Cur Non?

Historical research can be quite tricky at times – especially so if you are not a professionally trained historian, if you do not have access to libraries and achieves and the likes. Many great resources are behind paywalls and I therefor though I compile a list with resources (with links this time), mostly relating to the Marquis de La Fayette, that might come in handy and are easy and free to access.

La Fayette

Founders Online is a databank with letter from and by Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, John Adams (and family), Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, John Jay and Alexander Hamilton, including their respected correspondences with La Fayette. For starters, here are the correspondences between

La Fayette and George Washington,

La Fayette and Alexander Hamilton

La Fayette and Thomas Jefferson

La Fayette is sometimes listed under different names (or different spellings of his name) so keep that in mind.

The Papers of James Monroe is a project to catalogue the letter of, you have guessed it, James Monroe. Included in this project are also parts of the correspondences between Monroe and La Fayette.

Guide to the Lafayette Manuscripts 1792-1834 by the Chicago Library. A digital collection of an assortment of letters, written to and from La Fayette, his son Georges, his secretary Auguste Levasseur and his grand-son Edmond de La Fayette among others.

La Fayette, Une Figure Politique Agricole by the Archives départementales de Seine-et-Marne. The La Fayette’s château Lagrange is situated in the department Seine-et-Marne and the Archive has compiled several biographical snippets, among them police reports on the Marquis’ movements, as well as letters from several family members.

Dossier historique Archives départementales de Seine-et-Marne by the Archives départementales de Seine-et-Marne. A PDF-dossier with additional information, images and letter from La Fayette and his family.

Next up, there are a few online exhibitions and collections that I can recommend:

“La Fayette: Citizen of Two Worlds” by the Cornell University

“Lafayette and Slavery” by the Lafayette College (here is a second, slightly different version)

“The Prisoner of Olmütz” by the Lafayette College

“Marquis de Lafayette in Prints Collection” by the Lafayette College

Archive of the “Gazette of the American Friends of Lafayette” by the Lafayette College

“Marquis de Lafayette Collections” by the Lafayette College

“The Marquis de Lafayette Collection” by the Cleveland State University

The Library of Congress has a number of handwritten original letters that were exchanged between La Fayette and George Washington

The Internet Archive is a pure treasure chest of resources. They have collected a great deal of photos, videos, audio recordings, books and lose documents from libraries, collections and different archives. They also have a huge stock of curated websites. All of their resources are free, although some require a user account (which is free as well, but you have to sign up with your E-Mail Address). They have just so many great resources, from old texts to modern books - they truly have something for everyone. Here are a few links to books (memoirs and books by La Fayette and his family). All of that is just a very, very shallow peek into what the Internet Archive has to offer

Memoirs, Correspondences and Manuscripts of General Lafayette, Volume I, by the Marquis de Lafayette

Memoirs, Correspondences and Manuscripts of General Lafayette, Volume II, by the Marquis de Lafayette

Memoirs, Correspondences and Manuscripts of General Lafayette, Volume III, by the Marquis de Lafayette

(The Memoirs are also available in French and in the French version they are divided into eight volumes.)

Life of Madame de Lafayette by Mme de Lasteyrie

Recollections of the Private Life of General Lafayette by M. Jules Cloquet

Lafayette in America, Volume I, by Auguste Levasseur

Lafayette in America Volume II, by Auguste Levasseur

All the books mentioned can also be obtained for free via Google Books.

Bicentannial of the 1824/1825 Tour

Lafayette Teen Audio Tour - A Teen Take on our French Founding Father

Follow the Frenchman

Fete Lafayette: A French Hero's Tour of the American Republic

The Marquis de Lafayette and His Farewell Tour

Virginia American Revolution 250

The Lafayette Trail Inc.

Lafayette 2024 by The Lafayette Trail Inc.

Lafayette 200

The Farewell Tour Bicentennial by the Lafayette Society

Reenactment

Tavern Debate: Disorder in the Streets

Tavern Debate: Radicalism

Liberty in Full Sail

An Afternoon with the Marquis de Lafayette

A Conversation with James Armistead Lafayette

The Marquis and the Spy Reunited

Bastille Day Livestream with Jefferson and Lafayette

Victory at Yorktown

Bastille Day at Mount Vernon

Marquis de Lafayette - Commemorating the Hero of two Worlds at the Rider Tavern

Other Resources

The Georgian Papers Program has digitalized a multitude of letters relating to Georg I, George II, George III, George IV and William IV, their families and governments. Most of the documents are not transcribed and so I will give you a fair warning; some of the handwritings will severely test your patience.

Elephind lets you search more than 200 Million historic newspapers.

