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Henry Laurens, 1724-1792
South Carolina merchant and planter Henry Laurens, sent by the Continental Congress to secure a much-needed loan from Holland, was captured by the British on the high seas and imprisoned for fifteen months in the Tower of London. Finally exchanged-after the Battle of Yorktown-for General Charles Cornwallis, Laurens posed for his portrait in his former capacity as president of the American Congress. Shortly thereafter he was instructed to join Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, and John Adams as a member of the peace commission. Laurens arrived at Paris just two days before the preliminary treaty bringing the Revolution to a close was signed on November 30, 1782. He inserted a line in the treaty to prevent the British army from "carrying away any Negroes or other property."
John Singleton Copley, 1782 |