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LAFAYETTE'S VISIT TO AMERICA

LAFAYETTE'S VISIT TO AMERICA. In February 1824, U.S. President James Monroe, and the U.S. Congress, invited the Marquis de Lafayette, the Revolutionary War hero and American icon, to visit the United States. Lafayette arrived in New York City on 24 August 1824 to an enormous patriotic reception and parade. Over the course of sixteen months, he toured virtually all areas of the country and spent time with Thomas Jefferson at MONTICELLO. Lafayette visited Braddock's Field, Niagara, and other scenes of the Revolution and culminated his trip with a fiftieth anniversary celebration of the Battle of Bunker Hill in Boston. He ended his tour with return visits to New York and Washington, D.C. On 7 December 1825, Lafayette departed for France. Since Lafayette arrived in the United States with little left of his inheritance, Congress rewarded his patriotism with $200,000 in cash and a township of land. At sixty-eight, Lafayette returned to his native home a rich man and an adopted son of America.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Idzerda, Stanley J. Lafayette: Hero of Two Worlds: The Art and Pageantry of His Farewell Tour of America, 1824–1825: Flushing, N.Y.: Queens Museum, 1989.

Karen Rae Mehaffey

See also Revolution, American: Military History.