Marquis de Lafayette doesn't reappear after Act 1 in Hamilton, but what happened to the revolutionary after the events of the play? The character appears throughout Act 1 of the movie (originally filmed in 2016), but then disappears from the storyline as actor Daveed Diggs takes on the role of Thomas Jefferson. Here's what happened to the stylish and highly-decorated French aristocrat who influenced young Alexander Hamilton (Lin-Manuela Miranda).
The play's storyline introduces Lafayette to explain Hamilton's backstory and how the teenage immigrant developed friendships that would affect the future of America. During "My Shot," the characters prepare for revolution and later fight together at the the Siege of Yorktown, a 1781 battle in which General George Washington and French allies defeated British forces in Yorktown, Virginia. At the time, both Hamilton and Lafayette were approximately 24 years old. In Hamilton on Disney+, "Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)" shows Diggs and Miranda's characters living in the moment while anticipating the future.
During the performance of "Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)", Lafayette foreshadows a return to his native country: "I go back to France / I bring freedom to my people / If I'm given the chance." The song marks the character's departure from the storyline, and allows for audiences to be invested when Diggs returns as Jefferson. The rest of Miranda's play spans over three decades, culminating with Hamilton being killed, in a duel, by U.S. Vice President Aaron Burr. In real life, the United States had just acquired Louisiana from France (The Louisiana Purchase), and President Thomas Jefferson reportedly asked Lafayette about a return to the United States. As it turns out, Lafayette never saw Hamilton after the Revolutionary War, though they did correspond via letters (via National Archives).
Lafayette returned to France approximately two months after the Siege of Yorktown. Three years later, after the Treaty of Paris (and the official end of the American Revolutionary War), he returned to America and visited every state, but it's unclear if he ever met Hamilton face to face. At the time, Hamilton had just resigned from Congress, and then established the Bank of New York. When Lafayette returned to France, he served King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, both of whom would later be executed in 1793 during the French Revolution.
Prior to the King and Queen's deaths, Lafayette was arrested and spent five years in jail before Napoleon Bonaparte ultimately approved his release. By the time of Hamilton's death, Lafayette apparently wanted to stay in France for personal reasons. His wife died in 1807, and he later lived freely in Paris after the fall of Napoleon. From July 1824 to September 1825, the "The Hero of the Two Worlds" returned to America for a "Grand Tour." In May 1834, approximately 45 years after writing a French civil rights document called "Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen," Lafayette passed away at age 76. His grave is covered by an American flag.
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July 08, 2020 at 04:14AM
