BUSINESS
THE FAREWELL TOUR OF AMERICA’S GUEST story by Mark W. Buyck, III
Mark posing at the Lafayette historic landmark in Georgetown
In March 1824 an invitation arrived at LaGrange inviting the Marquis de Lafayette to America. James Monroe, the last United States President who was a Revolutionary War veteran, was in his last full year as President. Lafayette was the only living General who had served on the Patriot side. President Monroe hoped Lafayette would instill the spirit of 1776 in the next generation of Americans and celebrate the nation’s 50th birthday. On August 15, 1824, Lafayette, accompanied by his son George Washington Lafayette, arrived at Staten Island. The next day, 50,000 people lined Broadway for a triumphant parade. It had been nearly 40 years since his last visit to America and the country’s ardor for this Revolutionary War hero had not waned. Lafayette visited President Jefferson at Monticello. President Monroe entertained him at the White House. With his son, he visited George Washington’s tomb at Mt. Vernon. He traveled to Yorktown and spent 8 days there and in Williamsburg and Jamestown. He dined with Chief Justice John Marshall and Secretary of War, John C. Calhoun at the Raleigh Tavern in Williamsburg. He then returned to Washington to address a joint session of Congress. During his 13-month trip, he visited all the existing 24 states. He referred to himself as a “ghost from 32
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July 2022
another world” whose trip “contributed to tightening the union between the states and to soften political parties.” The country was politically divided more than at any time in its history. The two leading candidates for President that year were John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson. South Carolina’s John C. Calhoun announced as a candidate; however, he later declared himself a candidate for Vice President and won handily. Jackson won the overall popular vote by a fairly comfortable margin; however, he did not receive a majority of the popular or electoral vote. The election was decided in the House of Representatives where Adams carried 13 states to only 7 for Jackson. Jackson felt that the election had been stolen from him and the will of the people had been ignored. Many of his supporters agreed. Jackson and his supporters accused Adams and Henry Clay, the Speaker of the House, of entering into a “corrupt bargain” to prevent Jackson’s election. Lafayette stayed out of the political fray and instead engendered feelings of goodwill and comity. After spending the fall and winter of 1824-25 in New England and the Atlantic states, Lafayette and his entourage headed south. On March 4, 1825, Lafayette arrived in the small town of Fayetteville, N.C. In 1783, in gratitude of Lafayette’s contributions to winning the Revolutionary War, the citizens of
