THINGS MORE PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT LAFAYETTE
-wrote in all caps in his letters when he was excited
-slept under a tree with Washington after the battle of Monmouth, both enveloped in Washington’s cape
-basically saved the life of the Queen by kissing her hand
-re-gifted a fucking aligator to President John Quincy Adams cause he didn’t know what the fuck to do with it
-wanted to go kill the Beast of Gévaudan (some big scary people-eating wolf that scared the shit out of the french at the time) by himself at like 6 years old
-called both Jefferson and Washington on their bullshit, telling them to free all their slaves… neither listened
-actually bought an entire island full of slaves with his wife Adrienne and freed them all, gave them money for the work they did, gave them education
-last letter he wrote before his death was about freeing slaves and how sad he was that France was taking so long to give people of colour the same rights than white people
-died holding a picture of his dead-wife to his heart
-cried with Jefferson when they met for the first time in years after both American and French revolutions
-continued to fight and got back on his horse when he was shot in the leg during his first battle
-called his only son “George Washington de Lafayette”
-was socially awkward af, especially when he was young
-left France to go fight for America when the King, his step family, and basically the whole court told him “no”
-had to sneak out of France
-sources differ, but probably left disguised as a woman so no one would recognised him
-gave the biggest symbol of French Revolution (the key of the just-destroyed Bastille, a prison where the enemies of the King and Kingdom were imprisoned) to Washington
-told Washington he was his lost father
-tripped when dancing with the Queen of France and never heard the end of it
-had “sleepovers” on the grass with John Laurens and Alexander Hamilton where they talked about politic
-threw himself in front of a loaded cannon ready to shoot to try to stop an event of the french Revolution to become too bloody
-at some point, pretty much everyone in France wanted him dead
-slept through two of the biggest events of the french Revolution lol
-gave money and helped a lot of poor farmers in need
-fought for other religions than his and the King’s own to be respected and have the same rights (specifically fought for Protestant and Jewish people)
-fought against death penalties
-brought back some dirt from America and told his son to put it on top of his grave when he dies
-redecorated his whole house in France just like American’s homes
-actually told people he was American
-altogether had a slight obsessing problem with America
-had his own room at Washington’s home
-had a ring with Washington’s hair in it
-was one of the richest man in France at the age of 12 because his whole family had basically died at that point
-changed back his family motto to “Why not?”
-was only 19 when he left for America
-was detained in horrible conditions in prison for 5 years (2 of which with his wife and daughters)
-refused the hell out of several powerful positions in politic and in the army because he didn’t found these to be close enough to his ideals of freedom and shit
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