menachem begin and anwar sadat, and we salute the wise leadership of president jimmy carter. [applause] >> follow us on social media at c-span history for more this date in history posts. >> good evening, everybody. >> good eating. >> i like to want them the american revolution museum at yorktown. i'm mark howell director of education, the jamestown-yorktown foundation. i'm so glad to see you all out and about. go ahead, , you can clap for yourself. [applause] >> i'd like to welcome you to our talking history lecture series tonight. two nights presentation is the second presentation in our series and its the first that we hosted here at the museum this year. i'm going to tell you more of us of the next speakers with coming up after a presentation tonight but tonight you are in for a treat. you are about to talk and listen to someone named mark schneider.

mark is a character interpreter. in the museum field character interpreter of people who blame history and drama and evoke the past by taking on the character, the person of the past if you will. it's not easy. a friend of ours used to train character interpreters over at colonial williamsburg and before he did a training session he always started off with his longfellow poem. it's a very short poem. you probably heard it. there was a little girl who had a little curl right in the middle of her for head. when she was good, indeed she was very good, but when she was bad she was horrid. horrid. and that little girl is i think

evocative of character interpretation. when it's very good, it is outstanding and depicting the values and attitudes of the past. past. however, when it's done poorly taken very much trivialize the past. and so there's a fine balance between very good and horrid. and i'm here to tell you that mark schneider is very good. [applause] mark has combined his love of history, his love of horses, his background in french heritage to great effect. he himself is a military veteran. himself having served in the cavalry as a cavalry -- excuse me, in the army as a calvary scout and bosnia-herzegovina in 1995. he enlisted not long after his graduation from christopher newport university with a ba in

history. mark is carly working at colonial williamsburg and he has been there for 23 years now in numerous positions -- currently working -- he's been a tradesman, a coachman, theatrical interpreter and industry position his what is known as -- currently portraying the marquis de lafayette. in his spare time mark travels internationally as napoleon bonaparte and he has appeared as napoleon and austria, belgium, the czech republic, france, germany, italy, russia and spain so and well-rounded resume and a fascinating look into this era. so without any further ado i would like you to please help me in welcoming mark schneider. [applause] ♪

[singing] ♪ [singing] ♪ [singing] ♪ [applause]

>> the song of the army of the rye written in 1792 by crusade to leo. he was in stratford serving as a captain in army. the armies of austria and prussia had invaded france as part of the wars of the first coalition. so he was tasked by the mayor of stress board to create a song that would inspire courage among the newfound soldiers to defend this new republic. so thus he came up with the song, the song of the army of the rhine. i think you all, we all know it much better as -- it received that name because in france there was something called -- a mass conscription of every able-bodied male from the age of 18-26 years of age was, well,

needed to be part of the army. and in the south of france in the city of marseille a battalion joined up and then begin marching toward paris. while they were marching begin singing this song so upon entering into paris, the marseille was sung to all present. this is a song that truly embodies the french revolution. i would say whenever you hear that to you immediately of course will think of france, but think of those difficult years of the french revolution and the difficulty that the people of france had gone through in order to, well, to fight the revolution and to succeed as best they could. now, that tune of course came from a to prior to those lyrics and some have attributed it to a tune that was written by mozart in 1787. 1787. so you can find it somewhere

online where you hear that too in the background and will say, that sounds awfully familiar. well, that was the inspiration for the music behind this. by this evening i, mark schneider, not the marquis de lafayette, not napoleon bonaparte, no other character of history other than myself will be talking about this massive subject of the french revolutio revolution, lafayette and appoint and held all mixed together. i mentioned to several prior to the beginning of this discussion, this lecture in which each one of the subjects could be spoken of at length for a semester or two in college or university or any learning facility but we're going to talk about it this evening for about 45 minutes to an hour. so in some of the subjects i shall brush over that i feel are not of the greatest importance but i will offer an opportunity for all of you to ask questions

or curiosities of me that i could perhaps a light you a bit about some of the subjects that i didn't speak up or if you need clarity in a particular subject i am more than happy to stop and explain it further. but the french revolution, we shall start. i love quotes and we shall begin with a quote. there is a deep line the struggle in the whole of society, and boundless grinding collision of the new world with the old. the french revolution was not the parent of this mighty movement, but it was its offspring. thomas carlyle scottish historian. now, france was considered a very strong power in 1789. in fact, perhaps the strongest in europe. she had the largest population in europe, about 26-27 billion people, even larger than the

rushes which is heartedly but nonetheless that wasn't the case. it was three times that of the population of england and twice that of spain, and it was thriving. friends had just engaged in a victory from the american revolution. we of course know that and though they did not really want to remember too much of the earlier part of the century with the war of austrian succession, polish secession, spanish secession, the seven years war. but in france the feeling was that they had just one the second-hundred years war. the name, the income and the french government rather was several times that of england and appeared to show some great strength as it was moving forward. to give you an idea of how much money they were bringing in, about 640 million compared to about 10 million english pounds.

