our gift shop if anyone is interested. come and see us in the lobby. otherwise, thank you again for being here. [applause] >> you are watching american history tv. all weekend, every weekend on c-span3. to join the conversation, like us on facebook. hoffman, author alan discusses general lafayette's farewell tour. his book is an english translation of a journal written by lafayette's private secretary. we learn about his travels through america and his meetings with the founding fathers. this program was hosted by the massachusetts historical association. it is one hour. >> good evening and welcome.

for those of you who do not know name is joan fink. i am also a volunteer at the massachusetts historical society . i'm working on the verification a the charles francis diaries.l war it is an honor for me to introduce alan hoffman. i have known him for most of my adult life. he is a magna cum laude graduate of yale college and a graduate of harvard law school. practiced law as a partner with my husband. serves as counsel.

became interested in lafayette when he read america's jubilee. the whole first chapter of this book was devoted to lafayette's ofmonth farewell tour the united states, a full 50 years after this the american revolution. the start of the american revolution. he visited every state in the union. the became fascinated by tour and he read the premier book on the subject. privatek by lafayette's secretary had been roughly translated into english when it was initially published in 1829. upon discovering the original french version of this book,

alan decided to translated as a hobby. after two years of intensive labor, his translation was published in 2006 and the only unabridged translation that contains all the original engravings and a roadmap included in the journal. this book is currently in its third printing. in addition to the translation alan has published two articles and a sidebar on lafayette. he has given over 150 lectures on lafayette. in 22 of the 24 states lafayette visited during his farewell tour. he has plans to visit alabama and mississippi, the two remaining states, this coming fall. he has served as president of

the american friends of lafayette, as well as the massachusetts lafayette society. without further ado, it is my great pleasure to present to you alan hoffman. [applause] you for that kind introduction. first it is a privilege and an honor to be able to talk about lafayette and our at thell t massachusetts historical society where is housed a great portion of our early american history. this evening, i am not going to talk about lafayette's role in the american revolution. the staff have given me a strict -- and i have been told in at

least two occasions -- an unalterable limit. already.about his role how do i know that? not because you love history but because you have seen the play hamilton, the musical. or listened to the cd. by one oft performed the tens of thousands of teenagers and preteens who have memorized the square by heart -- score by heart. inlin-manuel miranda wrote, act one of the hit musical, how does a ragtag volunteer army in need of a shower somehow defeat a global superpower? how do we emerge the tory is victorious from the

quagmire? weapon, he iset confusing the british henchmen, give it up for america's favorite frenchman, lafayette. it was also land forces korea landg the seige4 -- forces. there were nearly as many french troops during the battle of yorktown as american troops. turning to the farewell tour, i will start with an image. 1846, a colored broadside was published entitled pictorial history of the united states. in addition to depicting the seals of the various states,

population statistics, great events in the history of the country and a list of eminent men, there are three figures. washington in the middle. franklin to his left and lafayette to his right. next is a close-up. not jefferson or madison or adams or even hamilton or jackson, but a frenchman on the good right-hand of washington with ben franklin as well. curious, isn't it? i am here to tell you, not so much. of lafayette's our, he was her -- t probably the most popular man in america. --received resident munro

to her and heoe's accepted it. -- invitation and he accepted it. unique event in our history if not in the world. you may think what i said is but i amn hyperbole, not alone. someone said it better in a review he wrote of lafayette in america. in the north american review, of which he was the editor. in this review, he praised the book and the farewell tour. an event taken in all its parts, unparalleled in the history of man.

