Lafayette La Casino

Admin | November 30, 2011 | Comments Off

Lafayette La Casino

Lafayette La Casino

Gilbert du Motier de Lafayette has often received recognition for helping the United States of America flap her fledgling wings and gain independence from Great Britain. But his position in the French Revolution is less discussed. Follow his career in his own country during the tumultuous decades of the late 18th century.

Lafayette and the French Revolution

The eventful summer of 1789 found Lafayette riding a wave of popularity at home. His role in the American Revolution gave him favor among all French revolutionaries.

For his part, Lafayette saw the initial turmoil of the French Revolution as indication of a healthy struggle for democracy. He hoped it would prosper like the American experiment in self-government. He fully endorsed the purpose of Jacobin club members who banded together to defend the new French Constitution. However as 1789 gave place to 1790 and the Jacobins began to demand the deposition of King Louis XVI, Lafayette withdrew his initial support.

He allied himself with the Feuillants instead, a political club who favored constitutional monarchy. Although Lafayette considered himself an ardent friend to liberty, he believed that the rights of the people could be established and protected by the Constitution. A balanced body of law, he believed, could check the excesses of the monarchy, regulate the clergy and nobility, and promote the rights of the common citizen simultaneously.

Lafayette and the National Guard

Following the attack on the Bastille in July of 1789, the National Assembly realized that some entity must keep the peace in an increasingly riotous capital. So they created the National Guard. They appointed Lafayette commander of the volunteer force. His duties included keeping the higher classes from revenging themselves on the lower, or vice versa.

Before three months had passed, Lafayette and his guards had to intervene to keep a mob from attacking the royal family at Versailles. Parisians demanded that the king move to Paris. When the royal family did not comply the mob turned ugly and broke into the palace. Lafayette arrived in time to find the terrified Queen Marie Antoinette seeking refuge in the King’s apartments. He convinced the king and queen to speak to the crowd. Lafayette’s appearance pacified the mob and the royal family was allowed to depart unharmed for Tuileries.

Lafayette, Danton, and Robespierre

Lafayette’s popularity did not survive a year. As the Jacobins flooded Paris with pamphlets defaming their opponents, Lafayette was increasingly termed a royalist, a spy, a puppet who pretended to favor democracy only for his own safety.