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Independence Day Trivia
Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2014 7:41 am
by themanintheseersuckersuit
Henry Laurens of South Carolina was captured by the British while seeking aid for the Revolution from the Netherlands and was imprisoned in the Tower of London. He was freed during a prisoner exchange. We traded Lord Cornwallis for him. After the war, Henry Laurens manumitted all his 260 slaves.
Re: Independence Day Trivia
Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2014 9:09 am
by Bob Juch
themanintheseersuckersuit wrote:Henry Laurens of South Carolina was captured by the British while seeking aid for the Revolution from the Netherlands and was imprisoned in the Tower of London. He was freed during a prisoner exchange. We traded Lord Cornwallis for him. After the war, Henry Laurens manumitted all his 260 slaves.
So what does that have to do with Independence Day? He was first named a delegate to the Continental Congress on January 10, 1777, after the DoI was signed. He was a signatory to the Articles of Confederation however.
He is the only American to have been imprisoned in the Tower of London (of course the British considered him British, he was held for treason).
He was also the first person known to have been cremated in the U.S.