there was great faith in the monarchy and the king himself. he was still seen as the father of the people. in fact, they said that beggars and even walk up to the gates and not in any fear of being taken away. there had been bread riots in france certain since 1763 to two poor harvest but there were bread riots in england and throughout all of europe. paris appear to present no problems to the inhabitants loyal to the king. they would blame the problems not on the king himself but rather upon his ministers. so the king was thought of as steel the father of his people. paris itself was thought to be the best managed and best policed city in europe. i know you might find hard to believe it give into paris anytime pre-pandemic that is. and joseph the second of austria

remarked upon the cleanliness of the streets, and the buildings and attention to public hygiene. in 1788 revolution truly seemed far away. so why, why did the french revolution? well, in a nutshell the political culture that evolved during the 18th century brought it about. it began a result of the fiscal crisis and economic crisis. it was made possible by a week and absolute monarch who was surrounded himself with people ministers. at once revolution begin to it was off by people inspired the ideals of the enlightenment and by the american revolution. motivation of the people, outdated monarchy, government dominated by hereditary office, the power of the church on legal and economic affairs, society of legal privilege, a lack of

social mobility and opportunity, and the revolution could not have occurred or moved so quickly and drastically or at not for the angry masses, particularly in paris. they were motivated by hope, idealism and by hunger. so it would be delightful if you could show me a picture of france in 1789. and if you can't, i am hoping everyone would imagine france in 1789. well, i'm not going to concern myself overly with technology but i'm certainly going to paint the picture of the world of 1789. now again, 1789 showed france -- [applause] showed france, as i was saying, right here upon the map, this massive nation with 28 million

inhabitants. now if we look back at the 18th century angry look back at the reign of louis xiv would you go forward two slides, please? bravo, louis. i've never been more happy to see you. we have louis xiv, the 17. indeed this is truly the golden age of france. not only did he bring france into the dominance of europe, winning wars in the first three-quarters of his reign, he was a patron of the arts and science, the great composers and writers -- all under the reign of louis xiv. truly, a golden age, and age that france wish she could have again.

she reigned the here and for 72 years, one of the longest reigning monarchs in history. the problem for louis xiv was that it was the first three-quarters of his reign that was his success. it was that last quarter of his reign that was not successful. he fought more wars and that last quarter they were unsuccessful. he spent a great deal of money not on on the beautification of his new powers at first i, but by the close of his reign and his death in 1715, france was not doing well financially. enter his great grandson, louis the 15th. actually the second longest reigning monarch in france directly after him. indeed he was reign for 59 years. again the great grandson of louis xiv he is what we in france would like to call a --

who knows what that is? brat you all -- that someone who likes to have a good time all the time. we all like to have a good time, that's to be sure, but that's not always so good for speed and especially when you are the king of france. so as a result of that, he was involved in a in a great ms and we must remember that whether you win a war or lose aa war what do they both have in common? money. they cost a lot of money here so he was involved in the war of austrian succession from 1740-48 in which france did not do terribly well. he was involved in the war of polish secession just prior to that big he was involved in the seven years war, what we call here the french and indian war, and that was really horrible for france because of course she would lose all of her possessions here in north america except for two small island of nova scotia.

so by the close of his reign france was not doing well financially at all. now there was a great quote attributed to him, or to madame pompadour, one of his many girlfriends, which they say -- after me will come the delusion. now, this might've been attributed to the battle of -- which he said in the year 1757 in which it was a horrible defeat for france against the prussians under king frederick the second. some say it might be in regards to halley's comet, that they felt there was going to be famine and more war and strife and difficulties. but some say it is simply because of the excess of money that was being spent and thus france would indeed fall into a deluge. so then we enter his successor,

louis 16th will be the key player in the revolution of france. now, he is the grandson of louis xv because these kings are raining so long their own children are not able to succeed them but rather their graduate grandchildren and he would of course mary marie antoinette. now, louis xvi i think in many historians believe that had he not been part of the family, excuse me in america we call it the bourbon family, he would've loved to have been a watchmaker or some sort of tradesmen. he love to tinker with things. in fact, often times the palace at versailles he could be found in a separate room in which he would be working on locks or clocks or anything mechanical. he truly loved to fix things. like he just so happen to be the king of france.

