This edition begins a series of profiles to introduce some of the historical characters readers will meet when the fifth historical novel in the Yankee Doodle Spies series is released in 2025. One of the first historical characters the reader will encounter is Henry Laurens, a little-known but essential South Carolina founder who became the Continental Congress's president.
Man of Means
Laurens was born the son of a
wealthy Huguenot businessman, John Laurens, in 1724. After receiving his early
education in South Carolina, his father sent him to Britain, where he cut his
teeth on managing money and accounts. His experience in England served him well
on his return to South Carolina a few years later and, combined with his strong
work ethic, launched him on the path to great prosperity as one of the most
powerful merchants in the colony. In just a few years, Laurens expanded his
interests by purchasing plantations and expanding his interests in the rice
trade, but sadly, his big bucks were made in the slave trade.
Husband and Father
In 1750, Laurens married the
daughter of a wealthy South Carolina rice planter. Eleanor Ball would bear
thirteen children, dying in 1770 right after her last child's birth. Most of
his children died young, but at least four grew to adulthood, and one, John
Laurens, would reach prominence during the American Revolution.
Militia Leader
Laurens joined the South Carolina
militia and rose to lieutenant colonel while serving in wars
against the Cherokee and the French and Indian War. Like many of the wealthy
planter class, he also served in the colonial assembly, where he was deemed a
conservative and leaned Tory.
Times of Trouble
As the political situation
between Britain and the colonies worsened, Laurens was drawn to the Whigs—but suffered
attacks from both sides. A mob of radicals stormed into his house and tore it
apart in the search for stamped products. However, British Customs officials
confiscated three of Laurens's merchant ships during the Townshend Acts. This
made him more sympathetic to the Whigs, and he published a letter calling out
the British for their restrictions on American trade. Still, he remained apart
from those advocating direct action or independence.
A 1771 trip to London to check his sons' education changed things. Incensed by the corruption in British society, Laurens became closer to the Whigs. Three years later, when he returned to America, he supported independence.
Carolina Politics
By 1775, the rebellion was in
full swing, and the cautious Laurens fully committed to the cause. He thrust
himself into active politics and was elected to South Carolina's Provincial
Congress—an illegal body that soon replaced royal authority. Laurens ran the
South Carolina Committee of Safety, a critical post as the colonies prepared
for armed conflict with Britain. He clashed with some of the more radical
politicos in the state when he championed property rights in the state's new
constitution to the extent of safeguarding the property of Loyalists from
confiscation. Laurens served as the vice president of the new government of South
Carolina from March 1776 to June 1777.
National Figure
Although long a fixture in his
home state, Henry Laurens entered the national stage in June 1777 when he
joined the Second Continental Congress as a South Carolina delegate. The next November,
he followed John Hancock as president of the Congress—a sort of speaker of the
house. He introduced many vital bills, heading the often contentious factions
during his tenure. His most notable
achievements were the Articles of Confederation and the American alliance with
France. It is as president of Congress that we meet Laurens in my novel, The
Reluctant Spy.
Henry Laurens, President of the Continental Congress
President of Congress
The South Carolina native
displayed the typical Southern aristocratic sense of honor. This, coupled with
a scrupulous attention to detail and an uncompromising view of corruption,
actual or perceived, rubbed many of his peers the wrong way. President Laurens was highly
respected but never loved. He would take on anyone, including Robert Morris. The mighty Morris influenced many against Laurens when he pushed for an
investigation into his actions as the financier of the American Revolution. Laurens's role in the corruption accusations against the American agent in
Paris, Silas Deane, also rankled many. By December 1778, Laurens had enough and
resigned as president to be replaced by fellow Huguenot John Jay—the father of
American counterintelligence.
Financier Robert Morris
Diplomat and Prisoner
A year later, Laurens went from being a controversial figure on the national scene to a controversial one on the international scene when he gave up his Congressional seat to serve as American commissioner to the Netherlands. However, the British intercepted his ship off the coast of Newfoundland. The canny Laurens quickly dumped the trunk full of official dispatches into the ocean, but the Royal Navy salvaged them. The Netherlands' role in aiding America was exposed, giving London a casus belli.
Laurens was taken to London,
charged with treason, and thrown into the Tower of London to rot without
adequate food or medical care until December 1781, when he was exchanged for British
General Charles, Lord Cornwallis, who had been captured at Yorktown the
previous October.
Envoy
But there was no rest for the
sick and weary ex-prisoner. Upon release, he sailed to Amsterdam to finish his
business with the Dutch. Then Congress directed Laurens to Paris, where he
joined Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and now former Congressional president
John Jay in negotiating a peace treaty. He missed the final negotiation and
official signing as he was sent back to London to address business matters, and
when peace came, the two nations would turn back to trading. He remained in
London as an ex officio representative until formal diplomatic relations
were established. One wonders how envoy Laurens felt engaging with his former jailers and
tormentors—or how they felt dealing with the traitor and former prisoner!
Signing the Treaty of Paris
Up from the Ashes
By 1784, John Laurens was back in
South Carolina. But he returned to a state devastated by years of ruthless
warfare and British occupation. His mansion in Charleston had been destroyed,
and his businesses were likewise in ruins—he had lost the equivalent of many
millions of dollars in service to his country. He spent his remaining years
rebuilding the family fortune, turning down public offices of all kinds. He
even refused to represent South Carolina at the Constitutional Convention.
Laurens had his reasons. He was aging, and his health was not good. But the likely cause was the blow he suffered when he learned his son, Colonel John Laurens (a staunch opponent of slavery), had died of wounds sustained in a minor skirmish in 1782. So, the elder Laurens remained in his native state, rebuilding his holdings until his death on 8 December 1792.
Although tarnished by his deep
involvement in the slave trade, the former militia leader, businessman, slave
trader, planter, politician, and statesman's contributions to the nation's
founding were many—as were his sacrifices. He should be remembered for both but
celebrated for his dedicated service to his country.
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