Lafayette’s World: Revolutionary Ideals and the Limits of Freedom

March 2024 - December 2025

In 1824, the Marquis de Lafayette visited the city of Fredericksburg as part of his multiyear Grand Tour of the United States. Lafayette was an extraordinary individual who made essential contributions to American history as a wealthy nobleman, revolutionary hero, military officer, enlightenment thinker, democratic supporter, and committed abolitionist. Lafayette’s World: Revolutionary Ideals and the Limits of Freedom celebrates the Marquis as an individual and the belief in freedom and democracy shared by those he fought alongside in the American Revolution.

Lafayette’s World: Revolutionary Ideals and the Limits of Freedom is sponsored in part by Virginia Humanities, in partnership with the Virginia American Revolution 250 Commission.