Le Duc de Liancourt

Charles Willson Peale, born Queen Anne's County, MD 1741-died Philadelphia, PA 1827 · ca.1794-1797

A staunch advocate of the French Revolution, Liancourt (1747-1827) was considered the French equivalent to Benjamin Franklin. He was part of Lafayette’s entourage, and became friends with George Washington, as both men were farmers interested in new agricultural techniques. Nancy Shippen, a prominent Philadelphian, recorded his remark on American democracy: “In the days of my power, under the ancient régime of France, I had fifty servants to wait upon me, but yet my coat was never as well brushed as now that I do it myself.” Liancourt wrote a two-volume book titled Travels through the United States of North America, the Country of the Iroquois and Upper Canada in the years 1795, 1796, and 1797, in which he recorded his experiences. His published memoirs made him one of France’s most respected authors.