The Last Continental Army General in the United States

Originally Lafayette only planned to stay in the United States for about four months and returned to France before winter. After receiving a letter from John Adams, now 89 years old, Lafayette changed his plan so he would be present. Rather than spending a few months visiting the major cities of the Eastern Seaboard, he would instead spend more than a year visiting every single one of the United States. Though he never publicly embarrassed his slave-owning friends in America, Lafayette also never missed an opportunity to demonstrate his own commitment to emancipation. Believing the universal education of the African population of paramount importance to successful emancipation, Lafayette made a point of visiting the African Free School.