so thus he had a lot of responsibility a lot of duties. the wife that they had chosen for him could not have been more unsuitable for his personality, marie antoinette. not french but austrian come part of the great habsburgs family in austria. now, we think of england and france detests one another and fighting so many wars but actually austria and france fought a great many wars as well. so as the way in which you could somehow stop the fighting, bring unity to these two great kingdoms, oftentimes different houses would marry with one another in the hope that it could bring peace, prosperity to both of those kingdoms. that was the hope with marie antoinette. now of course throughout the revolution she's going to get a very bad name for her. she was a foreigner in many of

the people france did not like foreigners, so thus being an austrian jew was immediately thought of as an enemy are taking part of conspiracies. she loved to have a good time as well, and she liked to spend money. in fact, one of her nicknames would be madame deficit. but a small little factor and we will get to this second character a little bit later, believe it or not the empress josephine spent more upon closing than marie antoinette. and as to whether she said let them eat cake, i don't think she ever said it. some have said that perhaps she said -- let the people eat cake but being a dessert cake as opposed to the pan or bread that was a staple of the french diet, i don't believe she said it and most historians agree there. but if she didn't she was looking for a solution, whatever

the case marie antoinette soon find yourself very unpopular in france. so what brought this about? several factors. it is the age of the enlightenment, of the great philosophical roots come these are great thinkers, not just french in which they are reflecting upon society. this example is of course voltaire, his pen name, his true name was france while picking lint from 1694-1778. of course he was a member of the -- a man of the enlightenment and famous for his wit, his criticism of christianity especially the roman catholic church which happen to be the religion of the people of france, the dominant religion i should say. and he advocated a freedom of speech, religion and the separation of church and state. and part of the great group of

intellectuals of the 18th century of the enlightenment alongside men such as montesquieu and rousseau and countless others who were speaking of change, of putting the enlightened ideas of mankind into the masses. they endorsed progress and tolerance and distrusted organized religion and feudal institutions. now, the enlightenment ideas became very, very popular among the people of france and really all of europe. that everybody was literate but you could still listen to someone on a street corner or in a café, speaking of representation government of the equality of man, and then we have this little incident. the american revolution. now some like to say this is the straw that broke the camel's back. now i'm making that france was involved in a great many wars of the 18th century and many of them unsuccessful.

the american revolution was a great success as we all know. is one of the museum at yorktown which celebrates the greatest victory of the war and, of course, that war would not have been one were it not for the assistance of the french now of course when america declares its independence in 76, france was quite hesitant to get involved in a war. i mean, why would you want to get involved if you had no clear objective of how to win that war? the answer, you wouldn't. so france had to wait and see what america was capable of. so after the twin battles of saratoga in september and october of 1778, france decided, and with help with men such as benjamin franklin at the court oversight telling of the importance of this grand alliance, the treaty of alliance signed february 6, 1775. so france the first nation to

recognize the united states of merit as its own free and independent nation then she declares war upon england. so it becomes a world war. battlefields are fought in india, , africa, the west indie, europe itself, england is under threat of invasion of the french have been saying that since 1066 but they were pretty confident this time. in fact, rochambeau the command at yorktown that we see to the left was actually part of the planning committee that was to invade england and that was what his hope was when he was called to versailles to meet with the king but instead they sent him to america. so america wins its independence, thanks to france, but there is a cost. france spent more money upon the american revolution than the americans did. and how much money did they spend? 1.3 billion. so how much is that? well i said the income entrance was about 640 million.

it's going to take a few years to make that back if you don't spend any other money. so france is about to go into yet another financial crisis because what's going to happen next? a camping thing worse than that. oh, no, there's a food shortage and a bread crisis. so the red shortage resulted from greenfield in 1788 and 89. of course as i mentioned the staple of the french diet is bread and if they don't have their bread there going to be very upset. what brought this about. there were many poor harvests and the was a population explosion. mention also that france is the largest population in europe. there's a lot of urban centers, great big cities like paris and lyon and others, all of these big cities and they are not producing enough wheat to make the bread that the french people need. so there are riots by begin many

of the people are not blaming the king at this moment but instead his ministers for not fixing this. so something happens, , and economic crisis, go figure. and what is to be done about this? well, they call the age old body called the estate general. the estate general formed about 1300 in france, and it's a legislative body and it's composed of the three classes of french society. and what are those three classes? the first estate was the clergy, or the church. the second estate was the nobility, or the aristocracy. and the third estate was everyone else. now, the problem with this legislative body is that just about every single time the first two the states would vote against whatever the vote was

for, against the third estate, even though that third estate made up 95% of the population. so of course that wasn't going to work. another big problem calling up this legislative body is that in 1789 last time this august body was called up was 1614. would you call that an effective legislative body? no need to respond to that one. that was the reign of louis xiii. it is now louis xvi and they're just calling it that. of course they knew the same problem was going to occur but the first two estates would vote against the third. the financier for the king thought up a good idea of what he thought, maybe the second or the third estate rather could vote twice. well, that's not going to solve any problems. many felt it was time for a new order in france.

