June 17, 1825. Exactly 50 years after the Battle of Bunker Hill. An estimated 200,000 people packed into Charlestown, Massachusetts, to witness an important moment in American history: the laying of the Bunker Hill Monument cornerstone. Marquis de Lafayette was standing at the center of it all on his year-long farewell tour of the United States. He used a ceremonial silver trowel to help lay the foundation, applying the first course of cement to the cornerstone. In Lafayette’s speech, he tied America's future stability to the survival of global democracy. His words during the ceremony called the American Revolution a global blueprint for liberty, rather than just a local victory. He predicted that the fires of liberty lit at Bunker Hill would eventually spread and consume the kings of Europe. “Bunker Hill is the holy resistance to oppression, which has already disenthralled the American hemisphere, and the anniversary toast at the jubilee of the next half-century will be to Europe, freed.” The monument stands as a symbol to the world that human beings are fully capable of governing themselves. Daniel Webster was also there delivering a historic address. Rather than just focusing on the battle, he challenged Americans to think about their future legacy. He reminded the crowd that heroes from the previous generation, like Lafayette, had given us this great country, but the current generation bore the heavy burden of preserving, and maintaining it. “Let us develop the resources of our land, call forth its powers, build up its institutions, promote all its great interests, and see whether we also in our day and generation may not perform something worthy to be remembered.” Standing side-by-side, they symbolically passed the baton of freedom. Lafayette represented the blessings of the founders, while Webster challenged Americans of the future to never forget what they fought for, telling Americans that their new duty was not to win freedom, but to preserve it.