Gentry George

The Father of our Country was born into a prosperous Colonial Virginia family in 1732. His father owned substantial acreage plus successful business enterprises, but it paled compared to the thousands of acres of the much wealthier planters.

Augustine Washington died when GW was eleven, the eldest son of his second wife. While young George was left comfortable property upon his maturity, the bulk of Augustine’s estate went to his two elder sons (by his first wife). Whatever dreams or aspirations he may have had for the classical London education his half-brothers received were dashed. 

Instead, GW was encouraged to train as a surveyor, then a respectable career for his social status. That in turn introduced him to the western part of the state, which in turn launched his military career in the Virginia Militia. 

Having been thwarted for advancement in the British Army several times over several years, and having inherited some nice property along the Potomac River, he was ready for a career change. As a planter. As soon-to-be ex-Colonel Washington, he also met and married Martha Custis, one of the wealthiest young widows in Virginia.

The Marquis…

…Was born a Marquis – one of the highest ranks of French nobility. His father, died when young Gilbert-with-a-lot-of-middle-names-Motier, was a baby. Born in 1757, the orphaned child inherited the title of Marquis de Lafayette, plus enormous wealth, and became a ward of the King. He received an excellent education, heavy in military training.

For reasons best known to himself, the nineteen year old Marquis became enthralled by the passions and politics of American Independence. With perhaps mild encouragement from Benjamin Franklin (then a minister to France), and persistence pleading his case to the French authorities, Lafayette used his own funds to recruit a regiment of soldiers and purchase/equip a sailing vessel to volunteer in the very-new United States army. 

Once Congress learned that the Marquis and company were willing to serve sans pay, they were happy to ship him off to General Washington, now 45, and in charge of the Continental Army. It took a little time, but young Lafayette a) endeared himself personally to Washington, and b) more importantly, proved himself a fine soldier, and a particularly able officer. And GW did not suffer fools gladly.

And as far as the Marquis was concerned, General Washington would be the father he never had. In fact, when the Frenchman’s first son was born, he named him Georges Washington Lafayette, and asked the General to be godfather. GW was honored. 

France: The Worsening of Times

When Lafayette returned to France in the mid-1780s, the contagion of revolution had taken hold in Paris, more mob-ruled upheaval than systematic political change. The monarchy of King Louis XVI, was teetering. The King, more inept than evil, finally agreed to revive the Estates General, a parliamentary assembly that had not been summoned for nearly 200 years. It was hailed as a great benefit to Frenchmen; all classes would be represented. 

The Marquis was elected as a member of the nobility, but he was still infected with the cause of liberty, fraternity and maybe a little more equality. 

He renewed his American friendship with Thomas Jefferson (who he met superficially in Virginia), now sent by Congress to “succeed’ the aging Dr. Franklin. Lafayette was not yet 30, Jefferson, in his mid-40s. “The Rights of Man” are usually credited to the input of both men. 

King Louis also appointed Lafayette to take charge of the Paris National Guard, with responsibilities including the safety of the royal family. It was considered both an honor – and a practical move. Lafayette’s military and “revolutionary” credentials were impeccable. 

1789: The USA and France

No disrespect to Mr. Dickens, but the situation between the USA and France in 1789 was also “the best of times, the worst of times.”

Eighteen months earlier, the failures of the Articles of Confederation, designed to govern the new country, had been scrapped in favor of a completely new constitution. Within a year, a majority of States ratified the document; the rest followed accordingly. One of the provisions called for the election of a President as the country’s Chief Executive, along with a Congress (legislative) and a Supreme Court (judiciary).

No American was more respected and regarded than George Washington, the former General who had voluntarily relinquished his commission in order to return to his beloved Mount Vernon plantation. Even King George III, when he heard the news, said that Washington would be the most famous man in the world.

That he would also be his country’s first president was practically a given; his election was unanimous. Peacefully. Twice. 

Alas in France, the fond wisps of hope via the Estates General and even the seriously weakened King Louis strained to the point of breaking. The have-nots of mob rule demanded off-with-their-heads punishment for the nobility, who had taxed them to death to pay for their private luxuries. 

The Bastille…

…was an old fortress-prison in the middle of Paris, and on July 14, 1789, it held only seven scraggy prisoners, mostly defective or indigent. It was already slated for demolition, but it was a mighty symbol of oppression.

The mob, armed with farm tools and whatever could do damage, assaulted the prison and released the prisoners. Then they tore it down, brick by brick. The Marquis de Lafayette, as head of the Paris National Guard managed to obtain its key, and helped prevent mob panic. 

Believing that the symbol of the “we-the-people” French Revolution would find no better home in posterity, he sent the key to the Bastille to his beloved “father” George Washington. 

It remains at Mount Vernon to this day.

Sources:

Brookheiser, Richard – Founding Father: Rediscovering George Washington – The Free Press, 1996

Malone, Dumas – Jefferson and the Rights of Man (Vol. 2) – Little, Brown, 1951

Unger, Harlow Giles – Lafayette – John Wiley & Sons, 2002

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/february-4/first-u-s-president-elected

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Marquis-de-Lafayette/The-French-Revolution

https://www.monticello.org/research-education/thomas-jefferson-encyclopedia/marquis-de-lafayette/

https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/marquis-de-lafayette