man,is this 67-year-old tall but portly, who walks with a limp and a cane. who has wielded no military power or political authority since 1792. who held no public positions in france or america. he is treated like a conquering hero, a caesar for alexander, for 13 months. meet are parades, dinners, and greets. many different societies. ofre are laying cornerstones. a plethora of speeches. customary and voluntary toasts. arches are built in many cities, big and small. americans of all races, each gender, and every age want to touch this man who had done so

much for their country. is his name is imprinted on the american psyche. cities, townships, towns named for him. lafayettes. the state he lived in from 17th nine to 1834. -- 1789 to 1834. la next slide is the chateau grange. lagrangeville. laket lafayette, -- lafayette in florida. there are streets, avenues, and roads. in boston alone, there are seven. one you may not know. the footprint from the subway

is a technical legal name. that is where he marched into boston. five boroughs of new york city, there are 10. there are statues, payroll. i will show you a few of my favorites. the figure of lafayette is full-bodied. the next is the children's statue, in paris. it was originally at the louvre. i.m. pei built --

that pyramid, some say as a set of the da vinci code. it was moved to a site on the right bank. the original is in paris. this was a copy given to the city. tour,efore the farewell americans name their children for lafayette or took his name. great-nephewgton's was named after him. a slave who served as a spy was liberated with his help in the 1780's, and he took the name james lafayette. numerous children born during tour took the name lawfully

at. --lafayette. baptism, she became virginia lafayette nelson. utica after having traveled through the southern and western states. explorer was born in lafayettebaptized thoug. was passed to later generations. a supreme court justice was given the middle name lafayette. the whole coverage industry of consumer goods was created industry wastage created around his visit. medallions, she music. ribbons. an example of a lafayette ribbon.

there are scarves. the next is a lafayette scarf with patriotic symbols. that was made in philadelphia in 1824. is a welcome lafayette drawn. -- drum. a set of dishes depicting his inival off castle garden 1824. with his ladies gloves face printed on it. the next lines are examples of his close bank. -- clothes. every american painter wanted to paint him from life. perhaps two of the most famous are this one by samuel morris later invented the telegraph.

it is housed in new york city hall. oftemplating the bust washington and franklin with an empty pedestal. the next, a study for which is on the jacket of my book. it is the full-sized monumental painting of lafayette standing outside independence hall by thomas soli. the campus arrived in new york bay. ,, a canvas. broughtthe ship that lafayette. to his left, the noise of the canon caught my attention. it was the artillery of fort lafayette. is a 19th-century

painting. unfortunately, we lost that one. blown up to make room for the verrazano bridge. i was not into lafayette at that time. sunday, hewas a disembarked in staten island. the following day, he arrived at castle garden in the southern tip of manhattan on another ship. accompanied by a flotilla of votes. welcomed by all the military and civilian dignities. a crowd of 200,000. the next is one of those plates. they come up often. at landing of lafayette castle garden. that structure is castle garden.

it still exists. it has had an interesting history, the immigration center before ellis island. officees as the ticket for ellis island as well as the statue of liberty. boston onheaded for august 20, 1824. passed through initional cities, he arrived roxbury where he spent the night. hethe morning of the 24th, was joined by a procession of 70,000 as he headed to boston. sewer -- his arrival is described as follows. we crossed the city to go to the state house. during this drive, the displays of infection -- affection were

so touching, we could not hold back tears of emotion. in front of the state house, a c islands, a long line of younger roles and boys. anddecorated by a ribbon lifted their hands toward the of joyle uttering cries to read of the school children who live there that day and were called it 40 years later at a at thein the music hall annual school test was the great order and abolitionist wendell phillips. this isin his speech, the first time for many years i have participated in a school festival. i have received no invitations since 1824 when as a little in a, we were turned out

grand possession. not to hear music, no. for something better. site --illed to read a that thrilled, a site that will live in the memory forever. hiswelcome of lafayette on return to this country. i can boast, boys and girls, more than you. i can boast these eyes have behold the hero of three revolutions. not all of this glorious celebration can will that byeption of the benefactor all that boston could offer him. it was a long procession. unlike others, we started punctually at the hour. they would not let us wonder about. did not wish us to sit down. i was so tired after four hours

scarcelyg, i could stand. when i saw him, that glorious old frenchman, i could have stood until today. then, we entered the senate chamber where all the public functionaries, those colors, many of the citizens were joined. at the moment, when the general national flag was raised on the dome of the state house. welcoming speech given , the general was detained for more than two hours by the displays of friendship. us to ads, they led

hotel prepared to receive us. story, 1824, beautifully told in the exhibition catalog. to summarize, the older men -- to rent a portion of the armory house. the city of boston hired only the most respected craftsman. hedges for upholstery. draperies and carpeting. they also selected the leading guilder, john doggett. he built the city for the loan of two pairs of looking glasses.

