Full Text of HR1002 96th General Assembly
HR1002 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
|
|
|
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.
|
|