Henry Laurens

“Let our remotest posterity know that we are not only free but invested with the means of enjoying that freedom.”

“I detest slavery.”

“You know, my dear sir, I am not one of those who gain an opinion by reading books, but I form my own opinion from my own observations.”

“I am not the man who enslaved them; they are indebted to Englishmen for that favor; nevertheless I am devising means for manumitting many of them.”

“The calamities of war are not to be averted by distrustful and temporizing councils.”

“I am now by the Grace of God, an old man, I shall soon be plucked off, you are growing up; I hope you will be a better man than your Father.”

“I had the honor of being one among many who framed that Constitution... In order to consolidate this union, and produce energy in our government, it was necessary that a certain portion of our individual privileges should be given up.”