The Old Bailey Online lets you access all the court proceedings from the Old Bailey from 1674 up until 1913 and gives a great insight into English law and its evolution.

The Friedrich Schiller Archive is dedicated to the German poet Friedrich Schiller and has transcripts and analyses of all of his works as well as transcripts of the majority of his correspondences.

Here you can find all the issues of Jean-Paul Marat’s L’Ami du Peuple.

The National Archive in England, the National Archive and Records Administrations in America and the Archives Nationales in France offer a well of information (although they are sometime a bit troublesome to navigate).

Many museums, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art or the Louvre have digitalized their collections and everybody can search items therein.

I sometimes like to compare La Fayette’s Tour of the United States in 1824/1825 with the Beatle Mania or the hype around Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour – this is no apt comparison, however. Neither the Beatles nor Taylor Swift nor anyone else can really hold a candle to the euphoria and gratitude and excitement that La Fayette sparked in the Americans in 1824/25.

Not only did the United States and its inhabitants not tire for a good one and a half year of La Fayette and of celebrating him and the Revolution in any imaginable way, no, the United States also proofed to be extremely generous towards the Marquis.

La Fayette was never really that good with money – one of the side effects when you become one of the richest people in France at 14. But given his immense wealth this was never truly a problem (though his banker certainly tried to raise the issue more than once.) The French Revolution however strongly affected the family’s assets and financial situation. La Fayette and his wife were able to recover somewhat after being released from prison, but debts remained a problem even in 1824/1825. During the height of the French Revolution when the United States were trying to help La Fayette while also trying to keep France, Prussia and Austria appeased, Congress voted to pay him the money he originally shunned in wages (plus some extras they could justify). This money was an immense help and although dressed in some clever political and bureaucratic schemes, a stark sign of favour from America for La Fayette. But America was not done yet!

On December 23, 1824, the Congress of the United States voted (the Senate voted on the 23rd, the House of Representatives had voted the day prior on the 22nd) to gift La Fayette 24000 acres of “fertile land” as well as 200000 USD. 200000 USD is an incredibly large sum of money but let me give you some context of the value of that amount in 1824. A pound of coffee cost 18 cents. A member of Congress made eight USD every day that Congress was in session – in other words, Congress would have to be in session for a total of 68.4 years for a member to earn the 200000 USD that were discussed. The debate lasted two days because some members interjected that maybe – maybe – there were betters uses for the money in the treasury. They proposed offering La Fayette either 150000 or 100000 USD – still enormous amounts of money. Their objection with the original sum were also mostly technically or procedural – there was never any doubt in Congress that La Fayette was deserving of the original 200000 USD. But their colleagues were having none of it, neither did the press nor their constituents nor the general public (the backslash that some of these politicians received …). Auguste Levasseur described it as follows in his book:

Nevertheless, the newspapers, the organs of public opinion, in applauding these acts of congress, attacked, with a severity which distressed General Lafayette, those few members of the senate and house of representatives, who had voted against the national donation. These attacks, in fact, were the more unjust; for, as I have already said, the majority of the opponents of the measure were personal friends of the general, and wholly devoted to his interests; but in voting, not against the proposition, but against its form, they remained faithful to a principle they had always adopted, of not disposing of the public funds for other purposes than those of the public service. Some of them deemed it proper to explain this to the general.

Auguste Levasseur, Lafayette in America in 1824 and 1825; or Journal of Travels in the United States, Translated from the French, Volume 2, New-York, 1829, p. 20.

In the end, the Bill passed the House of Representatives with 166 to 26 and was then send to the Senate where it passed unanimously. The whole debate, taken from the Register of Debates in Congress, is under the cut, if anyone is interested in the finer details!

Here is how Auguste Levasseur describes La Fayette reaction:

General Lafayette was greatly embarrassed on hearing this munificence of congress towards him. He was at first tempted to refuse it, as he thought the proofs of affection and popular gratitude which he had received from the moment of his arrival in the United States, were a sufficient recompense for all his services, and he had never desired any other. But he nevertheless felt, from the manner in which this offer was made, that he could not refuse it without offending the American nation, through its representatives, and he therefore immediately decided upon accepting it.

Auguste Levasseur, Lafayette in America in 1824 and 1825; or Journal of Travels in the United States, Translated from the French, Volume 2, New-York, 1829, p. 19.

But wait - it got even better!

This act of congress was soon spread, by means of the public journals, through all parts of the Union, and was every where received with unanimous approbation. Some states even wished to make an addition to these grants of congress Thus for example Virginia, New York, and Maryland, were desirous to heap additional favours on the guest of the nation. It required all the determined moderation of the general to repress this excess of gratitude, which would have ended in placing at his disposal all the funds of the United States; for if the states had once engaged in this struggle of generosity, it is difficult to say where it would have ended.

