Find out who lived and who died in the incredible story of the founding father who made America modern and became the toast of Broadway. This richly illustrated biography portrays Alexander Hamilton's fascinating life alongside his key contributions to American history, including his unsung role as an early abolitionist. An immigrant from the West Indies, he played a crucial part in the political, legal and economic development of the new nation: He served as Washington's right-hand man during the Revolutionary War; he helped establish the Constitution; he wrote most of 'The Federalist Papers'; and he modernized America's fledgling finances, among other notable achievements. Noted Hamilton scholar and chairman of the Museum of American Finance, Richard Sylla, brings the flesh-and-blood man - the student, soldier, lawyer, political scientist, finance minister and politician - to life and reveals captivating details of his private life, as well as his infamous demise at the hands of Vice President Aaron Burr.

Contents:
1. Introduction Richard Sylla and Gianni Toniolo Part I 2. Substitution for Prerequisites: Endigenous Institutions and Comparative Economic History C. Knick Harley, University of Western Ontario 3. The Role of Banks Richard Sylla 4. The Role of the State in Promoting Economic Development: The Russian Case and its General Implications Paul R. Gregory, University of Houston 5. Europe in an American Mirror: Reflections on Industrialization and Ideology William N. Parker, Yale University Part II 6. Britain N.F.R. Crafts, University of Warwick, S.J.Leybourne, University of Leeds and T.C. Mills, City University Business School 7. France Maurice Levy-Leboyer and Michel Lescure, University of Paris, Nanterre 8. Germany Richard Tilly, Universitat Munster 9. Italy Giovanni Federico, Universita di Pisa and Gianni Toniolo 10. Austria-Hungary David Good, University of Minnesota 11. Russia Olga Crisp, University of London Part III: On the Methodology of Economic History 12. Kinks, Tools, Spurts and Substitutes: Gerschenkron's Rhetoric of Relative Backwardness Donald N. McCloskey, University of Iowa

While serving as the first Treasury Secretary from 1789 to 1795, Alexander Hamilton engineered a financial revolution. Hamilton established the Treasury debt market, the dollar, and a central bank, while strategically prompting private entrepreneurs to establish securities markets and stock exchanges and encouraging state governments to charter a number of commercial banks and other business corporations. Yet despite a recent surge of interest in Hamilton, U.S. financial modernization has not been fully recognized as one of his greatest achievements. This book traces the development of Hamilton's financial thinking, policies, and actions through a selection of his writings. The financial historians and Hamilton experts Richard Sylla and David J. Cowen provide commentary that demonstrates the impact Hamilton had on the modern economic system, guiding readers through Hamilton's distinguished career. The book showcases Hamilton's thoughts on the nation's founding, the need for a strong central government, confronting problems such as a depreciating paper currency and weak public credit, and the architecture of the financial system. His great state papers on public credit, the national bank, the mint, and manufactures instructed reform of the nation's finances and jumpstarted economic growth. Hamilton practiced what he preached: he played a key role in the founding of three banks and a manufacturing corporation, and his deft political maneuvering and economic savvy saved the fledgling republic's economy during the country's first full-blown financial crisis in 1792. Sylla and Cowen center Hamilton's writings on finance among his most important accomplishments, making his brilliance as an economic policy maker accessible to all interested in this Founding Father's legacy.

While serving as the first Treasury Secretary from 1789 to 1795, Alexander Hamilton engineered a financial revolution. Hamilton established the Treasury debt market, the dollar, and a central bank, while strategically prompting private entrepreneurs to establish securities markets and stock exchanges and encouraging state governments to charter a number of commercial banks and other business corporations. Yet despite a recent surge of interest in Hamilton, U.S. financial modernization has not been fully recognized as one of his greatest achievements. This book traces the development of Hamilton's financial thinking, policies, and actions through a selection of his writings. The financial historians and Hamilton experts Richard Sylla and David J. Cowen provide commentary that demonstrates the impact Hamilton had on the modern economic system, guiding readers through Hamilton's distinguished career. The book showcases Hamilton's thoughts on the nation's founding, the need for a strong central government, confronting problems such as a depreciating paper currency and weak public credit, and the architecture of the financial system. His great state papers on public credit, the national bank, the mint, and manufactures instructed reform of the nation's finances and jumpstarted economic growth. Hamilton practiced what he preached: he played a key role in the founding of three banks and a manufacturing corporation, and his deft political maneuvering and economic savvy saved the fledgling republic's economy during the country's first full-blown financial crisis in 1792. Sylla and Cowen center Hamilton's writings on finance among his most important accomplishments, making his brilliance as an economic policy maker accessible to all interested in this Founding Father's legacy.

Through an examination of a wide variety of financial systems in Europe, and North and South America over approximately 150 years of change, this book demonstrates the key role that finance has played in economic change, and in the development of diverse financial systems. Insights into the primacy of the state's role in the financial development of the pre-industrial era have not been carried over into the historiography of the industrial era itself, so the discoveries detailed in this book have never been brought together in a systematic manner. This book therefore aims to demonstrate through comparative historical analysis, the richness of the history of modern financial systems, and to restore the state to its primary role in the shaping of those systems. This book makes an interesting contribution to financial historiography, thus will be of interest to economists and financial, economic and world historians.

Through an examination of a wide variety of financial systems in Europe, and North and South America over approximately 150 years of change, this book demonstrates the key role that finance has played in economic change, and in the development of diverse financial systems. Insights into the primacy of the state's role in the financial development of the pre-industrial era have not been carried over into the historiography of the industrial era itself, so the discoveries detailed in this book have never been brought together in a systematic manner. This book therefore aims to demonstrate through comparative historical analysis, the richness of the history of modern financial systems, and to restore the state to its primary role in the shaping of those systems. This book makes an interesting contribution to financial historiography, thus will be of interest to economists and financial, economic and world historians.

This book, the product of a unique international scholarly collaboration sponsored jointly by the American Council of Learned Societies and the Soviet Academy of Sciences, provides a comprehensive survey on international banking from 1870 to 1914. In that period international investment reached dimensions previously unknown, and the banking systems of the world achieved a degree of internationalization without precedent. The book's authors, twenty-five scholars from fifteen countries, are the acknowledged experts in their fields. They detail the origin and development of internationally oriented banks in each major country, and explain their role in foreign investment and industrial finance. They look at all areas of the world that were involved in international investment, either as investors, recipients of investment, or both. The definitive work on international banking from 1870 to 1914, this book will interest scholars and students in financial and banking history, bankers and economists in the finanical industry, and general historians.

In this unique, well-illustrated book, readers learn how fifty financial corporations came to dominate the U.S. banking system and their impact on the nation's political, social, and economic growth. A story that spans more than two centuries of war, crisis, and opportunity, this account reminds readers that American banking was never a fixed enterprise but has evolved in tandem with the country. More than 225 years have passed since Alexander Hamilton created one of the nation's first commercial banks. Over time, these institutions have changed hands, names, and locations, reflecting a wave of mergers, acquisitions, and other restructuring efforts that echo changes in American finance. Some names, such as Bank of America and Wells Fargo, will be familiar to readers. The origins of others, including Zions Bancorporation, founded by Brigham Young and owned by the Mormon Church until 1960, are surprising. Exploring why some banks failed and others thrived, this book wonders, in light of the 2008 financial crisis, whether recent consolidations have reached or even exceeded economically rational limits. A key text for navigating the complex terrain of American finance, this volume draws a fascinating family tree for projecting the financial future of a nation.