Gilbert du Motier Marquis de LaFayette

Gilbert du Motier Marquis de LaFayette. Soldier . Diplomat . Visionary . Champion of Liberty. "The welfare of America is intimately connected with the happiness of all mankind; she will become the respectable and safe asylum of virtue, integrity, tolerance, equality, and a peaceful liberty." -Marquis de Lafayette, The statue of the Marquis de Lafayette was dedicated here on Lafayette Square in 1976, during the 200th anniversary of the American Revolutionary War., Gilbert du Motier was born into French nobility on September 6, 1757, and assumed the title Marquis after his father's death. At age nineteen he was already a trained soldier. At his own expense he sailed from France to North America to fight for the bold ideals of the thirteen colonies as declared in the Declaration of Independence: , "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.", Lafayette worked closely with founding fathers Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton. He became a general in the Continental Army and an enduring friend of George Washington. It was Lafayette who commanded the right flank of the American forces at the Battle of Yorktown when General Cornwallis surrendered and thus ensured the end of the American Revolutionary War., For his efforts, the United States Congress invited Lafayette to undertake a "Farewell Tour of America." For thirteen months, he visited all twenty-four states. Throngs celebrated his arrival with parades, banquets and triumphal arches. In March of 1825 he visited Georgia, whose western frontier area reminded him of the Chateau de LaGrange, his home in France. Afterwards the newly established town here chose the name LaGrange as its own in honor of Lafayette. All over America, cities, towns, streets, and counties were named in honor of this champion of liberty and human rights., Lafayette is remembered and respected for his noteworthy character traits of courage, friendship, loyalty, sacrifice, perseverance, and advocacy for the rights of all persons including the abolition of slavery in all situations in the world. He argued for expanded legal rights for women, he defended the rights of French Protestants and Jews during the French Revolution, and supported movements to spread the cause of liberty in South America, Italy, Ireland, Greece, and Poland., Lafayette was married to Adrienne de Noailles, who fully supported his human rights activism. Together they had four children and named their oldest son George Washington Lafayette., (captions) , The outstretched hand holds a cockade made of ribbon. Lafayette himself designed it to represent liberty, equality, and justice. (The portrait depicts it also), General George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette at Valley Forge.