Lafayette in the somewhat United States Sarah Vowell

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Vowell, Sarah, 1969- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Lafayette, Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert Du Motier, marquis de, 1757-1834.

Lafayette, Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert Du Motier.

Lafayette, Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert Du Motier, marquis de, 1757-1834--Influence.

United States--History--Revolution, 1775-1783--Participation, French.

United States.

Generals--France--Biography.

Generals.

Statesmen--France--Biography.

Statesmen.

Generals--United States--Biography.

France--Politics and government--1789-1900.

France.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

274 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Riverhead Books, 2015.

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.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 269-272).

ISBN:

9781594631740

1594631743

OCLC:

900623786