He Gave It All for America

He Gave It All for America 

By Lawrence W. Reed

To the remarkable Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569-1795), America owes an enduring debt of gratitude. For starters, she gave us Casimir Pulaski and Thaddeus Kosciuszko, two patriots of America’s War for Independence. Yet another Polish hero of that pivotal conflict is a man less well-known but deserving of at least an honorable mention, Haym Salomon.

Americans owe Salomon gratitude for his notable services in finance and espionage. When he died, we owed him a lot of money too.

Born in 1740 in Leszno, about 200 miles west of Warsaw, Salomon was a descendent of Jews expelled from Spain in 1492. His ancestors settled in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. He learned finance and several languages during travels around Europe in his 20s and 30s. America would be his new home after he emigrated in 1775 to New York City.

Salomon had planted himself in a seething cauldron of dissent. The first shot of the American War for Independence was fired in Lexington, Massachusetts in April 1775. Bunker Hill followed in June, and the Declaration of Independence a year later. One might expect that an immigrant from a continent away would take his time assessing the situation before deciding to take a stand. Not Haym Salomon. Having witnessed his own country beset by foreign aggressors (the first of three partitions of Poland occurred in 1775), freedom was near and dear to his heart.

No sooner than he had set himself up as a financial broker for American merchants (arranging financing for their trade), he took the treasonous step of joining the Sons of Liberty. Two months after independence was declared, British forces arrested him for espionage and detained him on a prison ship for a year and a half. While in captivity, he surreptitiously helped American prisoners of war escape from the British.

Barely weeks after his release, the Brits arrested him again for spying and sentenced him to death. This time, he escaped and eventually reestablished his business in Philadelphia, where in 1781 he started working closely with Robert Morris, the Superintendent of Finance for the entire country. He was effectively America’s Assistant Secretary of the Treasury.

Writing in Israel National News, Rabbi Menachem Levine recounts this hero’s amazing contributions:

Incredibly, records from 1781–84 show that Salomon's fundraising and personal lending helped provide over $650,000 (tens of millions in current US dollars) to George Washington in his war effort! Salomon brokered the sale of most of the war aid from France and the Dutch Republic, selling bills of exchange to American merchants. Salomon also supported various Continental Congress members during their stay in Philadelphia, including James Madison and James Wilson. He requested below-market interest rates, and he never asked for repayment.

In a 2022 article, How Sound Money Won the Battle of Yorktown and Saved the American Revolution, I explained how precarious Washington’s position was on the eve of the crucial battle that would decide the fate of the American cause. The Commander of the Continental Army had no money to pay his troops in September 1781. Mass desertion was imminent unless a miracle occurred, and indeed it did. The French arrived with gold and silver, allowing Washington to pay his men. Who arranged the deal that produced the precious metal in the nick of time? Haym Salomon.

The victory at Yorktown led to the treaty that ended the war and formally acknowledged America’s independence in 1783. Haym Salomon’s role was recognized at the time as indispensable to that outcome. Sadly, though, neither the American government nor most of the private individuals he had helped could afford to pay him back. He had gifted or loaned so much of his personal wealth that when he died suddenly at the age of 44 in January 1786, he was penniless.

Haym Salomon. He gave all he had for a cause he embraced from the moment he arrived in America. He surely earned the praise meant for another in verse 21 of the 25th chapter of Matthew: “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

For additional information, see:

Why the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth’s Legacy of Liberty is Worthy of Our Appreciation Today by Lawrence W. Reed

Two Poles Every American Should Know by Lawrence W. Reed

Haym Salomon and the Revolution by Charles Edward Russell

Forgotten Patriot: The Story of Haym Salomon by David Allen Lewis

Haym Salomon, Spy and Financier of the American Revolution by Patti Wigington

The Jew Who Saved America in the Revolutionary War by Rabbi Menachem Levine

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(Lawrence W. Reed is President Emeritus, Humphreys Family Senior Fellow, and Ron Manners Global Ambassador for Liberty at the Foundation for Economic Education in Atlanta, Georgia. His website is www.lawrencewreed.com.)