HR1002 LRB096 21483 GRL 38127 r

1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, For almost a century, the written history of the
3 State of Illinois was formed under the French flag; and
 
4     WHEREAS, French monetary grants, ships, officers, men,
5 arms, and supplies ensured the success of the American
6 Revolution; and
 
7     WHEREAS, Marquis de Lafayette, a French army officer,
8 outfitted, crewed, and supplied a French ship he named Victory
9 at his own expense; he then sailed the vessel to South Carolina
10 in support of the American Revolution, arriving in June of
11 1777; and
 
12     WHEREAS, After arriving in the colonies, Marquis de
13 Lafayette was appointed to serve as an aide to General George
14 Washington; and
 
15     WHEREAS, Marquis de Lafayette was appointed as a major
16 general of American militia troops by General Washington; and
 
17     WHEREAS, Marquis de Lafayette was wounded by British musket
18 fire while fighting alongside General Washington during the
19 Battle of Brandywine in 1777; and
 

 

 

HR1002 - 2 - LRB096 21483 GRL 38127 r

1     WHEREAS, This gallant French officer became a war hero in
2 both France and the newly-formed United States; and
 
3     WHEREAS, Of all the leading heroes of the American
4 Revolution, Marquis de Lafayette's name ranks fourth in the
5 most common geographical site names in the United States, after
6 George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson;
7 and
 
8     WHEREAS, Following the birth of his first-born son on
9 Christmas Eve of 1779, Marquis de Lafayette named the child
10 George Washington Lafayette in honor of his friend and
11 brother-in-arms; and
 
12     WHEREAS, Marquis de Lafayette revisited the United States
13 and the State of Illinois at the invitation of President James
14 Monroe in 1824; during his visit, he was offered citizenship by
15 numerous U.S. states; and
 
16     WHEREAS, Marquis de Lafayette was the author of the French
17 Declaration of the Rights of Man, a document based upon the
18 Declaration of Independence; he was also the man who ordered
19 the destruction of the hated French Bastille during the French
20 Revolution; and
 
21     WHEREAS, In honor of Marquis de Lafayette, U.S. soldiers

 

 

HR1002 - 3 - LRB096 21483 GRL 38127 r

1 during World War I created the battle cry, "Lafayette, we are
2 here"; therefore, be it
 
3     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
4 NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
5 designate June 7 of every year as a fete a jour day in honor of
6 Marquis de Lafayette and his courageous efforts to help our
7 nation gain independence.