As America celebrates its 250th anniversary, many are reflecting on the men and women whose sacrifices secured the nation’s independence. Among them is Haym Salomon, a Jewish immigrant whose financial support and personal courage helped sustain the Revolutionary War at one of its darkest moments.
Find out when your state prays.
From Breitbart:
He rebuilt with remarkable speed. By 1781, when the Continental Congress appointed Robert Morris as superintendent of finance and charged him with keeping the Revolutionary government from collapsing under its debts, Salomon became one of Morris’s most useful brokers. By July 1782, he was publicly advertising himself as “Broker to the Office of Finance” — the man who helped turn French subsidies, Dutch loans, public paper, and bills of exchange into the hard money needed to pay troops, buy supplies, and keep the machinery of a revolution running.
The mechanism was less romantic than the legend but more impressive. Salomon bought and sold bills of exchange, advanced funds against government notes, extended his own credit, and deposited proceeds into the Bank of North America. He did it, at Morris’s insistence, for a commission of half of one percent — at a time when other brokers commonly charged two to five percent. He understood he was not engaged in ordinary commerce. He was helping keep alive a government whose credit had nearly died.
He also reached into his own pocket.
Born around 1740 in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Salomon immigrated to the American colonies in the years leading up to the Revolution. He joined the Sons of Liberty and became active in the Patriot cause, serving as an interpreter and merchant in New York. His activities drew the attention of British authorities, who arrested him twice during the war. Following his second arrest in 1778, Salomon was reportedly condemned to death before escaping through a bribe and fleeing to Philadelphia.
Once there, Salomon became one of the most important financial brokers serving the fledgling American government. Working closely with Superintendent of Finance Robert Morris, he helped convert foreign loans, government securities, and private credit into the hard currency needed to keep the Continental Army supplied and the government functioning. Beyond his official work, Salomon personally loaned money to numerous Patriot leaders, including James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, Baron von Steuben, and others who later testified that they could not have remained in public service without his assistance.
Despite his extraordinary contributions, Salomon died in 1785 at just 45 years old, leaving behind a widow, four young children, and a fortune largely tied up in unpaid government obligations. Although congressional committees later acknowledged the legitimacy of his family’s claims, his heirs were never fully compensated for the hundreds of thousands of dollars he had advanced to support the Revolutionary cause.
President Calvin Coolidge later honored Salomon as the “financier of the Revolution,” recognizing that while no single individual secured American independence, Salomon’s willingness to risk both his life and fortune played a crucial role in sustaining the nation’s fight for liberty. His story stands as a reminder that America’s founding depended not only on soldiers and statesmen, but also on faithful citizens willing to sacrifice everything for the cause of freedom.
As intercessors commemorate America’s founding, stories like Haym Salomon’s remind us that God often works through ordinary people who faithfully steward their gifts in extraordinary times. His example of courage, generosity, and sacrificial service challenges us to consider how we, too, can faithfully use the resources God has entrusted to us for the advancement of righteousness and the preservation of liberty. Salomon’s story also reminds us that God’s chosen people have played a key role in American history ever since our nation’s founding. With antisemitism on the rise, let’s pray that the next 250 years of American history would also prominently feature Jewish figures like him.
What did you think of Salomon’s story? Share your thoughts and prayers in the comments below.
(Excerpt from Breitbart. Photo Credit: Downtowngal – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=112476517)
