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We have sunk the Africans & their descendants below the Standard of Humanity, and almost render'd them incapable of that Blessing which equal Heaven bestow'd upon us all.
― John Laurens

John Laurens (October 28, 1754 - August 27, 1782) was an American soldier and diplomat who served as aide-de-camp to General George Washington during the American Revolutionary War. He was one of the first abolitionists in American history, arguing for slaves to be emancipated and allowed to join the Continental Army.

Biography[]

Laurens was born in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1754. When the American Revolution against British rule broke out, he joined the Continental Army to fight for his country and joined the staff of General George Washington as an aide-de-camp. Laurens was a good friend of fellow aide-de-camps Alexander Hamilton and the Marquis de Lafayette.

Laurens was known for his reckless courage under fire. At the Battle of Germantown in 1777, he charged into the doorway of a mansion occupied by the British and held off the enemy with his sabre while he set the doorway on fire with a burning brand, withdrawing with only a slight wound to his shoulder. In December 1778 he fought a duel with General Charles Lee after Lee insulted Washington's character. Laurens won the duel, wounding Lee in the side.

Laurens was noted for his opposition to slavery. He viewed slavery as against Christianity because it rendered the slaves almost incapable of receiving the Christian gospel and argued that the Revolutionary leadership could not promote liberty while permitting slavery. Unusually for the time, he believed that black and white people were fundamentally equal. Laurens advised the Continental Congress to emancipate slaves and allow them to join the Continental Army, at various points attempting to create a regiment under his command consisting entirely of freed slaves. On every occasion his plan was defeated by political opponents.

In March 1781, Laurens and Thomas Paine were sent to France to help Benjamin Franklin negotiate an agreement with King Louis XVI. Laurens was able to convince King Louis that America would be forced to war with France if it did not gain independence, resulting in the French navy being sent to support American operations. This support proved vital to the decisive American victory at the Battle of Yorktown. Laurens and Paine also obtained a loan of 10 million livres from France, bringing 2.5 million livres back with them. Laurens later negotiated a similar loan from the Dutch before returning just in time to officially receive the British surrender at Yorktown.

Laurens served until his death under General Nathaneal Greene. He was the head of Greene's intelligence department, overseeing a spy network which tracked enemy operations around British-occupied Charleston. On August 26, 1782, Laurens heard that a large British force under William Brereton had left Charleston to gather supplies. Despite that fact that he was suffering from malaria at the time and in defiance of orders, he rode out to join General Mordecai Gist. The following day Gist sent Laurens with a detachment of fifty riflemen to cover a redoubt so that he could cut off the British retreat when Gist attacked. However, on the way Laurens' detachment was ambushed by a group of 140 British soldiers. Suicidally brave to the last, Laurens ordered a charge and was immediately shot from his horse. He was buried at a nearby plantation until his body could be recovered and interred on the family property.

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