Mid-September Round-Up

Here are some tidbits from history and current news for Round Tablers and friends.

British Troops Landing at Kip's Bay
In the public domain; courtesy of www.wikipedia.com

Round Tabler Richard Melnick wrote yesterday, 9/15: "Kip's Bay Invasion Day
On September 15, 1776 British warships in the East River bombarded American positions around Kip's Bay, Manhattan (York Island), allowing British and Hessian troops, who boarded flatboats on Newtown Creek at Long Island, and invaded our fair city's shores ...".  Thanks, Richard.

Jack Kelly reports on his new book:  "Band of Giants: The Amateur Soldiers Who Won America’s Independence is now officially available in stores."  I hope it’s an enjoyable, exciting and informative narrative about the Revolutionary War and the “forgotten founders” who fought the war.

"The best source of information about the book is: http://bandofgiants.org/"
Thanks, Jack.  We hope Round Tablers (and friends) will enjoy the book!  Post comments here or on Facebook.  

U.S. 10-cent commemorative stamp
Issued 1975; image in the public domain

Lynne Saginaw reports on a timely item:  Unsung Hero, 5775 Edition:   Haym Salomon

Whether or not you’re celebrating the upcoming Jewish New Year, here’s the story of an American patriot we should all know.

Haym Salomon (or Solomon; April 7, 1740 – January 6, 1785) was a Jewish American broker who immigrated to New York from Poland. He helped convert French loans into ready cash by selling bills of exchange for Robert Morris, the colonies’ Superintendent of Finance. Salomon was the prime financier of the Revolution.

Haym Salomon was born in Leszno (Lissa) Poland in 1740 to a family, originally Spanish and Portuguese, who migrated to Poland and lived there for many generations. During his travels in Western Europe, he acquired knowledge of finance as well as fluency in several languages. He returned to Poland in 1770 but left for England two years later. In 1775, he came to New York, where he established himself as a financial broker for merchants engaged in overseas trade.

Sympathetic to the Patriot cause, Salomon joined the New York branch of the Sons of Liberty. In September 1776 he was arrested as a spy. The British pardoned him, but only after holding him for 18 months on a British ship, to use him as an interpreter for their Hessian mercenaries. Salomon used his position to help prisoners escape and encouraged the Hessians to desert. In 1778 Salomon was arrested again and sentenced to death, but he managed to escape, and made his way with his family to Philadelphia.

Once resettled, Salomon resumed his activities as a broker. The Continental Congress was struggling to raise money. It had no powers of direct taxation and had to rely on requests for money to the states, which were mostly refused. The government had no choice but to borrow. ...

For more about Haym Salomon and his service to the Republic, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haym_Salomon and www.nps.gov/amrev.  If your taste runs to hard copy, you might want to read William Pencak's book, Jews and Gentiles in Early America, 1654-1800.