- He was treated like a rock star.

The crowds were proportionally larger than the crowds for The Beatles.

- In 1824 and 1825, the young United States was growing exponentially, clearing land, moving west, and disagreeing about a lot of things.

However, there was one thing most Americans could agree on.

The Marquis de Lafayette rocked Gilbert du Motier, the Marquis de Lafayette, a hero of the American Revolution was French.

In 1777 as a wealthy, idealistic 19-year-old, he bought a ship and sailed to the colonies to become an officer in the continental army.

He quickly learned English, bonded with General George Washington, and became a trusted leader.

- He was really amazing for the American Revolution, and he was a human being like everybody else.

He had his ups and downs, but he, he did some amazing things and he was uniformly kindhearted.

And, and for that reason, the American troops loved him.

You know, he saw them ragtag, starving, and, and he did something about it.

- Lafayette's connections with the French court and his own personal fortune provided financial aid to the cause.

But he played an active role as well.

He was injured at the Battle of Brandywine, forged an important alliance with the Oneida tribe and stayed with the troops during the long hungry winter at Valley Forge.

And finally, in 1781, alongside Alexander Hamilton and George Washington Lafayette led the siege at Yorktown ending the war.

- He was, he was just really different than a lot of people of his era.

He was a true believer in the values of the American Revolution.

He argued for equal treatment and fair treatment of Native Americans.

Argued that slavery should be prohibited in the United States, that people should all be treated fairly.

- And so nearly 50 years after the end of the Revolutionary War in 1824, at the invitation of President Monroe, 67-year-old Lafayette came back to tour all 24 states to remind the country of its founding beliefs.

- He was the last living general of the revolution.

James Monroe was president and it was a rough job being president at that time.

'cause people were really divided.

By that time, old divisions over things like slavery and abolition, what kind of economy the US should have, how the government should manage the economy.

All these old divisions were really festering.

And he thought it would be a good idea to bring Lafayette who everybody loved, and let Lafayette schmooze with people and give them something to rally around and remind them of the original values that bought them together.

- 50,000 people gathered at The Battery in New York City on August 16th, 1824, to welcome his ship.

Thousands more lined the parade route, hoping to catch a glimpse of the hero as he made his way up Broadway to City Hall.

On the 25th of August, he visited an 88-year-old John Adams in Quincy, Massachusetts, and met with veterans of the war in Boston.

- It was a festival like atmosphere.

Everywhere there was Lafayette merchandise, there were Lafayette banners.

Women wore Lafayette gloves with his face printed on them.

And so he was reduced to picking up people's hands and kissing his own face, which really mortified him.

- Throughout the fall, He was honored with parades in Philadelphia and Washington DC meeting with more veterans along the way.

On October 17th, he visited Mount Vernon and George Washington's tomb, where he spent an hour paying his respects to his leader.

What was supposed to be a four month visit, soon became a 13 month grand tour.

Lafayette was invited to Indiana's new capital in Indianapolis, but with poor roads making the trip arduous, everyone decided Jeffersonville across the Ohio River from the city of Louisville would be a much better choice.

On May 12th, 1825, the Marquita Lafayette arrived in Jeffersonville to a 24 gun, salute rows of soldiers and crowds of war veterans and well wishers.

He was escorted along the river to the Posey Mansion on Front Street and was greeted by Indiana Governor James B. Ray, - The ladies of Jeffersonville, spread a huge banquet underneath the bows of trees and fill the trees with spring flowers.

There was a great deal of speechmaking.

We know that the governor of Indiana had some things to say.

We have the, the records of a number of toasts made, and Lafayette had a great deal to say.

It's amazing his voice held out through the entire trip because he was called upon everywhere to speak.

Everyone wanted to hear from him.

- And just as Lafayette was remembered for his wartime contributions in 1825, Diane Stepro has been working to ensure he remains remembered.

May 12th, 2025 was a 200th anniversary of Lafayettes stop in Jeffersonville, a day of rediscovering the Marquis de Lafayette.

- It was pretty big.

3 to 4 hundred people attended, of them dressed in varied costumes.

It was very colorful.

We had reenactments of the speeches.

The fifth graders were asked originally to perform some melody that would've been popular at the time when Lafayette visited.

And they were given some choices and they came back with, we'd rather do the Lafayette song from Hamilton.

And those little kids rapped that song and they also gave the mayor a bit of a lecture on, on how important Lafayette was.

They were just absolutely fabulous.

- Just as Americans were reminded of the values the Marquis de Lafayette stood for in 1825, Hoosiers in 2025 continue to honor his legacy and ideals.

- Lafayette stood for so much that is important for people to remember now, just as it was a divided time, then it's a divided time now, perhaps it's always a divided time.

And it always seems like our own time is worse.

There is a lot of lack of civil discussion and a figure like Lafayette that reminds us of the best values of the revolution.

The idea of universal equality and religious tolerance.

The idea of fair treatment of people no matter where they're from.

Those were all important to Lafayette.

And people understood that he meant to care for them with those ideals.

And we wanted to remind people that that's where we, we came from.

We came from loving leaders like that.

- Lafayette was a true believer in the future of this country.

As he said about America in a letter to his wife in 1775...