so by 1789 members of the third estate with a few selected members of the second estate and the first estate comes to members of the church and others of the second estate like the marquis de lafayette had joined up with this group of the third estate to form a new legislative body, a much more effective legislative body that they would eventually call themselves the national assembly, or the assembly nationality. now, all of these problems are occurring. there's an economic crisis. there is a food shortage. they want a new political system. they want to lessen the power of the king from an absolute monarch like louis xiv said, the state is me. louis xvi just is not enlightened enough to be that great king that louis xiv was. so they're going to meet and they're going to meet and create a new constitution in the hope

that they can quit what we call a constitutional monarchy. for frenchmen they might be embarrassed to say not unlike what the english have your so they meet and a great hall, but the king is worried about this so he decides to close the hall in which they were on beating. so what do they do? they go to a tennis court, a sports facility. it's big enough to accommodate all of them and they decide with this tennis court oath that they would remain there until a constitution would be created. now, these members of the third estate are working hard on creating this. picking becomes even more and more concerned about this -- picking becomes -- he calls in some soldiers that are guarding the front tier about the fortresses -- unfortunately many of these soldiers he calls in our german soldiers. we must understand and 18th

century germany is not yet united so all of its kingdoms, principalities and free cities can be serving as mercenaries and can serve a foreign army. the germans have long tradition of serving in other armies. but there were also swiss soldiers pay fact the swiss guards started guarding the king himself. remember the pope in rome who to this day is still guarded by swiss soldiers and they were excellent soldiers but they were swiss. they were not french and all of those frenchmen who were fearful of foreigners were worried that now these foreign soldiers are coming in to paris itself. so they still keep working on this constitution that they are hopeful of, but things start to get a bit crazy in paris itself. and what happens next of course is the storming of the bastille.

perhaps the most famous event in the french revolution. now the bastille was a fortress and it was created or built in the 14th century for the defense of paris itself. this was the time of the 100 years war but paris group. its population grew. its borders grew so it was really not serving much as a fortress to defend paris, and france was not really worried about the english dominating france once again so they decided to turn it into a prison. but it was not to be a prison for your common criminal but instead it was to be a prison for those who spoke out against the government. men like voltaire spend a bit of time in the bastille as a result. result. it was also an armory and it represented the royal authority in the center of paris. now, at the time july 13, 1789,

there were seven prisoners within the bastille. none of them to our knowledge were political prisoners. i think there was a pickpocket in there and a few others, so was not precise of being used for what it was intended for at that moment. so the night before on the 13th of july, 1789, many of the third estate had gathered and decided they would form a militia. we need soldiers to defend ourselves against these foreign mercenaries that are coming in, and that is where the national guard is formed in paris. now, they had adopted as their colors that blue and the red which were the colors of the city of paris. but lafayette intervened and said, well, let us show our unity with the king. we don't want a full break with the king so adopt the white color as well. so thus in -- as i wear, they

wore the blue, the white and the red. the blue would become the symbol of the french republic eventually and the french flag that we know today. so the very next day everybody in paris, the city of 650,000 people, one of the largest cities on the planet, knew that trouble was coming. so about, , well, 80,000 of the inhabitants of paris decide to go to a place on the left bank of the river and they knew they could find weapons. they could fine powder. they could find shot, everything they needed to defend themselves and they rated the town were napoleon is very today with the museum can be found. and then they crossed the river and it went all the way to work the bastille was because they knew this was the symbol of royal authority and the tyranny that was put over them. so not all of those 80,000 would

storm the bastille, but instead about 1000 of them now the bastille itself was guarded by about 150 soldiers, and then when the fighting finally broke out, about 90 people were killed of those storming the best e and about 73 wounded, and then of the guards one was killed in action and six to eight after the fact. in fact, the governor of the bastille actually negotiated and ending to the fighting and they brought in to the hotel deville in the center of paris, and they became very aggressive towards it and started tearing at his uniform and he ended up taking one of the people in between their legs and said, just kill me already. and guess what they did? they killed him and put his head on a pike. that seemed to be very common in the french revolution after this