itemssisted of 78 including a beautiful redwood couch. provided paintings, one of each president. so he would be among friends. hired four white horses. , the mayor himself showed us to our rooms, which were richly furnished. make yourself at home, he said. you will find, i hope, all that which is necessary. if you find nothing superfluous, you are received by republicans. were doubtless amiable. i confess they gave us much to consider about the meaning of

necessary to the republicans of boston, especially when we learned some beautiful carriages and horses had been put at our disposal. went to theng, we tavern in order to dine with the governor, his staff, and other constituent bodies. the hall was decorated and adorned with slogans. which were called the actions of lafayette and the recognition of american preserve for the help france gave them. their fortune was balanced between liberty and oppression. justice made a toast to the memory, adding all those who had favored liberty were not to be forgotten, even though they wore a crown.

lafayette at this banquet gave this toast. to the city of boston, the cradle of liberty, may it ever stand. resistance to oppression is a duty and will become a blessing. honoring the patriot and hero. the chivalry of ancient. it has deeply engraved on the affections of a great, free, and happy people. according to the colombian in the evening, the general visited mrs. scott. relic of the deceased governor hancock, whose

hospitality industry in the general had often experienced. informed,iew, we are was peculiarly interesting. is toldy of that visit in a book of fiction by louisa may alcott, published in 1869. her mother was 70 years old. the story has the ring of truth se the may family and quincy family were all related. may was aty at the this event. 20 years old at the time. 24 years old. a grandmother is telling the story of lafayette's visit to her two grandchildren and a family friend. says, thealcott general, a score to buy the

mayor, drove up. man in trousers. cane, smiling and bowing like a true frenchman. three old ladies rose. he bowed first to the picture -- on the back was stamped lafayette's likeness. presented.adies were as if to escape any further kissed the, he pretty girls on the cheek. this is the spot where the dear old man saluted me. i'm quite as proud as i am now as i was then could read he was a brave, good man and he helped us in our troubles.

the next is on exhibit upstairs. the daughter had in her possession. the type of that is glove that was available at that time. madame hancock was wearing. , he headedeaded on august 31, stopping in numerous towns. events in for a salem, beverly, ipswich. citizens of new hampshire joined the frenzy. the rainy day in which he and his entourage visited portsmouth.

lafayette proved to be a magnet or americans of all races, colors, and genders, veterans of the american revolution hastens to greet him. september 1 happens to be the day of franklin pierce's graduation. as is written in the biography, franklin had had selected to oration inorary latin. wrote his father, hoping he would attend. he wases, in this disappointed. the old general joined other revolutionary war soldiers to , who waseral lafayette on his famous tour of america. colleged his son's graduation, valedictorian address, to spend time with lafayette. andr visiting portsmouth returning after the ball, to

boston, he freshened up for to get hours and headed back to new york. concorde,t lexington, and other places. bylexington, he was greeted a banner. it reads, welcome friend of america to the birthplace of american liberty. you cannot tell from this slide, but that banner is nine inches high. long.t it is owned by the historical society. i have seen it when it was laid out to be photographed. he went back to new york city. city departing, the furnishings. the

lafayette spent time in new york city, leaving in 1824 when he headed west to new jersey. south. in your town to celebrate surrender day. grandson brought his tent with him to yorktown. he reached monticello and spent 10 days with jefferson. and then a few days with medicine. -- amdisn. -- madison. jefferson took lafayette to the newly constructed university of virginia. jefferson had a speech read for him that described lafayette's role.

