Marquis de Lafayette - Jay Friend, Revolutionary War Hero and Honorary Member of the NY Manumission Society
Monuments to American Revolutionary War hero, Marquis de Lafayette (1757 - 1834) abound in the US. A statue of Lafayette can be found in Union Square, NY - created by the same sculptor that made the Statue of Liberty, Frederic Auguste Bartholdi - it was installed in 1876. Another of Lafayette and Washington also by Bartholdi is located in historic Harlem in Morningside Heights Park on 114th Street and was erected in 1900.
Yet another tribute (above) was created in 1891 by Jean Falguiere and Marius Mercie. It can be found in Lafayette Park in Washington, DC
Lafayette is best remembered for his help to secure French aid for the patriots as well as his own heroic battle blocking British troops at Yorktown. But Lafayette should be equally remembered for his advocacy of human rights on behalf of the enslaved.
Lafayette's friend and Revolutionary War colleague, John Jay, himself an early abolitionist, extended honorary membership in the NY Manumission Society of which he was President to the young Frenchman in 1786 --Jay and Lafayette and even their wives, Adrienne and Sarah, had become close while Jay was in Paris from 1782 through 1783 with Benjamin Franklin and John Adams negotiating the treaty to end the war with Britain. They regularly shared dinners and spoke of many topics important to them all - their friendship would last for years. Lafayette was a charter member of the French abolitionist group, the Society of the Friends of the Blacks and on numerous occasions while in the States had also implored his former commander, George Washington to consider emancipating his slaves. (Washington declined.)
There is no doubt that Lafayette concurred with John Jay's statement: "It is much to be wished that slavery may be abolished. The honour of the States, as well as justice and humanity, in my opinion, loudly call upon them to emancipate these unhappy people. To contend for our own liberty, and to deny that blessing to others, involves an inconsistency not to be excused." March 15, 1786 John Jay
John Jay's membership invitation to the French volunteer and hero Lafyette and other European social reformers of the time was clearly intended to align the young New York organization's abolitionist platform with movements in France and Britain.
"New York, August 28th, 1786.
At a meeting of the Manumission Society, it was on motion, Resolved, that the Marquis de Lafayette, Granville Sharpe* and Thomas Clarkson**, be notified by the President of this Society, John Jay, that they have been unanimously elected Honorary members of this Institution."
Decades laster, on Friday September 10, 1824, the Marquis de Lafayette came to New York to visit the students of the African Free School, one of NY's earliest examples of philanthropy in education. The successful school had been started by John Jay and other members of the NY Manumission Society but its mission was far from complete.
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*Granville Sharpe (1735-1813) was an early English abolitionist and opponent of the slave trade who tried to create a haven freed African slaves in Sierra Leone in May 1787 as part of a plan to establish a "Province of Freedom.'
** Thomas Clarkson (1760-1846) was the author of a seminal essay first written in Latin "Is it lawful to enslave the unconsenting?" and then translated into English in 1785 :"An essay on the slavery and commerce of the human species, particularly the African." The year after he became a member of the NY Manumission Society, Clarkson would help found "The Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade" on May 22, 1787 in Britain.
(JHC Archives)
JHC programs examine the prevalence of slavery in New York's history and the Jay family's role in abolition. Among its goals, the JHC hopes to be "a national focal point for a continuing conversation about the two greatest pieces of unfinished American business--race and land; meaning how we treat each other and how we treat the rest of God's creation." Tony Hiss
www.westchestergov.com/pdfs/AfricanAmerican_HeritageTrail...
Jay Heritage Center
210 Boston Post Road
Rye, NY 10580
(914) 698-9275
Email: jayheritagecenter@gmail.com
Follow and like us on:
Twitter @jayheritage
Facebook www.facebook.com/jayheritagecenter
Pinterest www.pinterest.com/jaycenter
YouTube www.youtube.com/channel/UChWImnsJrBAi2Xzjn8vR54w
www.instagram.com/jayheritagecenter/
A National Historic Landmark since 1993
Member of the African American Heritage Trail of Westchester County since 2004
Member of the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area since 2009
On NY State's Path Through History (2013)
Marquis de Lafayette - Jay Friend, Revolutionary War Hero and Honorary Member of the NY Manumission Society
Monuments to American Revolutionary War hero, Marquis de Lafayette (1757 - 1834) abound in the US. A statue of Lafayette can be found in Union Square, NY - created by the same sculptor that made the Statue of Liberty, Frederic Auguste Bartholdi - it was installed in 1876. Another of Lafayette and Washington also by Bartholdi is located in historic Harlem in Morningside Heights Park on 114th Street and was erected in 1900.