Auguste Levasseur, Lafayette in America in 1824 and 1825; or Journal of Travels in the United States, Translated from the French, Volume 2, New-York, 1829, p. 20.

La Fayette also met with the 26 men who voted against the passage of the Bill and this is what he had to say to them:

“Well”, replied the general, in taking them cordially by the hand, “I can assure you, that if I had had the honour of being your colleague, we should have been twenty-seven, not only because I partake of the sentiments which determined your votes, but also because I think that the American nation has done too much for me.” This reply soon appeared in all the journals, and, as may be supposed, only added to the popularity of him who made it.

Auguste Levasseur, Lafayette in America in 1824 and 1825; or Journal of Travels in the United States, Translated from the French, Volume 2, New-York, 1829, p. 20.

So … between this and all the other countless marks of gratitude I honestly do not know what could compare to La Fayette’s Tour in 1824/25.

During La Fayette’s grand Tour in 1824/25 there was a lot of partying – a lot! Here are some of the admission cards that I found. They also tell us something about dress code, schedules, activities, etc.

Card of Admission: Fete to Lafayette, Castle Garden, NY: 1824 (Sept 10)

Card of Admission: Lafayette Fete, Albany, NY: 1824 (Sept 13)

I told [the Comte de la Rivière] that his grandson had no interest in buying Mlle de Noailles if he has to renounce his rights to get her. He said that it was absolutely not the case: Gilbert will be given 200,000 livres... I also know that Mme. d’Ayen shall not show any favoritism towards her other children. You may ignore that this lady has only five daughters and no son. The older one will be married to the second son of the Comte de Noailles; the second one is for your nephew: a good marriage, and yet I would have postponed it by two more years. But the Comte de la Rivière is eager to give another father to his grandson... The most important thing is to provide the young man with a wise mentor, a religious man who might form his pupil by means of exercises and travels... Your nephew found his fiancée charming. She is said to be so, and well brought-up...

Marie Hortense de La Tour d’Auvergne, Duchesse de La Trémoille. Letter to Lafayette’s Aunt. November 29, 1772.

This excerpt from a letter by Marie Hortense de La Tour d’Auvergne, Duchesse de La Trémoill to La Fayette’s aunt from November 29, 1772 is part of the digital exhibition La Fayette: Citizen of Two Worlds. Now, the letter’s original purpose in the exhibition is to highlight now much gossip was swirling about the marriage between La Fayette and Adrienne and that it truly was “the talk of the town”. What I personally find more interesting is the part I highlighted here. It makes sense for the Comte de la Rivière to be involved and invested in this marriage since he was La Fayette’s maternal grandfather. He was also his closest living male relative at the time. In most writings, however, academic or not, he is often overlooked. He died when La Fayette was still very young and I think that is part of the reason why he is often overlooked in discussions about La Fayette. It is also remarkable to see that yes, money, titles and prestige definitely played their part in shaping the marriage but also a grandfather’s desire for his grandson to have a stable home, a father(figure) and good role models.

Towel contains full text of the Declaration of Independence, facsimile signatures of the signers, coats of arms of the original thirteen states, and names of Revolutionary War heroes. Item donor Susan H. Douglas dates towel to the 1876 U.S. Centennial.

Susan H. Douglas Political Americana Collection, #2214. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library (04/07/2026).

My dear sir, whilst, on this anniversary, my American fellow-citizens are toasting their joy, I join in a solitary bumper with the happy remembrances, the patriotic wishes which are crowding upon us. Encircled as I am with ditches, ramparts, guards, double sentries and palissades; shut up in a quadruple gated, barred, chained, locked, grated, narrow, moisty, subterraneous dungeon; and doomed to the moral and bodily hardship which revengeful tyranny is heaping on me, let it be to day my frolic, so far to cheat the crowned gang and their vile agents as to be enabled first to scribble, then to convey this homage of a sympathizing heart.

The National Archives of France and the Lafayette College teamed up to bring us a new exhibition about La Fayette titled “Lafayette entre France et Amérique. Histoire et légende”. The timing is very convenient with all the milestones that the La Fayette, Lafayette College and the United States are hitting or just have hit. The exhibition is housed in the Musée des Archives Nationales – L’hôtel de Soubise. The exhibition can still be seen until July 14 2026 and entry is free. The photos I have seen look really, really promising!

Here is a short report about the opening on April 1, 2026.

Here is the communiqué for the press and the longer press dossier that feature also some of the exhibits.

You can order the exhibition catalogue here (French/ISBN 978-2-7118-8179-6/35 Euro - English/978-2-7118-8180-2/39 Euro)