point, but this symbol of royal authority had been taken. and after that point general lafayette would become commander of of the military force, this militia called the paris national guard. it is actually the uniform that i am wearing for you this evening. this uniform again symbolic of those three colors, unity of the city appears, blue, and red with white of the monarchy. and lafayette was a man of these two macworld. he fought in the revolution in america but he was also a of the second estate, of the aristocracy, suppressed he was a a friend of the people at some level. so after the bastille in storm, well, there's a question. what is to be done about the government? yes, we have taken this place and is going to be dismantled and a new bridge is going to be built across the river seine but what comes next? what should be done? we want to get a constitutional monarchy put in place, soy constitution needs to be written.

so they're busy writing constitutions for the french, and lafayette himself will write a document with the assistance of an american representative that had been in paris in 1784, thomas jefferson, and he would write the introduction of the rights of man and of the citizen. now, this is basically a preamble to all french constitutions. and it is still in use today. the problem, and this is it right here, the problem with that is it way before a committee. what happens when you put these great documents before a committee? they are not always the same. as thomas jefferson that about the declaration of independence. ..

>> about to take place, the king will not endorse this until october the sixth of 1789. this is prompted by a grand event called the women's march, the march on their side. indeed, there is still a problem with acquiring to feed people and many of these heads of households get tired of this and i thought they would take the action into their own hands. so they decided to mark the 11 miles from paris itself and they brought some weapons with them and being that lafayette was the head of the paris national guard, he was the gatekeeper order of the chaos of this revolution, he has courted them and soon thousands upon

thousands of these women in human were with them in the national guard marched on their side and they were demanding of the baker and the baker's wife. they did march and many thought they would storm the palace and perhaps even kill the king and queen lafayette himself, while he mounted the balcony and kissed marie antoinette's hand and so said, averted the chaos and the crisis of the situation and finally the king, louis the 16th had declared for a constitutional monarchy and everything to be seem to be going well enough at the moment. great was being brought in from other countries, even from the united states was being transported and people were content for a short time could but some pointed change as the origin of the french flag uniting the red and the blue from the city of paris. and with the whites of the

monarchy and now this day july the 14th, 1791, after the storming of the battlefield is perhaps the greatest day in lafayette's life. they have a grand celebration and long the and those of you been to paris before will know that the sandoval's were the eiffel tower is located in town that open field from the field of march is what it means on the other hand is the military school in paris. they have a huge celebration there, thousands upon thousands and tens of thousands of soldiers were present in fact, as a connection to yorktown, there's the newspaper article that a colleague gave me, and it's a little article that talks about with lafayette in july 14, 1790, is none other than bannister colton charleston, the

commander. he was running away from his death in london and making new ones in paris and he brought his girlfriend with him, mary robinson and he was writing his memoirs of the southern campaign and in his newspaper article, they speak of him writing in his american uniforms are no doubt the british legion right alongside the markey's of the lafayette. so i always thought of charleston is a bad boy and certainly he has his bad boys moments but they have seem to have struck up a friendship while he was in paris. while there was a massive celebration in fact, the young boy also any uniform similar to father actually george washington it lafayette, his son before yes go to america to face things. so perhaps the greatest day in lafayette's life in which everybody told them how wonderful he was, but things would soon change.

while the people of friends are not content with the status quo in the not content with this constitutional monarchy and many are in favor of the new world order and perhaps we should model ourselves that like the americans and perhaps we should create a republic. so the really june 31st 1791, the king and queen and the royal family see things are not going well adult so they decide to sleep. they actually met lafayette the night before they departed in lafayette saw them a good did nothing about it so they left france and they went to a town and they were told not to get out of their carriage but they did and gentlemen pulled out a paper money and said, you look of lot like the king. and he was the case of thus they would have to return back to paris never to leave again and things began to us like very quickly at this moment. it now lafayette is commander of the national guard and hereupon

the 17th of july, 1791, is once again called upon just about a year after the greatest moment in his life to put down a bryant that was a gathering of extreme left-wing radicals part of the club. there were about 10000 of them and they were signing a petition to end the monarchy in france. many of them had been drinking were getting into a bit of a mischief so you call in the national guard to keep order pretty lafayette discusses them without firing upon them and they disperse the gnu cafés and bars that drink more needed more mischief so they come back and then they begin the violence. some of lafayette soldiers are killed in lafayette comes onto the scene kenny fire's upon the bob party to many were killed and the very next day lafayette is forced to resign his commission. and the newspaper said that lafayette is no longer printed the people, but upon of the monarchy and the mayor is also

