Henry Lauren and his contributions to fashion design

¶ … Henry Laurens, the President of the Continental Congress. Henry Laurens was an American patriot and revolutionary hero who was the President of the Second Continental Congress from November 1, 1777 through December 9, 1778. During his lifetime he was imprisoned by the English for treason, he helped form a new nation, he fought in the militia, and he lost his oldest son in battle during the Revolutionary War. Many people believe he was at least partially the model for the Mel Gibson character Benjamin Martin in the film "The Patriot."

Henry Laurens was born in 1724 in Charleston, South Carolina. His grandparents were French Huguenots who had immigrated to America for religious freedom. His family did well in the New World. Originally, they settled in New York, but his parents moved to Charleston before he was born, and his father was a very successful saddler and merchant. Henry clerked for local businesses from the time he was sixteen, and when he was twenty, he left America for England, where he would learn to be a merchant. He returned three years later, just a few days after his father died and he inherited his estate, and began a long career as a merchant. He prospered in Charleston, mainly trading in rice and slaves, along with planting rice, and became quite wealthy. He also engaged in importing and exporting items, and he had a store in Charleston, as well. He had a plantation in the country outside Charleston called "Mepkin," and a house in town.

In 1850, he married Eleanor Ball, the daughter of another planter, and they had twelve children together. Eight of them died before they reached adulthood. Eleanor died in 1770, and after that, he raised the children alone, dedicating himself to their education and success. Eventually he owned almost 25,000 acres of rice-growing land in South Carolina and Georgia, which he farmed throughout his lifetime with the help of over 300 slaves. He lived until 1792, and died at Mepkin.

Laurens military and political service began in the 1750s. He served in the militia and became a Lt. Colonel in the battles against the Cherokee Indians in 1757 to 1761. He was also elected to the colonial assembly in 1757, and was re-elected every year except one, thereafter until the state Convention took over governance. In 1775, Laurens was elected to the Provincial Congress of South Carolina, and served as the president of the Committee of Safety, and head of the Congress, as well. When South Carolina created its own independent government, he served as the first Vice-President of the state. He became a delegate to the Continental Congress in early 1777, and served in that Congress until 1780. He was the President of the Second Continental Congress until late 1778. He went on to become an important diplomat for the country in Europe.

LAURENS in the CONTINENTAL CONGRESS

Laurens was a natural born leader it seems. He managed his estate extremely effectively, and did the same in the Congress, which is one reason he became on the political leaders in South Carolina. He served in a variety of roles in the Congress, and led it for over a year as President. He was also extremely patriotic and proud of his American heritage. During his time as the head of the Committee of Safety, he organized unofficial militias to help safeguard Charleston from the British, and he urged friends to take up the cause for American freedom. To one friend he wrote, "A Man who is not a friend to the American Cause certainly holds principles, if he holds any, which are injurious to America" (Chesnutt & Taylor, Vol. XI 333). He was also proud of his accomplishments in Congress. To another friend he wrote, "Our Congress which is still sitting has nearly concluded a system of Resolves which are to be the basis of a Constitution for this Colony during the continuance of our opposition to Tyranny" (Chesnutt & Taylor, Vol. XI 183). As a member of the Continental Congress and other bodies, Laurens is remembered as a hero of the fight for freedom, even if he did not actually participate in the war himself.

After his time spent imprisoned in the Tower of London, he traveled to Paris to take part in the peace negotiations that eventually led to the Treaty of Paris. It was his last official political act. Although he was nominated to the Continental Congress again after his return to America, he declined to serve, and spent the rest of his life at Mepkin. His only other political action during this time was to serve at the South Carolina state convention in 1788, where he was one of the delegates to vote to ratify the United States Constitution. He was also asked to serve in the state assembly and Constitutional Convention of 1787, but he declined these offers, as well.

CAPTURE by the BRITISH

In 1779, the Continental Congress appointed Laurens as the minister to Holland. In 1780, he traveled there and negotiated a treaty of support between Holland and America, which created tension between Great Britain and Holland. Later in 1780, Laurens was on his way back to Amsterdam when a British ship stopped his ship and searched it, discovering a draft of the U.S.-Dutch treaty. The British government charged Laurens with treason and imprisoned him in the Tower of London for fifteen months. He writes of the experience, "[F]ifteen Months confinement in the Tower of London & the sicknesses unattended that I suffered in that place; have broken down my constitution, I may patch it up a little but the Cracks will always appear & be felt" (Chesnutt & Taylor, Vol. XVI, 1). He finally gained his release when an old English friend proposed a trade for Laurens with General George Cornwallis, being held in America. The trade took place, and Laurens returned to America to find his plantation destroyed and his fortune gone. The British had burned the estate, and then he discovered that Americans had looted it until it was almost totally destroyed. He writes, "[T]he Damages... I have sustained from my Country men are exceedingly great, both in Town and Country,' he lamented, ' & they are the most grievous'" (Chesnutt & Taylor, Vol. XVI, 536). He retired from public life in 1784, and spent the rest of his life attempting to rebuild his estate and create another fortune for his children. He writes of his choice to retire form public office, "I am now what I had not been for nearly thirty preceding years... By my own choice... quite a private Character divested of all public Office" (Chesnutt & Taylor, Vol. XVI, 536). He seemed quite content at that point to allow the nation to build a new foundation, and was proud he had been a part of the building of the nation.

LAUREN and SLAVERY

Interestingly, Laurens began his career in South Carolina as a slave trader. He was the business agent for a London company that "harvested" slaves in Sierra Leone in Africa. In Charleston, he received the slaves when the arrived in America, advertised auctions, organized them, and then took 10% of the sales price as his commission, sending the remainder to his employers in London. He also owned several slaves of his own that worked on his plantation and in his house in Charleston. However, in some of his letters, he claims to abhor the practice of slavery. He writes, "You know my Dear Sir. I abhor Slavery, I was born in a Country where Slavery had been established by British Kings & Parliaments as well as by the laws of that Country Ages before my existence" (Chesnutt & Taylor, Vol. XVI, 224). He also said that he wanted to free his slaves, but that he worried about depriving his children of their estate. Several of his slaves did run away during the Revolutionary War, and he made no attempt to recover them. In addition, he never broke up slave families, and he always hoped for the end of slavery and proposed importing while laborers to work on southern plantations instead of slaves.

LAURENS CHILDREN

Laurens had twelve children, but only four lived to become adults. His son John was famous for attempting to create an all-black regiment to fight in the Revolutionary War, and his father attempted to talk him out of the endeavor. John proposed the slaves would gain their freedom after serving their country. He became a military aide to General George Washington, and was killed in the Revolutionary War. His father wrote of mourning his loss. He said, "Oppressed & sunk down as I am by doubled Woe, Mourning & Weeping for the loss of a dear son, Mourning & Weeping over my country in general, involved in a bloody Civil War, & particularly over this Colony reduced to circumstances & a situation truly lamentable" (Chesnutt & Taylor, Vol. XI 4). He mourned the loss of all his children, but John's death seemed to have a special impact on him.