USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -A young, wealthy French aristocrat with an impressively lengthy name, Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, defied his own king to enter the American Revolution against Great Britain.

Detailed explanation-2: -He became convinced that the American revolutionary cause was noble, and he traveled to the New World seeking glory in it. He was made a major general at age 19, but he was initially not given American troops to command.

Detailed explanation-3: -After returning to France in 1830, he reestablished the National Guard and participated in the July revolution. Lafayette then accepted Louis Philipe as king after he promised a monarchy with republican institutions. He died on May 20, 1834 and was buried at the Picpus Cemetery in Paris.

Detailed explanation-4: -In late 1776, with both France and Spain already secretly providing munitions and money for the Revolutionary War, Benjamin Franklin led a delegation to Paris hoping to negotiate a formal alliance. (The Americans realized that the war for independence would be lost without the support of other nations.

Detailed explanation-5: -Back in France, Lafayette helped launch the French Revolution in 1789. He served in the National Assembly and drafted the Declaration of the Rights of Man.