The Enslaved Man-Turned-Spy Who Helped Washington Win America's Independence: James Armistead Lafayette

Our American Stories

iHeartPodcasts

Society & Culture, Documentary

4.3 • 737 Ratings

🗓️ 14 April 2025

⏱️ 16 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On this episode of Our American Stories, for most of his life, James Armistead Lafayette was known simply as James—not Lafayette. That last name came later, and from none other than the Marquis de Lafayette of the American Revolution. But why would an enslaved man take the last name of a French military officer? Here's Kirk Higgins of the Bill of Rights Institute with the story of one of America's most important, underappreciated, and little-known spies during the American Revolution.

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	...

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