USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The man is Marie-Joseph-Paul-Yves-Roch-Gilbert du Motier de Lafayette (1757-1834), referred to in France as the Marquis de Lafayette.

Detailed explanation-2: -In the summer of 1780, 5, 500 French troops, with Comte de Rochambeau at the helm, landed in Newport, Rhode Island to aid the Americans.

Detailed explanation-3: -In 1776, the Continental Congress sent diplomats Benjamin Franklin, Silas Deane, and Arthur Lee to secure a formal alliance with France. American victory over the British in the Battle of Saratoga convinced the French that the Americans were committed to independence and worthy partners to a formal alliance.

Detailed explanation-4: -Lafayette, one of the richest young men in France, left his home country on March 25, 1777, filled with desire to fight against the British in the American Revolution.

Detailed explanation-5: -At first, French support was covert: French agents sent the Patriots military aid (predominantly gunpowder) through a company called Rodrigue Hortalez et Compagnie, beginning in the spring of 1776. Estimates place the percentage of French-supplied arms to the Americans in the Saratoga campaign at up to 90%.