How and when did you get hooked on history?
My dad was a professor of history focusing on the French cathedrals and the Middle Ages craftsmen guilds. History has always been around me since my early childhood. Many different layers of history have captured my attention. I have been exploring in depth the transatlantic world, the French colonial period, and the Franco-American alliance, with an emphasis on the American War for Independence and the Triumphal Return of Lafayette to the United States in 1824-1825.
What role does history play or has it played in your personal life?
I think history is a great key to understanding the mechanisms that have carried over into our modern society and that continue to influence it. History informs why some bilateral relations are more significant than others for a given country. It explains why the global stage is uneven and showcases the road to where we are now. Most importantly, it helps me forge my own understanding of the world.
How does history play a part of your professional life/career?
My full-time job has been to lead The Lafayette Trail, Inc. preparing for the bicentennial of Lafayette’s Farewell Tour in 2024. I am very fortunate to be able to live my passion and contribute my own piece to the Franco-American alliance. I believe the alliance between the U.S. and France is unique and is home to many positive values and significant advances for the world. Studying Lafayette’s embrace of the American experiment and the trust he placed in the institutions of the United States has been very inspiring.
Why is studying/knowing history important?
History reveals where we come from and the journey that led us to that point. Understanding our origin and our journey can help understand our own identity and the point from which we can talk to others. It is true for individuals, but also for nations. A fine understanding of the historical mechanisms relevant to one space or region can lead to great diplomatic assets.
What is your favorite period or aspect of history to learn about and why?
I have enjoyed studying the period around Lafayette’s 1824 Tour of the United States. Most recently, I have started exploring in more detail the French colonial period in North America, especially the settlement of Louisiana. The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 transferred an enormous amount of land coming from a French background to the government of the United States. It was interesting to me to explore the French background of regions such as the current state of Mississippi and understand the processes leading to their integration into the American family. What fascinated me the most was to try to find out any remnants of the French control in former Louisiana territories when Lafayette returned to the U.S. in 1824-25. Were they visible in any way? Did they influence the receptions in honor of Lafayette? Would they differ from that organized in his honor on the eastern seashore?
How did the Lafayette Trail project begin and what is its goal?
I created The Lafayette Trail, Inc. at the Consulate General of France in Boston in March 2017 as a junior diplomat with the goal of implementing a cultural trail to increase mutual understanding between the peoples of France and of the United States. The success of the project in New England led me to conceive of its nationwide expansion. The Lafayette Trail, Inc. has entered into an exclusive agreement with the William G. Pomeroy Foundation to place up to 175 official Lafayette Trail historic markers in each of the 24 states that Lafayette visited in 1824. You may view our installed markers on our webmap (https://www.thelafayettetrail.org/markers/map/). To this date, we have had over 40 markers approved in more than 13 states. The latest addition to our content delivery toolkit is a web series hosted on YouTube called Follow The Frenchmen (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbKN6BCZ4OWKpwEO4XGwuYejv_tYzqv4s)
7. Why did Lafayette become such a hero to Americans during the time of his tour and why is he important now?
The tour of Lafayette takes place in a moment of great political divisiveness in the United States. The financial panic of 1819 weakened the country’s confidence in some national institutions, in particular banks. The Missouri Compromise of 1820 deeply polarized the nation around the issue of slavery. The U.S. 1824 Presidential Election revealed deep regional factions. The country’s spread to the west leads to greater diversity in opinion and greater divisiveness. The Revolutionary War generation is dying out. Lafayette is invited by President Monroe and Congress to return to the U.S. for the fourth and last time as the Friend of Washington and the last surviving Major General of the Continental Army. For 13 months, from August 16, 1824, to September 8, 1825, Lafayette was the Nation’s Guest. He epitomized the Revolutionary War Spirit. He expressed his confidence in the American institutions, including the belief that the Republican institutions of the United States were fundamentally superior to that of Europe. Americans looked to Lafayette for a stabilizing presence. In celebrating Lafayette, Americans celebrated themselves and renewed faith in the uniqueness of their nation. Lafayette’s Tour installed the general understanding that the United States fundamentally differed from Europe, a message that the nation needed to hear as it came up on the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the Revolutionary War.
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