forced to flee and resigned his commission and about a year later in august of 1792, the republic is about to be declared in the king's palace and the soldiers in red are not reduce soldiers from the swiss guard. and once again this is a good example of the weakness of louis the 16th. had he told his guard excellent trained soldiers to fire upon this moment to keep order and discipline, he could've pushed back the mob and perhaps could have retained the monarchy but instead he told them to put down their arms and there were massacred. well, the republic is declared. in louis the 16th and his wife marie antoinette are now being brought up on charges of crimes against the state. the first coalition begins and nearly all of europe declares war on france whether it be austria or russia or spain, the

pope himself is deploying troops to go invade france and put down this revolution but the french are able with her newfound conscripted armies are able to be at the battle on the 20th of september of 1792. and this is a depiction of that great battle in which he turned back the soldiers. while this device came into fashion it in the guillotine, originally was called the louie's that, yes it does not strike fear in you disintegrated i'm going to send you there but the man who created and two on louis created a physician for more humane way in which to execute those who are guilty of crime against the state. they were tired of the beheadings with axes or the drawing and it the reason it

requires the game of guillotine, there was a doctor who was against the death penalty and thought this should be if you must put people to death because it's much more human way of putting them to death so thus the guillotine in the first person to be executed by the guillotine was actually how a man and that soon they began executing those who are against the public any course the king and the queen shortly thereafter find themselves on the wrong end of the guillotine and in fact, this is in january of 1793. the cane doing the 16th was beheaded. europe is invading france and they don't want the ideas of liberty and equality and fraternity to come contagious and come to their country. so they are invading to put down this massive revolution. marie antoinette will also be sent to the guillotine and

lafayette no longer a member of the national guard now french soldier is not popular at all in fact he is called by the new revolutionary government to enter the convention to trial in which they've already executed the king who is lafayette and he certainly will be sent to madame guillotine on the national razor as they call it. so as a result lafayette place and he goes with his family across the border into belgium which is being run by the austrians at the time and he has taken prisoner and now he being an officer, general officer so well known that he could give his word that he would not take part in anymore hostile actions in this war. but think of this, lafayette is thought of as the enemy of the revolution in france but he is thought of as a symbol of the revolution across europe and the austrians are about to lose

their daughter marie antoinette so any frenchman should be kept prisoner so thus they made lafayette a prisoner that he was a prisoner in october of 1792, he spent time in other places in the holy roman empire and eventually he would be sent to a place called - in the czech republic today. and i had or take the pleasure because it was fascinating as a historian to go on a tour with a local historian who told us of the difficulties of lafayette. so is kept in a school, they had been kicked out of austria was being used as a prison and yet two rooms at his disposal, he was given three-point today in the value of going better not because each point could purchase you something either food, pen to paper, or perhaps to deliver a message, three coins per day.

so lafayette stride rite letters and his wife was doing, truly loyal and loving to him and they had two daughters and his son george washington was sent to america for safekeeping and while they join him voluntarily in this imprisonment many feel that they would acquire the sickness that would ultimately kill her. there was an escape and many believe it was funded by skyler family of philip schuyler more famously in isaiah, the wife of alexander hamilton. some say also by president washington the with course he could not openly say such things, benjamin - where lafayette landed in 1777, had an instant son when lafayette landed there, he was 20 years old now. and he was going to go to medical school but he first wanted to help lafayette escape so is a botched attempt

lafayette being so very weak and two of the horses getting away, was captured again and imprisoned it and he would not be released from his prison until 1797 so he spends a good five years imprisonment by the austrians and only because of the success of the young french general coming on the scene named bonaparte, napoleon and the french government had changed from the national assembly, the constitutional monarchy to the convention to this republic and eventually with committees of public safety headed by men like this and the most famous, pierre well they would really take over the government but that would change with the directory in a man by the name of - would overthrow the government and create this new government called the directory and that we must

remember that in france the constitutions are changing constantly. there's a constitution of 1789, and constitution of 1791, and of 94, 95, 99, 1801, 18 oh two and 1804. the first 20 years. so napoleon would say, constitution, they should be short and vague so you can interpret them anywhere you wish. wealth napoleon comes upon the scene and napoleon, now born and newly acquired by the french in 1768 in the purchase date from the genoese empire, not related empire anymore. with the purchase just so by good fortune being bad napoleon was born in 1769, becomes a french man and he is able because of his father and lesser nobility to go to france to learn french because the first language was italian along with his brother joseph and then