Yet another tribute (above) was created in 1891 by Jean Falguiere and Marius Mercie. It can be found in Lafayette Park in Washington, DC
Lafayette is best remembered for his help to secure French aid for the patriots as well as his own heroic battle blocking British troops at Yorktown. But Lafayette should be equally remembered for his advocacy of human rights on behalf of the enslaved.
Lafayette's friend and Revolutionary War colleague, John Jay, himself an early abolitionist, extended honorary membership in the NY Manumission Society of which he was President to the young Frenchman in 1786 --Jay and Lafayette and even their wives, Adrienne and Sarah, had become close while Jay was in Paris from 1782 through 1783 with Benjamin Franklin and John Adams negotiating the treaty to end the war with Britain. They regularly shared dinners and spoke of many topics important to them all - their friendship would last for years. Lafayette was a charter member of the French abolitionist group, the Society of the Friends of the Blacks and on numerous occasions while in the States had also implored his former commander, George Washington to consider emancipating his slaves. (Washington declined.)
There is no doubt that Lafayette concurred with John Jay's statement: "It is much to be wished that slavery may be abolished. The honour of the States, as well as justice and humanity, in my opinion, loudly call upon them to emancipate these unhappy people. To contend for our own liberty, and to deny that blessing to others, involves an inconsistency not to be excused." March 15, 1786 John Jay
John Jay's membership invitation to the French volunteer and hero Lafyette and other European social reformers of the time was clearly intended to align the young New York organization's abolitionist platform with movements in France and Britain.
"New York, August 28th, 1786.
At a meeting of the Manumission Society, it was on motion, Resolved, that the Marquis de Lafayette, Granville Sharpe* and Thomas Clarkson**, be notified by the President of this Society, John Jay, that they have been unanimously elected Honorary members of this Institution."
Decades laster, on Friday September 10, 1824, the Marquis de Lafayette came to New York to visit the students of the African Free School, one of NY's earliest examples of philanthropy in education. The successful school had been started by John Jay and other members of the NY Manumission Society but its mission was far from complete.
----------------------------------------------------
*Granville Sharpe (1735-1813) was an early English abolitionist and opponent of the slave trade who tried to create a haven freed African slaves in Sierra Leone in May 1787 as part of a plan to establish a "Province of Freedom.'
** Thomas Clarkson (1760-1846) was the author of a seminal essay first written in Latin "Is it lawful to enslave the unconsenting?" and then translated into English in 1785 :"An essay on the slavery and commerce of the human species, particularly the African." The year after he became a member of the NY Manumission Society, Clarkson would help found "The Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade" on May 22, 1787 in Britain.
(JHC Archives)
JHC programs examine the prevalence of slavery in New York's history and the Jay family's role in abolition. Among its goals, the JHC hopes to be "a national focal point for a continuing conversation about the two greatest pieces of unfinished American business--race and land; meaning how we treat each other and how we treat the rest of God's creation." Tony Hiss
www.westchestergov.com/pdfs/AfricanAmerican_HeritageTrail...
Jay Heritage Center
210 Boston Post Road
Rye, NY 10580
(914) 698-9275
Email: jayheritagecenter@gmail.com
Follow and like us on:
Twitter @jayheritage
Facebook www.facebook.com/jayheritagecenter
Pinterest www.pinterest.com/jaycenter
YouTube www.youtube.com/channel/UChWImnsJrBAi2Xzjn8vR54w
www.instagram.com/jayheritagecenter/
A National Historic Landmark since 1993
Member of the African American Heritage Trail of Westchester County since 2004
Member of the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area since 2009
On NY State's Path Through History (2013)