Hello, and welcome back to my blog!

This week, I will be focusing on a character that is minor in the musical, but was very important to real-life Alexander Hamilton: Marquis de Lafayette. In the musical (and in real life), Lafayette and Hamilton were really close friends. That is why I chose to classify him as Alexander’s “bro,” given that their relationship is portrayed as very casual, playful, and friendly in the musical.

To begin, I just want to note that Lafayette only appears in Act One of the musical. He is first introduced in the song, Aaron Burr, Sir, along with other characters such as Aaron Burr, John Laurens, and Alexander Hamilton himself. At this point, Lafayette and Hamilton meet for the first time and soon become close friends and Revolutionary Allies. All that is provided regarding Lafayette’s background is that he has travelled from France in order to fight with American troops in the Revolutionary War.

The close friendship that was developed by Hamilton and Lafayette is mostly shown over the course of two back-to-back songs. Following “Aaron Burr, Sir,” all the men present stay together and perform the infamous piece My Shot. During the 5-minute rap song, the men explain how they will fight together to stand up for the new country that they are building. In spirit of the Revolution, they sing The Story of Tonight, where they all establish what their goals are and express their desire for independence. These two songs show the fraternal relationship developed by Lafayette and Hamilton.

Their friendship becomes important later in the musical, when the colonists are ready to fight in the Revolutionary War. Lafayette appears once more and is formally introduced in Guns and Ships, where he explains how the French troops will unite with the American troops to fight against the British and obtain independence. This act is later thanked personally by Hamilton in The Battle of Yorktown, where he promises Lafayette that the Americans would not forget his help and would aid him in the French Revolution as a form of repayment. Unfortunately, this promise was never fulfilled as Alexander Hamilton later argues against Thomas Jefferson to prevent American involvement in the French Revolution. In Act Two, it is known that Lafayette has gone back to France (which is why he only appears in Act One) to fight for his own Revolution. His name is mentioned, however, by Thomas Jefferson when trying to argue that Americans should help the French in their revolution. Jefferson uses Lafayette as a way to remind Hamilton that he is breaking a promise, yet Hamilton claims he knows Lafayette and he is not worried about his success in the French Revolution.

Despite his minor involvement in the musical, as you can see Lafayette had a lot of influence on Hamilton. Without their friendship, who knows if French troops would have helped the Americans in the Revolutionary War, and maybe the British would have won. But, thankfully, Hamilton and Lafayette were really close friends and it is safe to say that we might not have been the country we are today if it wasn’t for their relationship.

Something I like about writing this blog on Lafayette is that, as opposed to many of the other characters, I don’t know much about his biography. After doing some research, here is what I learned about the real-life Marquis de Lafayette:

Born in 1757 in France, Lafayette’s full name is Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette. He came from a wealthy family, yet his parents died during his childhood, leaving him a very very wealthy orphan. By the age of 14, he has already joined the Royal Army and was ready to fight with the French troops. He got married to a wealthy woman at the age of 16, and together they became one of the wealthiest families in France. When he found out about the colonies’ struggle to gain their independence from the British, Marquis de Lafayette traveled to America to join the revolutionary cause. Working under General George Washington’s commands, Lafayette was a key in the success of the Revolution. After, he traveled back to France and fought in the French Revolution.

Now, observe the picture above. This bronze sculpture stands in a park in Morrison, NJ, and it depicts Marquis de Lafayette, Alexander Hamilton, and George Washington – a trio known as “The Alliance.” The sculpture was built to commemorate the help Lafayette provided during the American Revolution.

To conclude this blog, I just want to make an interesting note about Marquis de Lafayette: in the musical, the actor who plays Lafayette is also the actor who plays Thomas Jefferson. Hence, one appears only in Act One, while the only appears only in Act Two. I don’t know the exact reason why Lin Manuel Miranda chose to link these two characters in that form, yet I believe it was for for two main reasons: 1) he wanted to highlight France’s involvement in American History (as both characters were linked to France in some way), and 2) he wanted to show the contrast of a really good friend and an enemy in Hamilton’s life, and how each affected his legacy in a different way.

Stay tuned for next week!