attend a military school so napoleon's up-and-coming end during the french revolution be serving in the french army and though it takes a lot of what we call leave her time away from this regimen to go back to corsica because in the early years of his life, he is greatly in favor of corsican's independence and he is truly loyal to the place but it doesn't quite work out the way he would want. so he distrust and hopes and dreams in france and he knows that turns out rather well. napoleon will have his first great moment in 1793, as the siege of toulon and as i mentioned that france was being invaded by all of europe to put down this horrible revolution in these ideas of liberty and equality and fraternity wealth napoleon is a captain and he goes to the fortress or rather the ports of toulon and is looking for an opportunity to

make a name for himself or just so happens during the siege of toulon artillery generals is wounded so the needed good artillery that's when napoleon trained him so good fortune, he becomes the commander of the artillery and after siege of toulon, he takes the place of or from the enemies of france and is promoted to the rank of general. interesting to note that a menacing prisoner during the siege of toulon. as name is general o'hara. have you heard of that name, will if you haven't, he is a man who actually surrenders at yorktown in the place of lord. but he eventually be exchanged for a french officer named rochambeau. isn't that audit will nonetheless napoleon is on his way, been promoted to general and not getting political just yet but in 1795, as a general officer when the directory is in danger of being overrun by 40000

royalists, napoleon achieves his shot and historians like to call using canids hiring the church in which you can still see the bullets and cannon marks upon the church there on the right bank in paris and because of that, napoleon is given lots and lots of opportunities. his main commander of the army and wins great battles and this won the battle of rip ladies becoming very famous in some say getting a bit political so does the directory do, they sent him off to egypt. he will either make us a lot of money or marches way all the way to india destroy the east india company and england financially for them or you'll just die and be out of our hair. well the polling does well on the battlefield against the indigenous population which are called metal lucs, part of the ottoman empire but his fleet is

destroyed by lord nelson of the battle denial august 1st of 1799. and 98 forgive me and eventually napoleon has to leave but his long-lasting success in egypt is of course the creation of egypt with the discovery of the rosetta stone and later in life shamefully own would decipher as we can read about that great history. he brought an army and a lot of educators and scientists, botanists. and all sorts of studies were made of egypt which were the formation of egypt told you today so he goes back to france and the french have changed the calendar from the calendar we know today to the revolutionary calendar and everything is dented and. and a half weeks of ten days and they have months now named after the season so the foggy month so actually the ninth day of

november of 1799 predict napoleon will take part in a - and he'll seize the government from the directory in the great what we call the consulate named after the roman consoles of the ancient it. three men are selected to be the chief executive. napoleon suggests that they do an apple that ackley and his name is bonaparte so of course he was first upon that list. while napoleon it will soon become so popular not only winning bad holes upon battlefield is for more importantly, changing france's law code and creating the bank of france and building new schools, roads and monuments in the french story read one of his most famous accomplishments is the civil code of the code not folding own and napoleon, ten long years of war that began in 1792 and also in 1802 they signed the treaty and the chief person who negotiates with them is none other than lord wallace,

you see the connection with everything and actually they got along famously. but nonetheless i finally have peace at the time and that's when napoleon is able to change the law codes in france. in france are not unified under the law are not all people under the law, there was a roman law in south and germanic law in the north and he makes one law code, one for every fund which is still in use in france in many nations in europe today. and portions of it in louisiana as a result many create the bank of france and the legion of honor and a metal for great exploits not only upon the battlefield but in the civilian world as well pretty close i never napoleon to just become console, he wants legitimacy so they be exchanged this family for the bonaparte family so thus napoleon becomes emperor of the french and he was voted by the senate but not really a fair vote. on may 18th, 1804 and on

december 2nd, 1804, napoleon will crown himself of the true sign of separation of between the church and state. just as a side note, notre dame has become dilapidated during the french revolution and it was napoleon and put a tremendous amount of money into it so it could be the place for his coronation it was the kings of france were not crown therapy they were crowned in the champagne region. for napoleon it would be notre dame and harry and thinking as he did that because of course we would continue onto it into the future even if the that horrible accident napoleon would take part in the great many wars and continue to fight wars until his ended 1815. in his greatest battle one year after his coronation, now the czech republic, december 2, 18 oh five but mentally napoleon would go into russia with 650,000 any come up with less than 40000 effective and not

