FOLLOW THE FRENCHMEN | EPISODE 12 - HARTFORD, CT

#followthefrenchmen EPISODE 12 | Julien travels to Hartford, CT, to dedicate a new Lafayette Trail marker at CT’s Old State House, where Lafayette was addressed by CT Governor Oliver Wolcott, Jr. on September 4, 1824.

Connecticut played a prominent role during the Revolutionary War.

In 1784, CT honored itself, its colonial form of government, and its own affinity with the ideas of self-government when it gave Lafayette and his son George Washington Lafayette citizenship.

While the rest of the Union was adopting state constitutions to solidify legal protections for individual rights, Connecticut stuck to its Standing Order and its two foundational legal documents of 1639 and 1662 to govern its land and its people. It did not enshrine the separation between the church and the state in a legal document until 1818.

⚜️How did CT align itself with the rest of the Union while preserving its colonial heritage?

⚜️What does Lafayette’s 1824 visit reveal about CT itself and the transformations that affected its institutions?

Follow The Frenchmen and find out now!

PS: At the time of the film recording, a mention was made that Lafayette attended the conference in Wethersfield. Julien confused a line. Lafayette did not attend the Wethersfield meeting. He was already down south.