Lafayette The Archetype Of The Radical Democrat

Lafayette was the archetype of the moderate democrat in the era of the French Revolution. He desired that France be governed with a constitutional monarchy. Throughout each tension, he was able to maintain some form of balance between the radical uprisings and the absolute monarchy, until the Champs de Mars massacre. His background as an aristocrat may seem to contradict his later actions during the French Revolution, but he stayed true to his convictions throughout the whole of his life.

He rose concerns over the rule of Napoleon as Emperor and Louis XVI as king. He advised for the abolition of slavery and equality for all. Not as radical as a Jacobin, or as conservative as a royalist, Lafayette was a symbol of the eventual outcome of the