Bibliograph

Lafayette in the somewhat United States, Sarah Vowell

Type

Label

Lafayette in the somewhat United States, Sarah Vowell

Language

eng

Bibliography note

Includes bibliographical references (pages 269-272)

resource.biographical

individual biography

Illustrations

illustrations

Index

no index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

Lafayette in the somewhat United States

Nature of contents

bibliography

Oclc number

900623786

Responsibility statement

Sarah Vowell

Summary

On August 16, 1824, an elderly French gentlemen sailed into New York Harbor and giddy Americans were there to welcome him. Or, rather, to welcome him back. It had been 30 years since the Revolutionary War hero the Marquis de Lafayette had last set foot in the United States, and he was so beloved that 80,000 people showed up to cheer for him. The entire population of New York at the time was 120,000. Lafayette's arrival in 1824 coincided with one of the most contentious presidential elections in American history. Congress had just fought its first epic battle over slavery, and the threat of a Civil War loomed. But Lafayette, belonging to neither North nor South, to no political party or faction, was a walking, talking reminder of the sacrifices and bravery of the revolutionary generation and what they wanted the country to be. His return was not just a reunion with his beloved Americans, it was a reunion for Americans with their own astonishing singular past

Classification