Marquis de Lafayette Essay -- Essays Papers

Marquis de Lafayette The Marquis de Lafayette is best remembered for the part he played in the American War of Independence. He contributed in helping the Americans gain free control over the colonies by breaking away from British home rule. For sixty years he fought with consistency and insight for political ideals and social reforms that have dominated the history of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Hence, Lafayette can be attributed to the spreading of liberty and freedom throughout America and France. Therefore, he is viewed as a symbol of liberalism in a once absolutist world. Born on September 6, 1757, Gilbert Montier de Lafayette lived in the Chateau de Chavaniac. This beautiful palace is located in the thick forests of France. Lafayette lived there with his aunt and grandmother until the age of ten. During those years, he rummaged through the woods in search of the legendary werewolf who endangered local peasants. Accordingly, even as a child, the marquis had an â€Å"ambition to free his native place from the fabulous monster† (Latzko 4,5). At the age of eleven, the marquis was sent to school in Paris at the College du Plessis. He resided there for four years, learning various subject matter and proper etiquette that would enable him in change to become an educated and well-mannered noble. The curriculum included Latin, the study most emphasized in France at the time; and French rhetoric, which he greatly favored (Gottschalk 18, 19). At the early age of fifteen, the marquis was quite established in his community. While engaged to be married to Adrienne d' Ayen, Lafayette became a lieutenant in the Noailles cavalry (Gottschalk 32). This phenomenon marked the begin... ...ceiving on revisiting the country a few years ago, I know not . . . but when he came to America he was received everywhere as the Savior of the Country† (Bedoyere 36). Inevitably, this statement represents the opinion of many Americans still today. Fortunately, Lafayette gave his all to help the American cause. With his help and the efforts of all the colonials, the United States made its own country and became â€Å"the land of the free†. Works Cited - De La Bedoyere, Michael. Lafayette. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1934. - Gottschalk, Louis. Lafayette Comes To America. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1935. - Latzko, Andreas. Lafayette: A Life. New York: Viking Press, 1931. - Sedgewick, Henry Dwight. La Fayette. Indianapolis: The Bobbs- Merrill Company, 1928. - Woodward, W.E. Lafayette. New York: Farrar & Rinehart, 1938.