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Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben
King Louis XVI was King of France from 1774 (just before the start of the American Revolution) until 1793, when he was beheaded during the French Revolution. Though his anti-British sentiment led him to be staunch supporter of the American forces, Louis was himself a monarch who taxed his subjects heavily—the very thing the Americans claimed to fight against. Indeed, when the increasingly high taxes needed to pay for the Patriots’ war led his subjects to revolt, Louis would express great regret at having backed the U.S.
King Louis XVI Quotes in Lafayette in the Somewhat United States
The Lafayette in the Somewhat United States quotes below are all either spoken by King Louis XVI or refer to King Louis XVI . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Pages 1-59
Quotes
Because these words convinced Louis XVI to open his heart and, more important, his wallet to the patriots, Vergennes’s memo arguably had as much practical effect on the establishment of American independence as the Declaration of Independence itself. Jefferson’s pretty phrases were incomplete without the punctuation of French gunpowder.
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King Louis XVI Character Timeline in Lafayette in the Somewhat United States
The timeline below shows where the character King Louis XVI appears in Lafayette in the Somewhat United States. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Pages 1-59
...for free—and in part because Washington thought that working with a well-connected Frenchman would encourage Louis XVI , King of France, to bankroll the Americans’ war. Though the Patriots were fighting against...
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...Beaumarchais was so hooked on the idea of the revolution that he wrote directly to King Louis XVI, advising that France should smuggle weapons into America.
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In a letter to Louis XVI , Vergennes suggested that the French should send secret aid to the Patriots, so as...
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Pages 60-125
...annoying the French but ignoring Du Courdray (who claimed that he was much closer to Louis XVI than he actually was). Eventually, the entire debacle was sorted out, but it made Congress...
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Pages 126-190
Saratoga is often thought to be the battle that prompted Louis XVI to officially recognize America as an independent government. Vowell acknowledges there is some truth to...
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To formalize the alliance, Louis XVI invited Benjamin Franklin—still dressed like a farmer—to the showy palace at Versailles. Vowell points out...
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