this included lobbying to open up numerous ports on most favorable nation status. ining the whaling industry nantucket by brokering a contract between the nantucket whalers and the city of paris, to light all the streetlamps. jefferson said of lafayette, and i quote. i only held the nail, he drove it. nantucket voted at a town meeting to dedicate one days no from every cow on the pound to produce a 500 cheese which they sent to lafayette in france. the next is a children's book which tells the story and on the

reverse is an account in a newspaper of the town meeting at which this was voted. several people who have told likestory to say that is sending colston newcastle, cheese to france. -- coals to newcastle. intent was to only first 13 states, but he had received invitations from all the others and he decided to except them. southruary, he headed from washington city. the party traveled to columbia, the capital where in incident occurred. many of the southern states, the had decreed slaves as

well as friedman would be barred from the public events. columbia was one of the places where that occurred. in an autobiographical sketch, written by a doctor who was a militia man, he tells the stories. it takes place at a private reception. were posted to the door to prevent the entrance of intruders. officers, however, were allowed to enter. an old african, need lee -- neatly dressed, came to the door and started in. hissentinels barred entrance. man pushed them aside.

hehout further opposition, gained his way. he came to the room where the distinguished guest was standing and said, i come to see general lafayette. oldyette turned, and acquaintance. aid,knee grow set -- he s how you do, sir. you remember me? i have it. the longing to colonel buchanan. the first servant that waited on me. i was taken first to the camp of general buchanan and he waited on me. as he shook warmly the old man's hand. anoble man called for glass of champagne. he said, goodbye. we are getting old. we will never meet again, god

bless you. he went out, mounted his pony, sayingrted for his home, he had to come to see general lafayette. now he had done that. he was going home. after his southern and western campaigns, he returned to boston in time for the anniversary of the battle of bunker hill. the american people gathered in charlestown, massachusetts, to attend the laying of the cornerstone and here in a by daniel webster. the guest of honor, the nation's guest, general lafayette. the 10th month of his farewell tour. he helped lay the cornerstone with daniel webster. 19th-centurye, a print of that occasion.

looks like he is supervising as opposed to playing the cornerstone. there was a possession to a spot where an amphitheater had been constructed out of wood. 45,000 peopleut present. the 15,000 in the amphitheater were arranged as follows. lafayette was in an armchair. then other revolutionary veterans. ladiesilliantly dressed who seemed to form a god of honor. more than 10,000 people were seated behind the ladies on the numerous benches. another 30,000 were at the top of the hill. prayer, the veteran, he began his speech. panoramicdle of his

speech, he turns to lafayette and addressed him directly. fortunate, fortunate man. what measures of devotion you owe to providence. you belong to both hemispheres. the spark oft liberty should be conducted by to theom the new world older, and we who's in duty and patriotism have called, long ago learned to cherish our name. after bunker hill, lafayette made a second trip to new hampshire. ironically, the master of was benjamin pierce. he didn't know lafayette was coming back. in order to accomplish the goal of visiting 24 states, lafayette headed east to main.

he left maine which created quite an event, he was traveling on the sabbath. went back through concorde and headed west, passing through a number of towns. claremont knew the connecticut river was brilliantly illuminated. after staying a night, he departed in a basket wagon. traveling north along the connecticut river, where the carriage crossed the river and relinquished its precious cargo. slide, that is back to bunker hill. institution.

it is a portrait of lafayette, he was not there when the column was built. it has the names of the various heroes. the next slide, that is the basket wagon. that is owned by the long island -- i was able to acquire an image of that. lafayette returned to new york city for the final time. a militia unit that had renamed itself in honor of lafayette's service saw him off. the next slide is a poster based on a painting, commissioned by the u.s. national guard in 1989. it shows lafayette bidding farewell to the militia unit.

in the distance, you can see the arch. it says. to hoboken -- ferry to hoboken. as the legend of this poster says, by the end of the 19th century, all the malicious -- themselvesd renamed national guard in honor of lafayette. today, we don't have the militia. we have the national guard. inlived in the white house september of 1825, during the presidency of john quincy adams. sent lafayette home aboard a new frigate. was willure that name service. -- well chosen.

