Lafayette, the South Street Seaport; and American technology in 1824, 11:00 am. to 12:00 on Pier 16 near the Wavertree

11:00 – 11:20 Lafayette’s Fascination with American Technology and Legal Developments: Lafayette’s fascination with American technology and legal developments, particularly Robert Fulton and Robert Livingston’s steamboat and their steamboat wars with Cornelius Vanderbilt and Thomas Gibbons, in New York Harbor resulting in the landmark Supreme Court case of Gibbons v. Ogden in 1824. delivered by James S. Kaplan

11:20 – 11:40 Lafayette: The Hero of the American and French Revolutions: Lafayette’s career started with the Battle of Brandywine and ended at Yorktown as well as subsequent developments in France resulting in his almost establishing a French constitutional monarchy but later having to flee to an Austrian jail in the reign of terror. by Jonathan Kruk Master Storyteller

11:40 – 12:00 The Building of the Erie Canal and its Impact on New York City: The building by the State of New York and Governor De Witt Clinton of the Erie Canal and its impact on New York City and the South Street Seaport. How Lafayette in 1824 and 1825 was one of the first visitors to the then-under-construction Erie Canal and was amazed how a democratic society could undertake such a visionary project. delivered by James S. Kaplan