Haym Solomon

Haym Solomon
Haym Solomon, financier of the American Revolution
Born	April 7, 1740 Leszno, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
Died	January 6, 1785(1785-01-06) (aged 44) Philadelphia, U.S.
Nationality	American
Other names	Haym Salomon
Occupation	Broker, auctioneer
Known for	Prime financier of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.
Religion	Jewish

Haym Solomon (or Salomon) (April 7, 1740 – January 6, 1785) was a Jew who immigrated to New York from Poland during the period of the American Revolution. He was a broker and helped convert the French loans into ready cash by selling bills of exchange for Robert Morris, the Superintendent of Finance. In this way he aided the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War against Great Britain.^[1]

Early life and education

Haym Solomon was born in Leszno (Lissa) Poland,in the year 1740. His family was of Spanish and Portuguese Jewish origins, but had lived in Poland as Ashkenazim for some generations.^[2] Although all Jews in Eastern Europe spoke Yiddish (Judeo-German), some claim that because Solomon left Poland as a young lad he did not know how to properly read and write Yiddish.^[3] In his youth, he studied Hebrew.^[4] During his travels in western Europe, he acquired a knowledge of finance as well as fluency in several other languages, such as German. He returned to Poland in 1770 but left for England two years later in the wake of the Polish partition. In 1775, he immigrated to New York City, where he established himself as a financial broker for merchants engaged in overseas trade.^[5]<ref name="sons"/

Revolutionary activity

Haym Solomon commemorative stamp

Sympathizing with the Patriot cause, Solomon joined the New York branch of the Sons of Liberty. In September 1776 he was arrested as an spy but the British pardoned him, only after spending 18 months on a British boat, in order to use his abilities as an interpreter for their Hessian mercenaries, who were German soldiers siding with the British. Salomon used his position to help prisoners of the British escape and encouraged the Hessians to desert the war effort. In 1778 Solomon was arrested again and sentenced to death, but he managed to escape, whereupon he made his way with his family to the rebel capital in Philadelphia.^[6]

Finance

Once resettled, Salomon resumed his activities as a broker. He became the agent to the French consul, as well as the paymaster for the French forces in North America. In 1781, he began working extensively with Robert Morris, the newly appointed Superintendent for Finance for the Thirteen Colonies.^[7]

In August 1781, the Continental Army had trapped Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis in the Virginian coastal town of Yorktown. George Washington and the main army and Count de Rochambeau with his French army decided to march from the Hudson Highlands to Yorktown and deliver the final blow. But Washington's war chest was completely empty, as was that of Congress. Washington determined that he needed at least $20,000 to finance the campaign. When Morris told him there were no funds and no credit available, Washington gave him a simple but eloquent order: "Send for Haym Solomon". Solomon raised $20,000, through the sale of bills of exchange, and Washington conducted the Yorktown campaign, which proved to be the final battle of the Revolution.^[8]

Salomon negotiated the sale of a majority of the war aid from France and the Dutch Republic, selling bills of exchange to American merchants. Salomon also personally supported various members of the Continental Congress during their stay in Philadelphia, including James Madison and James Wilson. Acting as the patriot he was, he requested below market interest rates, and he never asked for repayment.^[9]

Salomon is believed to have granted outright bequests to men he felt were unsung heroes of the Revolution who had become impoverished during the conflict. One example is Dr. Bodo Otto, senior surgeon in the continental army. Dr. Otto joined the army at the age of 65 and served for the entire war. Among other things, he established the hospital at Valley Forge where he often used his own funds to purchase medical supplies. Thanks to Solomon's bequest, Dr. Otto was able to rebuild his medical practice in Reading, Pennsylvania at war's end.

The Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3, 1783, ended the Revolutionary War but not the financial problems of the newly established nation. America's war debt to France was never properly repaid, which started the cascade of events leading to the French Revolution.

Jewish community

Salomon was involved in Jewish community affairs, being a member of Congregation Mikveh Israel in Philadelphia, and in 1782 made the largest individual contribution towards the construction of its main building. In 1783, Solomon was among the prominent Jews involved in the successful effort to have the Pennsylvania Council of Censors remove the religious test oath required for office-holding under the State Constitution. These test laws were originally written to disenfranchise the Quaker majority (Quakers objected to taking oaths at all), but many were caught up in this anti-democratic ploy. It was Salomon's old friend Robert Morris, who actually introduced legislation to end the test laws in Pennsylvania. In 1784, Solomon answered anti-Semitic slander in the press by stating: "I am a Jew; it is my own nation; I do not despair that we shall obtain every other privilege that we aspire to enjoy along with our fellow-citizens."

