HR0143 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0143 LRB097 11027 GRL 51922 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, For almost a century, the written history of the State of Illinois was formed under the French flag; and

WHEREAS, French monetary grants, ships, officers, men, arms, and supplies ensured the success of the American Revolution; and

WHEREAS, Marquis de Lafayette, a French army officer, outfitted, crewed, and supplied a French ship he named Victory at his own expense; he then sailed the vessel to South Carolina in support of the American Revolution, arriving in June of 1777; and

WHEREAS, After arriving in the colonies, Marquis de Lafayette was appointed to serve as an aide to General George Washington; and

WHEREAS, Marquis de Lafayette was appointed as a major general of American militia troops by General Washington; and

WHEREAS, Marquis de Lafayette was wounded by British musket fire while fighting alongside General Washington during the Battle of Brandywine in 1777; and

WHEREAS, This gallant French officer became a war hero in both France and the newly-formed United States; and

WHEREAS, Of all the leading heroes of the American Revolution, Marquis de Lafayette's name ranks fourth in the most common geographical site names in the United States, after George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson; and

WHEREAS, Following the birth of his first-born son on Christmas Eve of 1779, Marquis de Lafayette named the child George Washington Lafayette in honor of his friend and brother-in-arms; and

WHEREAS, Marquis de Lafayette revisited the United States and the State of Illinois at the invitation of President James Monroe in 1824; during his visit, he was offered citizenship by numerous U.S. states; and

WHEREAS, Marquis de Lafayette was the author of the French Declaration of the Rights of Man, a document based upon the Declaration of Independence; he was also the man who ordered the destruction of the hated French Bastille during the French Revolution; and

WHEREAS, In honor of Marquis de Lafayette, U.S. soldiers during World War I created the battle cry, "Lafayette, we are here"; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we designate June 7, 2011 as a fete a jour day in honor of Marquis de Lafayette and his courageous efforts to help our nation gain independence.