CONTENT WARNING
Materials in the Library of Virginia’s collections contain historical terms, phrases, and images that are offensive to modern readers. These include demeaning and dehumanizing references to race, ethnicity, and nationality; enslaved or free status; physical and mental ability; and gender and sexual orientation.
Context
The Marquis de Lafayette (1757–1834) was a French aristocrat whose family fortune ranked him among the wealthiest in France, but he was also one of America’s best-known Revolutionary heroes. Gilbert de Motier de Lafayette inherited his title at the age of two when his father died and his fortune as a teenager when his mother died. He received his first military commission in the French army at the age of sixteen but lost his commission when the French government cut back on military expenses. Lafayette embraced progressive principles, and when he learned of the American Revolution he decided to support the patriots. He purchased his own ship, sailed to America, and volunteered to fight for the Continental Army at his own expense. He received a commission and fought in the Battle of Brandywine, where he was shot in the leg. George Washington took notice of the young Frenchman, and Lafayette quickly became one of his trusted military staff. He received a command of a Virginia division before returning to France to advocate for French naval support for the Americans. After he returned to the United States, Lafayette was tasked with trying to capture American traitor Benedict Arnold, who was raiding supply bases in Virginia early in 1781. Along with a division from New England, Lafayette harassed British Major General Lord Cornwallis in eastern Virginia and commanded an American division at the Battle of Yorktown that led to Cornwallis’s surrender in October 1781.
Lafayette befriended many American revolutionary leaders, sharing ideas with them. He named a son after George Washington and corresponded regularly with Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison. Lafayette wholeheartedly supported the French Revolution, giving up his aristocratic title and participating in France’s National Assembly. He drafted the Declaration of the Rights of Man, a document outlining the major principles of the French Revolution. This document reflects many of the the same sentiments found in the Declaration of Independence. Lafayette was more progressive than many American leaders, though; he called for an immediate end to slavery.
Lafayette lost his influence during the radical phase of the French Revolution and left for Holland, where he was captured by the Austrians and imprisoned as a dangerous radical. Napoleon intervened to free Lafayette, who returned to France to live on a small estate that was left to him after French radicals seized his personal assets. Lafayette remained a hero in the eyes of the Americans. The General Assembly of Virginia naturalized him as a citizen in 1785 with this document. It is the enrolled bill, which was approved by both houses of the Assembly and signed by the respective presiding officers. Lafayette continued his friendships with Washington and Jefferson, who received Lafayette at Monticello during Lafayette’s triumphant fourteen-month tour of the United States in 1824–1825. Lafayette died in 1834 and was buried in Paris under a handful of soil from Bunker Hill.
Citation: Virginia House of Delegates, Enrolled Bills, 1785, Library of Virginia.
Lafayette befriended many American revolutionary leaders, sharing ideas with them. He named a son after George Washington and corresponded regularly with Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison. Lafayette wholeheartedly supported the French Revolution, giving up his aristocratic title and participating in France’s National Assembly. He drafted the Declaration of the Rights of Man, a document outlining the major principles of the French Revolution. This document reflects many of the the same sentiments found in the Declaration of Independence. Lafayette was more progressive than many American leaders, though; he called for an immediate end to slavery.
Lafayette lost his influence during the radical phase of the French Revolution and left for Holland, where he was captured by the Austrians and imprisoned as a dangerous radical. Napoleon intervened to free Lafayette, who returned to France to live on a small estate that was left to him after French radicals seized his personal assets. Lafayette remained a hero in the eyes of the Americans. The General Assembly of Virginia naturalized him as a citizen in 1785 with this document. It is the enrolled bill, which was approved by both houses of the Assembly and signed by the respective presiding officers. Lafayette continued his friendships with Washington and Jefferson, who received Lafayette at Monticello during Lafayette’s triumphant fourteen-month tour of the United States in 1824–1825. Lafayette died in 1834 and was buried in Paris under a handful of soil from Bunker Hill.
Citation: Virginia House of Delegates, Enrolled Bills, 1785, Library of Virginia.
Standards
VS.5, VUS.4, USI.6
Suggested Questions
Preview Activity
Scan It: Scan the document (or its transcription). What words or phrases stand out, and why?
Post-Activities
Be the Journalist: You are interviewing Lafayette during his tour of America in 1824. What three questions would you ask him? Why?
Analyze: Why did the General Assembly convey citizenship on Lafayette? What do you think of their explanation? Do you think it is for the reason they cited alone? For what other reasons might they have made him a citizen of Virginia?
Dig Deeper: Many other French soldiers were involved in the Revolutionary War. Do some research on Lafayette. What special ties might Virginians have felt to Lafayette, and why?
Scan It: Scan the document (or its transcription). What words or phrases stand out, and why?
Post-Activities
Be the Journalist: You are interviewing Lafayette during his tour of America in 1824. What three questions would you ask him? Why?
Analyze: Why did the General Assembly convey citizenship on Lafayette? What do you think of their explanation? Do you think it is for the reason they cited alone? For what other reasons might they have made him a citizen of Virginia?
Dig Deeper: Many other French soldiers were involved in the Revolutionary War. Do some research on Lafayette. What special ties might Virginians have felt to Lafayette, and why?