only was the russian winter difficult for him but it type of epidemic that many historians today believe killed upwards of half of his soldiers and half of the dying before the even made it to moscow. and of course napoleon would meet his and june 18, 1815 he would be defeated by the final coalition against france headed by the duke of wellington and the marshall the and sent off to the island where were getting ready to celebrate his death but celebrate his memory and may 5th, 1821 when he would die. of stomach cancer so that is a lot of information that i thrown right at you with the french revolution truly huge moment in the history of the world for this revolution was inspired by the american revolution in the french revolution would inspire the unification of germany and italy and revolutions elsewhere and go to south america and take part of the revolutions there and ultimately out the entirety

of the globe. and see to that was planted right here in america with the american revolution. and now i know i've been very very wordy and i do not have much time at all but before i turn it back over to mr. powell and hoping some of you might have some questions that i can briefly answer in regards to this huge subject that i have discussed. >> to 19. >> forty years after the evolution invited by the president of the united states mr. james monroe to be guest of the nation towards all 24 united states and territories and he comes to williamsburg on the 20th of october were not in williamsburg, were in yorktown and he comes they are on the 19th of october, yorktown day of 1824 and just as a side note on the lafayette i happen to have the key to the backfield here and everybody always hears about this key to the back yell and off he had did not physically give it to washington but rather to thomas paine, to

deliver it and then it was in turn given to governor or former governor of south carolina gave it to washington and washington would take it with him while he was president and then it would be placed in the foyer of his home at mount vernon. after the quick question. lafayette dies in 1834, may of 1834, and a cemetery which is in paris itself and the reason he was buried there is because it was used as a mass grave where his wife family suffered greatly and in that mass grave for her parents so when she preceded him in death, she wanted to be buried there and of course lafayette would be buried there as well but the two daughters were larry and survive into adulthood and george washington lafayette joins lafayette on his visit to america in 1824 and in 1825. the george washington and lafayette were right here in

yorktown. [inaudible]. >> a perfect question perhaps to some and i will be more than happy to answer further questions out in the hallway upon conclusion of this lafayette's reputation, he never achieved the success that he had found in america and everybody impress those who lafayette is in fact you go to the gallery lafayette and get a sweater there. if the department store and there are statues to him but the big statutes were donated by sons and daughters of the market revolution. so lafayette in the napoleon do not get along at all in fact lafayette retired to private life in 1802. and will return to politics in 1815 with an napoleon escaped from his first island of exile. an napoleon refers to lafayette is the greatest treasure in france. because he spoke out against him so how does his reputation last in france well he still is a

liberal thinker and thought for the rights of mankind in end of slavery and for freedom for religion and not just in france but of course in america and other countries throughout europe. so he's brought up in a very positive way as he should pay but certainly more famous here in america and he was in france itself. i apologize that's all the time i have but i think you for listening to this lecture here on such an important subject and i will be more than happy to answer further questions outside upon the conclusion of this but thank you so much for joining me here this evening. [applause] >> this week we are looking back to the state in history.

>> hit the u.s. mainland, landed in north carolina to new jersey and 75 miles an hour winds in the storm brings death and heavy rains and high tides causing widespread flooding. coastal areas were evacuated by thousands of residents. and in new jersey. [inaudible]. great fishermen were reported missing in the heavy seas. ♪ ♪♪ ♪ ♪♪ hurricane beulah wonders in the caribbean across mexico and the peninsula in the gulf of mexico threatening the texas coast. an endangered shipping in the north atlantic and prorated brave angry and daughters of mother nature. >> follows on social media cspan history or more of the state in

history read. >> in american history tv sorrow history series, richard todd describes interactions with local civilians and the impact of war on families serving in iraq and afghanistan with the army national guard. is a portion of that interview from the veterans history project. >> would you have interactions with the locals pretty. >> all of the time. >> what was the reaction from them for you being there. >> they loved it. and were so glad you are here and thank you for coming and give me money and give me something it was give me give me give me. which that to the point of giving you my time right now. because collateral damage would occur and the way of saying that

we are sorry we cannot give you money. he talked to them to their face, they would love having you there. and you would catch something else a couple of nights later a couple days later trying to kill you read a consistent thing is the kids. you could trust the kid this and that was about it read you could not trust anybody else who would tell you anything of any value. you're talking about families and farmers. this was an agricultural area and basically between the tigris and the reverse so the water system is unbelievable. in the way that they have channeled it to grow their stuff.

they would just try to raise their family and mind their own business. and insurgents or whatever you what color, and we need you to go to america the first chance you get it if don't were going to kill your family. >> watch more oral histories from veterans and others anytime at cspan.org/history. >> good evening and good welcome. please well, tour series to support the appalachian trail. i hope you join us this evening and we are joined by our friend and just a quick webinar overview. there's a chat mode, and you may want to keep a chat window open during the event. and only will be looking at it