the battle of the brandywine was an american defeat. led to the british taking philadelphia. that is the battle lafayette got wounded in. to france on the brandywine. in his journal, the visit is chronicled with his old friend, john adams. his new friend, who he met at a boarding house. andrew jackson. we get glimpses of the characters of those early leaders. jefferson is the ever gracious host. he comments on the good appearance and cheerfulness of egroes of monticello. elsewhere, describes slavery as a crime.

jackson's home in tennessee, he is shown pistols he had given to washington and now belong to washington -- jackson. lafayette recognizes them and --ments he found his faction thesfaction finding them in hands of a man so worthy. jackson blushes. my favorite story, living in the white house, probably getting on louise adam's nerves. he comes down for breakfast. he said, i would like to pay one final visit to james munro. adams says, i will go with you. he organizes an exhibition -- expedition.

they crossed the potomac, which is a toll bridge. the toll collector collects the toll. they hear a noise behind. mr. president. $.11 short. they are counting carriages and people, what the price should be. the toll taker recognizes the national guest, lafayette. he says, i am not going to take any toll on the half of -- the half of -- behalf of lafayette. the president says, no, i insist. this is not a public function. he was 11 since short -- cents short. he pays the 11 cents. it is commented is ironic, the ever paid for

lafayette was in the presence of the head of dastate. the circumstance that would have conferred immunity in any other country. he was the first foreigner to address a joint session of henryss, addressed by clay. voted him a national reward, $200,000 and 24,000 acres of land. that was not chump change. it is about $3.5 billion today -- million today. earlieste of the travelers on the urine canal -- erie canal. he was greeted by about 3 , about oneple quarter of the population of this country. died, may 20, 1834.

he was buried on soil that had been sent to him from bunker hill. there is debate about that. some authors say it was from mount vernon. mostly say it came back on the brandywine. notbest evidence is it was sent until 1829, when a native of charleston, a successful wrote to put together this and send it to lafayette. i will end this talk with an obituary. not of lafayette, it will be too obscuret of an philadelphian, david kramer. he died during the blizzard of 1888. is as follows. debt --o knew the net

lafayette dead. , after several months the lists, in the 73rd year of his age. 73 years old. he resided in philadelphia where he was a contractor. many fancy dwellings. he was a member of the freemasons, a high-end guild. at one time, he was an active member of the city council. in his youth, he had the pleasure of seeing and conversing with general visittte during his last to america. if you do the math, david kramer , a successful builder and city council or, was nine years old when he met general lafayette.

70 students from each school, outside of independence hall, october 4, 1824. apparently the most important event of his life. -- get the impact of the idea of the impact of lafayette on the american people. thank you. [applause] >> i am going to impose upon our speaker to take a question or two. i am going to move the microphone to the center and ask you to come up to the microphone and speak from it so we can all hear from it and it can be recorded. so -- >> any questions?

>> i really enjoyed your speech. in my family, there are lafayette legends about his visit. i never knew where there were?

or --ther they are real are there stories about his visit? west the way back from the , he did visit niagara falls. there are wonderful descriptions of the falls. they were extremely impressed by the falls. they were definitely there. >> i knew they were there. i read the old translation, i am looking forward to reading yours. there is nothing about the stories i have heard from my family. >> tell me one. apparently when he arrived in niagara falls, he arrived in a red coach. he arrived at the eagle tavern, which was the largest tavern in

town. the road was muddy. the owner of the tavern was supposed to greet him, but the story is he actually picked him up to save him from stepping into the mud. apparently lafayette was not very happy with that. heard ofave never that. the only similar story i have heard is when lafayette crosses the chattahoochee river between georgia and alabama. he is greeted on the other side by representatives of the creek nation, and they will not let him set foot on the moist soil. they have some sort of contraption where they carry him off. i have never heard it up north. >> thank you. alan: any other questions? did lafayette himself leave any documentation about this

