Henry Laurens was born in Charleston, South Carolina back in 1724 to John and Hester. He married Eleanor Ball, the union netted them thirteen children however, most of them died in infancy or childhood.
They moved to England with their surviving children for their education. They returned to the United States in 1776 just in time for the American Revolutionary War. He served in the militia and rose to the rank of Lt. Colonel being involved in campaigns including the Cherokee Indians, French and Indian War among others.
In 1779 the Congress named him their minister to the Netherlands where in 1780 he successfully negotiated Dutch support for the war. On his return voyage the British intercepted his ship and discovered the draft of the U.S.-Dutch treaty. The British charged him with treason and imprisoned him in the Tower of London for fifteen months, before releasing him for a prisoner exchange.
He was sent to Paris to negotiate the Treaty of Paris. He retired from public life in 1784 and died in 1792. So here we go, he was a political leader during the Revolutionary War, a delegate to the Second Continental Congress and succeeded John Hancock as President of the Congress. He also was a signatory to the Articles of Confederation when it was passed in 1777. Thus ends the history lesson for today
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