend of Thomas Jefferson he did
two tours in the revolution returning to France once in between and came back again nearly fifty
years after the conflict in order to tour the country he was so instrumental in creating and
was met with great public fanfare upon his arrival born Murray Joseph Paul llaves rush Gilbert
then MultiAir September 6 1757 to May 20th 1834 Lafayette inherited his title and the name he was
most commonly known by Lafayette after his father died during one of France's many conflicts with
the British before becoming an American and French hero the Marquis de Lafayette served as a black
musketeer to the French King as a teenager was given the best of education by his widowed mother
and great-grandmother inherited the title of Marquis from his father and married the daughter
of a Duke in 1774 the marriage was arranged but without the couple's knowledge because the Dukes
wife thought both bride and groom were too young to Wed when it was first proposed among them and
Lafayette's mother and uncle it was arranged for Lafayette and his intended bride to casually meet
as often as possible to get to know each other better by the time the Dukes wife thought they
were old enough to Wed two years later Lafayette and the girl Marie Adrienne Francois had already
fallen in love on their own and were happily married more than 33 years for the rest of
Marie's life the couple had at least two daughters together Lafayette was a big believer in the
Americans cause from the beginning and his position as a member of the French nobility
and of a wealthy land owning family gave him the necessary influence to talk to the king and try
to convince him to lend more military and monetary support to the revolutionaries some of those pleas
succeeded though not all of them did Lafayette always thought France could do more to help the
Americans upon his arrival in America the first time a trip he took without the permission of the
French King he was made a major-general in the colonial army by George Washington he continued
to be promoted through the American military ranks as he served with distinction in battle
after battle by the end of the war he had fought in and/or visited every colony except Georgia he
also helped the Americans win the war in a very direct way by using the troops under his command
to keep the British troops led by Cornwallis back from their invasion in Virginia until American
and French troops could arrive and put an end to the battle forcing Cornwallis to surrender
the war to the Americans besides being a hero of the American Revolution Lafayette is well known
as an intimate friend of George Washington when Lafayette first arrived in America the American
troops were dealing with a deluge of troops from France who could not speak English Lafayette
immediately distinguished himself by being one of the few who could as he learned it on the ship on
the way to America and was fluent in English within a year of arriving this opened many
doors for him as did his Masonic membership and his offering to serve the colonial army without
pay Benjamin Franklin who met Lafayette when he was the American envoy to France personally
urged the Continental Congress to give Lafayette whatever he needed and wanted to further serve the
American cause as Franklin thought very highly of the young man Lafayette met George Washington who
was the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army at a dinner in Philadelphia on August 5th 1777 and
the two instantly took to each other and formed an unbreakable bond between the Washington was
impressed with Lafayette's enthusiasm and enjoyed the opportunity to open doors for a fellow Mason
Lafayette was in awe of Washington Washington made him part of his personal staff though
without an official title while the Continental Congress looked on Lafayette's position in the
Continental Army is honorary Lafayette expected to eventually be given a full commission and his
own troops to command while that did eventually happen the Continental Army at first refused to
do so because of his foreign birth during this period of confusion as to his status among the
Americans Washington told Lafayette he would keep him in his personal confidence as a friend
and father after the war he returned to France and participated in various government positions
there though ended up being in prison for five years in Austria when he fled the anti Royalists
during the French Revolution Napoleon secured his release though lafayette refused invitation upon
invitation to participate in Napoleon's government as it was not a democratic one after Napoleon's
defeat and the brief restoration of the French monarchy Lafayette returned to government work
for most of the rest of his life he was even offered a position as French dictator during
France's July revolution of 1830 but declined it and supported the man who was next in line in the
monarchy though later turned against the new king when he abandoned democratic principles in the
midst of all of this he returned to the new United States in 1824 and visited all 24 states that were
then in the Union was a guest of the federal government and met with many old friends such as
Thomas Jefferson as well as new government leaders like then u.s. President James Monroe because of
his accomplishments in both the United States and France Lafayette is sometimes referred to
as the hero of two what is the order of the crown of Charlemagne in America and why should you join
I'll show you what you need to know about this prestigious lineage society on the next episode
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