THE AMAZING STORY OF HAYM SALOMON
Just as Jews played a part
in the discovery of the New World, they also played a major part in
establishing the United States of America as a nation independent of Great
Britain. Schools and textbooks, teachers and politicians rarely remember one of
the key figures in the history of the American Revolution, the forgotten Jewish
patriot and financial hero, Haym Saloman. As a businessman and broker, he was
responsible for raising most of the money to finance the American Revolution
and later to save the new nation from collapse. Dr. David Lewis searched for
ten years to document the story of Haym Salomon which culminated in publishing
a booklet entitled, Israel and the USA: Restoring the Lost Pages of American
History (Springfield: Menorah Press, 1993).
When
Salomon saw that Washington’s troops were starving with cold as well as hunger,
he determined to do all he could to finance the Revolution. Salomon knew he
must give his fortune to help America survive for the sake of his own people,
because he believed that America would be a safe haven for the Jews until one
day in the future when Jerusalem would again rise from the dust, and the Jews
would return to their ancient homeland, never to wander again.
Robert
Morris was the Superintendent of Finance. His diary for the years 1781-84
recorded some 75 transactions with Haym Salomon to carry on the war. After the
war ended and Washington became President, Morris made one last appeal to
Salomon, who was lying on his bed, dying of tuberculosis. Salomon got up from
the bed and opened his brokerage operation, raising the money necessary to save
the new nation from bankruptcy. He advanced to the government about $800,000 of
his own money, but when he died penniless, at the age of 45, leaving a young
widow and four children, nothing was left for them. Rachel Salomon tried to
collect on personal loans made to Morris, Congress, and others, but was told
that all papers related to her inheritance were lost. Mathematical and computer
experts have calculated the sum owed to the heirs of Haym Salomon, based on
$800,000 at seven percent interest, compounded quarterly over a period of 217
years, and the most conservative figure they gave was two-and-a- half trillion
dollars! (Feldberg, Michael. 2004. Haym Salomon:
the rest of the story.)
Salomon
also played a prominent role in Philadelphia and in the national Jewish
community affairs. Within five years of his arrival in Philadelphia, Salomon
advanced from penniless fugitive to respected businessman, philanthropist, and
defender of his people. He helped lead the successful fight to repeal the test
oath which kept Jews and other non-Christians from holding public office in
Pennsylvania.
Salomon
was buried in Philadelphia in a grave which is now unmarked. However, the
United States one-dollar bills all bear the mark of Haym Salomon. George
Washington directed the engraving of the Jewish star of David over the eagle on
the one-dollar bill to honor his friend for his incalculable gifts (Weiss,
Duane, “Why We Honor Israel and the Jewish People,” speech, 1995). Also erected
in Chicago in honor of the Jewish patriot was a bronze memorial with the figures
of Robert Morris and Haym Salomon on either side of George Washington (Keller, Sharon
R., ed. 1992, The Jews: A Treasury of Art
and Literature). Haym Salomon, the son of a rabbi, was blessed with wealth,
and he in turn blessed the United States of America with the money needed for
her survival.
(Excerpt from DESTINY OF THE JEWS, master's thesis by Nancy Petrey, May 18, 2004)
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