John Laurens was born in 1754 to Eleanor and Henry Laurens in Charleston, South Carolina. The Laurens family lived comfortably due to Henry's wealth as a partner of the largest slave-trading house in North America. Additionally, they were part of the South Carolinian elite since Henry served as president of the Continental Congress in 1777-1778.
Eventually, John Laurens sailed to Europe for his education, where he studied in Geneva and London. While deciding which career to pursue, Laurens was stuck between two choices: law or medicine. In one letter, Laurens wrote:
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"I find it exceedingly difficult, even at this time, to determine, in which of the Learned Professions I shall list myself . . . When I hear of [a man] who shines at the Bar, and overcomes Chicanery and Oppression, who . . . disperses Benefits to Multitudes, the same emulous Ardor rises in my Breast. When I hear of another, who has done eminent Service to Mankind, by discovering Remedies . . . and has given Relief to Numbers whose Lives without his Assistance would have been insupportable Burthens [sic], I can’t refrain from wishing to be an equal Dispenser of Good."
--The Army Correspondence of Colonel John Laurens in the Years 1777-8 by John Laurens, William Gilmore Simms, David Moltke-Hansen, and Jeffery J. Rogers.
Laurens's time overseas marked the beginning of his anti-slavery stance. Through his European education and his friendships with contemporary abolitionists, Laurens was influenced to become a fervent supporter of the movement.
Eventually, Laurens chose to study law. He desired to help people in need, and this followed him in his abolitionism, as he was sympathetic to the situation of slaves.
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"I think that we Americans, at least in the Southern Colonies cannot contend with a good Grace for Liberty until we shall have enfranchised our Slaves . . . Let us fly it as a hateful Country, and say ubi Libertas ibi Patria ['where Liberty is there is my Country']." |
"I have often conversed upon [slavery] and I have scarcely ever met with a Native of the Southern Provinces or the W. Indies, who did not obstinately recur to the most absurd Arguments in support of Slavery, but it was easy to perceive that they consider’d only their own Advantage arising from the Fact . . . Indeed when driven from every thing else, they generally exclaim’d: 'Without Slaves how is it possible for us to be rich?' . . . 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." |
Unlike many of his countrymen, Laurens recognized the hypocrisy of slave-owning southerners demanding liberty. He wondered how slave owners could justify slavery while believing in human rights. Laurens also understood the support of slavery revolved around one thing: wealth. Southerners preferred this institution because black slaves, as opposed to white laborers, were easily controllable and could garner them a larger profit. Unfortunately, in the 18th century, slaves were regarded as property. Laurens disagreed, believing Africans deserved equality. As the son of a slave-owning southerner, it is remarkable that Laurens was so passionate about abolitionism, which proves that anyone can realize their society's flaws and reject inequality even when they benefit from it.
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Laurens was also an eager supporter of the American Revolution and wished to join the fight. Initially, he was prevented from returning to America by several factors:
"After Lexington and Concord, Laurens clamored to return home but was deterred by his fretful father, who worried about his son’s youthful lust for combat . . . After reading Thomas Paine’s Common Sense in 1776, John Laurens grew even more impatient to recross the Atlantic but remained trapped in England by an unexpected circumstance. He had impregnated a young woman, Martha Manning . . . With his chivalric sense of honor, John Laurens married Manning in a clandestine ceremony in October 1776. Four months later . . . Laurens immediately boarded a ship back to Charleston." |