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Secondary sourceBook1899

The True Story of Lafayette: Called the Friend of America

Elbridge Streeter Brooks · 1899

An 1899 popular biography describing Lafayette's aid to America and his fight for liberty in France.

Presents Lafayette as a heroic friend of America who aided the Revolution and later fought for liberty in France.

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The True Story of Lafayette: Called the Friend of AmericaPDF · 272 pages
Elbridge S. Brooks, The True Story of Lafayette, 1899. Scanned book, Internet Archive.

About this source

What it is

This book, written by Elbridge Streeter Brooks and published in 1899, tells the life story of Lafayette, the French nobleman who aided America during the Revolution and later fought for liberty in his own country. It is illustrated and part of a series of "true stories" about great historical figures, including Columbus, Washington, Lincoln, and Grant.

Why it matters

This biography presents Lafayette as a symbol of the shared ideals of liberty between France and the United States. Grouping him with American founding figures in the series shows how firmly Lafayette's story had become woven into American popular history by the late nineteenth century.

Look closer

  • Why might Lafayette be included in a series about great Americans, even though he was French?
  • What does the title "Friend of America" suggest about how the author wanted readers to see him?
  • How might an illustrated popular biography shape a young reader's view of history differently than a plain document would?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Marquis de Lafayette on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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