For the Arabist, see Henry Laurens (scholar). For similar names, see Henry Laurence.
Henry Laurens
Laurens depicted by Lemuel Francis Abbott, 1781 or 1784
5th President of the Continental Congress
In office November 1, 1777 – December 9, 1778
Preceded by
John Hancock
Succeeded by
John Jay
Vice President of South Carolina
In office March 26, 1776 – June 27, 1777
President
John Rutledge
Preceded by
Office Established
Succeeded by
James Parsons
President of the
South Carolina Committee on Safety
In office January 9, 1775 – March 26, 1776
Monarch
George III
Preceded by
William Campbell
As governor of South Carolina
Succeeded by
John Rutledge
As president of South Carolina
Personal details
Born
(1724-03-06)March 6, 1724 Charleston, Province of South Carolina
Died
December 8, 1792(1792-12-08) (aged 68) Charleston, South Carolina, U.S.
Spouse
Eleanor Ball (m. 1750; b. 1731 – d. 1770)
Children
John Laurens Martha Laurens Ramsay Henry Laurens, Jr. James Laurens Mary Eleanor Laurens Pinckney
Signature
Portrait of Laurens by John Singleton Copley (U.S. National Portrait Gallery NPG.65.45)
Henry Laurens (March 6, 1724 [O.S. February 24, 1723] – December 8, 1792) was an American Founding Father,[1][2][3] merchant, slave trader, and rice planter from South Carolina who became a political leader during the Revolutionary War. A delegate to the Second Continental Congress, Laurens succeeded John Hancock as its president. He was a signatory to the Articles of Confederation and, as president, presided over its passage.
Laurens had earned great wealth as a partner in the largest slave-trading house in North America, Austin and Laurens. In the 1750s alone, this Charleston firm oversaw the sale of more than 8,000 enslaved Africans.[4] Laurens served for a time as vice president of South Carolina and as the United States minister to the Netherlands during the Revolutionary War. He was captured at sea by the British and imprisoned for a little more than a year in the Tower of London. His oldest son, John Laurens, was an aide-de-camp to George Washington and a colonel in the Continental Army.
^Kelly, Joseph P. (April 2006). "Henry Laurens: The Southern Man of Conscience in History". The South Carolina Historical Magazine. 107 (2): 82–123. JSTOR 27570804. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
^Brammer, Robert (13 May 2020). "Henry Laurens, the Founding Father Who Was Imprisoned in the Tower of London". loc.gov. Library of Congress. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
^Neville, Gabriel (1 August 2019). "The Tragedy of Henry Laurens". allthingsliberty.com. Journal of the American Revolution. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
^"Slavery and Justice: Report of the Brown University Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice" (PDF). Brown University. October 2006.
over its passage. Laurens had earned great wealth as a partner in the largest slave-trading house in North America, Austin and Laurens. In the 1750s alone...
1754, to HenryLaurens and Eleanor Ball Laurens, both of whose families were prosperous as planters cultivating rice. By the 1750s, HenryLaurens and his...
(1794–1853), who married HenryLaurens Pinckney (son of Charles Pinckney). David Laurens Ramsay (1795–1826), who married Mary Eleanor Laurens Pinckney (daughter...
land to HenryLaurens of Charleston. Laurens built his home there, and it was known as the Mepkin Plantation. After a few generations, the Laurens family...
William Temple (1817). The Private Correspondence of Benjamin Franklin", Henry Colburn. Title page. Accessed 14 April 2020 Schaeper, Thomas J. France and...
brief time there was unhappy. In his absence, Congress had elected HenryLaurens as its new president, which was a disappointment to Hancock, who had...
of five history books about Palestine, written by the French scholar HenryLaurens and published by Fayard from 1999 to 2015. The books are organised chronologically...
earlier, Arthur Lee, U.S. commissioner in France, wrote in a letter to HenryLaurens that the U.S. ships' "colors should be white, red, and blue alternately...
through a complex circumvention of Mandatory law in 1942. According to HenryLaurens, Kfar Etzion had started hostilities in the area in December by destroying...
Paine. HenryLaurens, on the other hand, ran the largest slave trading house in North America. In the 1750s alone, his firm, Austin and Laurens, handled...
consolidated support in their home governments. On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee offered a resolution before the Congress, declaring the colonies independent...
at maximum conquest and expulsion. According to the French historian HenryLaurens, the importance of the military dimension of plan Dalet becomes clear...
1831-1914". Cambridge. JSTOR 162768. Tolan, John; Veinstein, Gilles; HenryLaurens (2013). Europe and the Islamic World: A History. Princeton University...
with Britain to advocating separation sooner than Laurens. Eight states voted for Jay and four for Laurens. Jay served as President of the Continental Congress...
Henry Marchant John Collins South Carolina HenryLaurens William Henry Drayton John Mathews Richard Hutson Thomas Heyward Jr. Virginia Richard Henry Lee...
Larpent (1786–1855), British businessman. Benjamin Henry Latrobe, II, American engineer. HenryLaurens, American merchant, delegate to the Continental Congress...
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