Plainfield
A presidential election — which eventually saw Andrew Jackson win the popular vote and electoral college, but John Quincy Adams being declared president by the House of Representatives because none of the candidates who ran were able to establish a clear majority — was causing strong emotions on both sides.
This is the climate French General Marquis de Lafayette found when he came to visit the United States on Aug. 24, 1824, at the bequest of then-president James Monroe.
“We are talking about a time of great political divide for this country,” said Julien Icher, who is working on creating a trail of all the stops the general made during his visit, which was billed a “Farewell Tour” and lasted until Sept. 7, 1825. “He really was the tether that reminded everyone of the common thread uniting Americans together. He was able to bring everyone together by emphasizing what binds all the Americans together, tapping into the Revolutionary War.”
Icher, who became interested in Lafayette and his relationship with America while studying at the College of William and Mary in 2015, will be discussing the Lafayette Trail Project during a talk at 2 p.m. on Nov. 23, at Philip Read Memorial Library in Plainfield. The free lecture is sponsored by the Plainfield Historical Society. The Lafayette Trail Project is based in Londonderry, N.H.
Lafayette originally came to the United States during 1777 after hearing about the colonists’ struggle and, at age 19, was quickly commissioned as a major general. His loyalty to the burgeoning new country was enthusiastically returned by those he was fighting for. During the Revolutionary War, he returned to France to drum up support for the new country and the French sent help, which is largely viewed as what turned the tide of the war in the Americans’ favor.
“Lafayette in America is considered a founding father in America because the fact that, early in his life, his blood spilled for the American independence and in 1824 when he came back, that’s what Americans celebrate,” Icher said. Americans appreciated his sacrifices and the “personal contribution he made toward universal liberty in this country.”
“He is essentially considered among the founding fathers like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson.”
Lafayette is viewed much differently in France.
“He’s a little more controversial,” Icher said. “Politically speaking it was pretty hard for any party to claim Lafayette because he was right in the middle of the monarchists and the leftists.”
After returning to France after the American Revolution, Lafayette found himself in an interesting place in French history. He came from a rich, noble family and had respect for the monarchy, while at the same time he championed the liberty and rights of the people that were the basis for the French Revolution. In a sense, his quest for middle ground made him unpopular on both sides.
“Neither the left or the right today claim Lafayette,” Icher said. “He’s a very discrete figure.”
And that brings us back to his return trip to America, about 40 years after he left the United States a hero. Here, one can only imagine what Lafayette thought of the America he left and the America he returned to. Lafayette made dozens of stops on his trip, including quite a few in the Upper Valley.
He crossed the Windsor-Cornish covered bridge and addressed a crowd from the balcony of the Windsor House in downtown Windsor.
Icher wants to have the trail complete by 2024, to mark the bicentennial of Lafayette’s visit. While Lafayette’s New England stops have already been mapped, the general visited 24 states during his visit and Icher wants to include them all in the project.
During Lafayette’s tour, the aging general was able to remind Americans about the cause of liberty that they united around all those decades ago. It was that devotion that inspired Lafayette for the rest of his life. The America he returned to might have been more divided, but his visit prompted a feeling of togetherness that the 1824 election had torn apart. Perhaps the Lafayette Trail Project will be able to do the same.
Editor’s note: For more information about the Lafayette Trial Project, visit thelafayettetrail.com. Liz Sauchelli can be reached at esauchelli@vnews.com or 603-727-3221.