Death

Haym Solomon marker, Mikveh Israel Cemetery, Philadelphia

Haym Salomon died on January 6, 1785, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

His obituary in the Independent Gazetteer read, "Thursday, last, expired, after a lingering illness, Mr. Haym Salomon, an eminent broker of this city, was a native of Poland, and of the Hebrew nation. He was remarkable for his skill and integrity in his profession, and for his generous and humane deportment. His remains were yesterday deposited in the burial ground of the synagogue of this city."^[5][10][11]

Legacy

The grave-site of Haym Salomon, Mikveh Israel Cemetery is located in the 800-block of Spruce Street in Philadelphia. Though unmarked, there are two plaque memorials. The east wall has a marble tablet that was installed by his great-grandson, William Salomon, and a granite memorial is set inside the cemetery gate. In 1980, the Haym Salomon Lodge #663 of the fraternal organization B'rith Sholom sponsored a memorial in the Mikveh Israel Cemetery on the north side of Spruce Street between 8th and 9th Streets in Philadelphia. A blue ribbon panel and committee, including Robert S. Whitman, Sidney Bruskin and Marvin Abrams, all lodge past presidents, arranged for the renovation of the walls and walkways of the cemetery. They then arranged for and oversaw the installation of a large, engraved memorial marker of Barre Granite just inside the cemetery gates, inscribed "An American Patriot".^[12]

Commemoration

Despite lack of evidence, there is a legend that during the design process of the Great Seal, Washington asked what compensation Salomon wanted for his contributions. He replied that "he wanted nothing for himself but that he wanted something for his people". As a result, the 13 stars representing the colonies on the seal were arranged in the shape of the Star of David.^[13]

• In 1893, a bill was presented before the 52nd United States Congress ordering a gold medal be struck in recognition of Salomon contributions to the United States.
• In 1939, Warner Brothers released Sons of Liberty, a short film starring Claude Rains as Solomon.(see IMDB under Claude Rains)
• In 1941, the writer Howard Fast wrote a book Haym Salomon, Son of Liberty. That same year, the Heald Square Monument, a sculpture designed by Lorado Taft was erected at Wacker Drive and Wabash Avenue in downtown Chicago. Taft began the work but died in 1936. It was completed by his associate, Leonard Crunelle. The monument depicts George Washington flanked by Salomon and Robert Morris and grasping hands with both men.^[14]
• In 1946, a memorial statue was erected to Salomon at Hollenbeck Park in Los Angeles. The statue was rededicated in 2008 at Pan-Pacific Park in the Fairfax District, where it can be found on the corner of Gardner and Third Street.^[15]
• In 1975, the United States Postal Service issued a commemorative stamp honoring Haym Salomon for his contributions to the cause of the American Revolution. This stamp, like others in the "Contributors to the Cause" series, was printed on the front and the back. On the glue side of the stamp, the following words were printed in pale green ink: "Financial Hero—Businessman and broker Haym Salomon was responsible for raising most of the money needed to finance the American Revolution and later to save the new nation from collapse".
• The Congressional Record of March 25, 1975 reads:

When Morris was appointed Superintendent of Finance, he turned to Solomon for help in raising the money needed to carry on the war and later to save the emerging nation from financial collapse. Solomon advanced direct loans to the government and also gave generously of his own resources to pay the salaries of government officials and army officers. With frequent entries of "I sent for Haym Solomon", Morris' diary for the years 1781–84 records some 75 transactions between the two men.

• In 1975, the writer Shirley Milgrim wrote a book "Haym Salomon, Liberty's Son", which was illustrated by Richard Fish.
• In World War II, the United States liberty ship SS Haym Salomon was named in his honor.^[16]
• The Haym Solomon Nursing Home in Brooklyn, New York is named in his honor.

See also

• Philadelphia portal

References

Notes

Further reading

• Amler, Jane Frances. Haym Solomon: Patriot Banker of the American Revolution. ISBN 0-8239-6629-1
• Hart, Charles Spencer. General Washington's Son of Israel and Other Forgotten Heroes of History. ISBN 0-8369-1296-9
• Klinger, Jerry. http://www.jewish-american-society-for-historic-preservation.org/images/Midstream_-_Haym_Salomon.pdf
• Moran, Donald M. "Haym Solomon - The Revolution's Indispensable Financial Genius." Revolutionary War Archives, Sons of Liberty Chapter.
• Peters, Madison C. Haym Solomon. The Financier of the Revolution. New York: The Trow Press, 1911.
• Russell, Charles Edward. Haym Solomon and the Revolution. ISBN 0-7812-5827-8.
• Schwartz, Laurens R. Jews and the American Revolution: Haym Solomon and Others, Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Co., 1987.
• Wiernik, Peter. History of the Jews in America. New York: The Jewish Press Publishing Company, 1912.

External links

•  "Solomon, Haym". Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. 1900 
• National Park Service summary of Solomon's services to the patriot cause, which varies materially from the above.