Lafayette and William Franklin: Liberty, Loyalty and Revolution

In this course, we explore the lives of two fascinating figures whose connections to the American Revolution took them in very different directions: the Marquis de Lafayette, the French aristocrat who became an American hero; and William Franklin, the loyalist son of Benjamin Franklin. In the first half, we follow Lafayette’s remarkable journey from young French nobleman to trusted ally of George Washington and celebrated hero of the American Revolution. But his revolutionary career did not end with American independence. Returning to France, he championed constitutional government and civil liberties, only to become caught up in the turmoil of the French Revolution and spend five years imprisoned by the Austrians. In the second half, we examine the extraordinary story of William Franklin, whose loyalty to the British Crown put him at odds with his famous father and the patriot cause. As royal governor of New Jersey, he became a political prisoner and later an exiled leader of the loyalist resistance, ultimately dying far from the country he had once called home.