Publishers Weekly
11/18/2019
Historian Shachtman (How the French Saved America) offers a comprehensive survey of the economic factors that led to the Revolutionary War and explores how wealthy merchants, plantation owners, and privateers supported and benefited from the conflict in this workmanlike account. Among the ranks of affluent colonists whose resistance to British rule went against their own interests, Shachtman lists John Dickinson, a lawyer and Pennsylvania land owner who called on patriots to protest the 1767 Townshend Acts by refusing to import household staples including sugar and mustard, as well as luxury items such as silk garments and jewelry. Nonimportation of British goods also boosted American manufacturing and led to “a modest redistribution of wealth,” according to a historian quoted by Shachtman. Debunking the myth of the Continental Army soldier as a yeoman farmer, Shachtman shows that most were young, poor, and propertyless. (George Washington recruited his Virginia regiment by promising enrollees 100 acres of land at the end of their service.) To equip and feed the army, prosperous merchants such as Thomas Mifflin, Washington’s quartermaster general, extended their personal credit to purchase supplies. Shachtman marshals his evidence efficiently and enlivens his account with bold, direct statements (“the Constitution was as much about capitalism as democracy”). Colonial history buffs will savor this sharply focused study. (Jan.)
From the Publisher
Praise for The Founding Fortunes:
“Enlightening history with contemporary parallels.” —Booklist
“Shachtman marshals his evidence efficiently and enlivens his account with bold, direct statements…Colonial history buffs will savor this sharply focused study.” —Publishers Weekly
“An ingenious examination of how money played the central role in the founding of the United States…a provocative argument.” —Kirkus Reviews
"A commendable treatment of pecuniary matters during this country’s embryonic stages...recommended for readers interested in fiscal matters and American economic habits." —Library Journal
Praise for Tom Shachtman:
"The author makes a convincing case that, without France, the United States may never have gained independence."—Kirkus Reviews for How the French Saved America
"Shachtman illuminates the impact of French contributions to American military leadership, resources, and engineering knowledge...of interest to American-history enthusiasts and Francophiles alike.” —Publishers Weekly for How the French Saved America
"This book deserves a place on the bookshelf of every American history buff." —Jeswald W. Salacuse, author and professor at The Fletcher School for How the French Saved America
“An intriguing survey of science’s influence on the Founders.”—Booklist for Gentleman Scientists and Revolutionaries
“A fascinating and unique look at the history of the founding of the United States."—Library Journal for Gentleman Scientists and Revolutionaries
“Shachtman is like a maestro, masterfully conducting an orchestra of history, anthropology, psychology, sociology, and journalism together in a harmonious and evocative symphony of all things Amish.”—Christian Science Monitor for Rumspringa, To Be or Not to Be Amish
Kirkus Reviews
2019-09-24
An ingenious examination of how money played the central role in the founding of the United States.
As prolific historian Shachtman (How the French Saved America: Soldiers, Sailors, Diplomats, Louis XVI, and the Success of a Revolution, 2017, etc.) points out, fighting Britain was extremely expensive. Lacking the power to tax, the Continental Congress performed terribly in their efforts to supply the army, but this obscures the fact that it spent a great deal of money and many men got rich. Partly, this was inherent in the primitive administration of 18th-century governments. Paid no salary, officials took a commission from money that passed through their hands, a practice that encouraged corruption. It was also not illegal to mix public and private business, so officials purchased from themselves or their friends. Due to slow communication and scanty legal protection, merchants and buyers relied on promises, personal guarantees, risky loans, and favors. Genuinely patriotic merchants like Robert Morris, as well as less admirable figures, took terrible risks and often suffered for it. Morris died poor. The feeble confederation that followed independence exasperated those concerned with foreign affairs, trade, raising capital, and collecting debts but not the average American. Shachtman emphasizes that no mass movement demanded change. The Constitution was championed "by a very small subset of the country's wealthy. If we add to the fifty-five men who attended the Constitutional Convention, twice or three times that number of nondelegates who later took the lead in urging ratification…the total is at best a few hundred men." They looked after their own interests, and their priorities were social order, contracts, collecting debts, and a strong currency. However, as the author shows, unlike the ultrawealthy today, most embraced equality of opportunity. Shachtman carries his account past the presidency of Thomas Jefferson, who opposed powerful governments, banks, and (in theory) great wealth. Despite this, the author maintains that his elimination of taxes and regulations increased equality of opportunity without inconveniencing the rich, and America prospered.
A provocative argument that wealthy men built America and did a good job.
