Laurens, Henry (1724–1792)

US Revolutionary politician. A wealthy businessman, he entered the second Continental Congress in 1777 and served as its second president (1777–78). In 1780 he was captured by the British while on his way to the Netherlands on a diplomatic mission. He was imprisoned and eventually exchanged for General Charles Cornwallis in 1782. He immediately went on to serve at the peace conference that produced the Treaty of Paris (1783). He served as an unofficial ambassador to England until returning to his estate in South Carolina in 1784. Laurens was born in Charleston, South Carolina.