visit? : there was a six volume memoir he was working on. i have looked at a couple of the volumes. the one that has been translated to english, volume one. very little text and mostly correspondence after that. there is probably a brief account in one of the volumes of his memoir. and then there is correspondence. he was a notorious letter writer. there is a lot of correspondence around the farewell tour. in the case peter put together, i think there is a letter -- was it to jefferson? telling about his coming on the farewell tour. he would write letters and send them back on ships. i am sure there are plenty of

letters he wrote. thank you. could you say a little about his visit to new orleans. did he go other places in louisiana? especially what is now lafayette? as i understand it, he relinquished his title. could you explain what that was all about? land-grant given to him after the revolution. i think about 1800, and new orleans. -- in new orleans. he never fully owned it. at a certain point in time, he gave up. there were competing claims. he went to new orleans, did not go to what is now lafayette, louisiana. one of the things i remember about the visit to new orleans

-- he made a point of giving african-americans face time and greeting them. there was a unit that had served in the war of 1812 who had served in the war. themnt up to them and told there were other people of african descent who had served in the revolution. thanked them for the service, in front of a huge crowd. ,here is a boston abolitionist named lewis hayden. he was a slave in kentucky. when lafayette arrives in 1825, in lexington. in his memoir, he tells the on a fence.e was there were a ton of people. lafayette is in a carriage and he tipped his cap in his direction. he turned around

and saw no one was behind him. he got frightened, ran off. olvedthat moment, i res i was not going to be a slave and i was going to escape. he attributed it to the recognition lafayette gave him. >> thank you. i am visiting this country. was the french government interested in the visit? alan: could you repeat the first part? >> i asked whether the french government was interested at all in his visit and were involved in the visit from the french delegation? alan: the french government was very negative about the visit. this was under the bourbon registration -- restoration, louis the 18th who died during the tour.

it just moves to the next subject. he doesn't say anything about it. he was distrusted, hated by the bourbons. the success of charles the 10th, there are to bring people who stayed consistent to their principles, me and lafayette. they tried to prevent people from greeting him. it was rough for him at that time. anyone else? >> you mentioned he met with jefferson and john quincy adams everyone about john adams? alan: he did. he spent several hours with john adams. there is a poignant depiction of at theams's feebleness

time. he had to be helped. his mind was still as sharp as ever. he did visit john adams. yes. y did monroe invite him to calm? to come?at -- whose idea was this? alan: i don't know. there are several theories. one was he was completely broke, his estate had been confiscated during the revolution. he did manage to get control of his farm, la grange. he had a lot of debts. thoughtmes munroe congress would give him a national reward. back tod to come america.

neverportunity had arisen. bourbons kept restricting the suffrage. he lost the election of 1824 for his seat. that is when the invitation came and he decided to accept it. >> one more question. >> thank you. my understanding is lafayette wanted to come back to the u.s. in the 1790's. his cabineton and had told him not to. i was wondering if that is true? a grain of truth, but it was not at that time. he was in prison, he was a moderate and he was hated by both the radical revolutionaries and by the loyalists. he went over the border when the

jacobins tried to arrest him. he was a general in charge of one of the army's north. he was arrested and turned over by the prussians, the austrians. ed for fiveison years. he when he got out, when napoleon overran europe, he made sure all the state visitors were released. he didn't want him in france either. latewas the time, the 1790's, he considered coming to america. there was some resistance. quasi-war time of the between france and the u.s.. relations were not good. --was well after citizen >> i want you to join me in

thanking our guest. [applause] >> in a minute, if you are patient, alan hoffman will be out in the lobby to sign copies of "lafayette in america." we have put a few lafayette related materials from the famous visit on display in the front of the room. thank you. [applause] >> series, 19 68, america in turmoil is available as a podcast. you can find it on our website at c-span.org/history.

this is american history tv, only on american history -- only on c-span3. next on lectures in history, texas a&m repressor lori and -- aboutne foote talks shakespearean performances, and shows. she talks about the high literacy rate in the united novelsand the rise of and ladies journals. her classes about 45 minutes. our topic for today is popular culture. we have been talking about a -- the social changes in the united states in 1840's. we're going to look at how popular culture reflected some of the conflicts that go on in american society over these social changes. we are going to