The Money Men: Capitalism, Democracy, and the Hundred Years' War Over the American Dollar (Enterprise)W. W. Norton & Company, 2010 M11 1 - 240 pages An "insightful" (Publishers Weekly) history of the development of American capitalism and the men who made it great. Most Americans are familiar with the political history of the United States, but there is another history woven all through it, a largely forgotten history—the story of the money men. Acclaimed historian H. W. Brands brings them back to life: J. P. Morgan, who stabilized a foundering U.S. Treasury in 1907; Alexander Hamilton, who founded the first national bank, and Nicholas Biddle, under whose directorship it failed; Jay Cooke, who helped to finance the Union war effort through his then-innovative strategy of selling bonds to ordinary Americans; and Jay Gould, who tried to corner the market on gold in 1869 and as a result brought about Black Friday and fled for his life. |
From inside the book
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Page 15
... politics and the American economy more persistently than any other. Political careers were made and broken on this question; political parties rose and fell. Great wealth rewarded those who answered it correctly; bankruptcy claimed ...
... politics and the American economy more persistently than any other. Political careers were made and broken on this question; political parties rose and fell. Great wealth rewarded those who answered it correctly; bankruptcy claimed ...
Page 16
... political sphere but bleeds into the economic realm; capitalist inequality arises in the marketplace but encroaches upon the public square. The money question lay at the center of the contest between democracy and capitalism. The ...
... political sphere but bleeds into the economic realm; capitalist inequality arises in the marketplace but encroaches upon the public square. The money question lay at the center of the contest between democracy and capitalism. The ...
Page 17
... the fate of the American political economy hung. They were geniuses and rascals, statesmen and speculators, patriots and profiteers. They were the Money Men. 1 The Aristocracy of Capital Alexander Hamilton had been impatient Prologue 17.
... the fate of the American political economy hung. They were geniuses and rascals, statesmen and speculators, patriots and profiteers. They were the Money Men. 1 The Aristocracy of Capital Alexander Hamilton had been impatient Prologue 17.
Page 23
... politics didn't matter. “I think I have arguments that will easily convert her to mine.” She ought to be Christian but not Catholic. As to money in hand: “The larger stock of that the better. Money is an essential ingredient to ...
... politics didn't matter. “I think I have arguments that will easily convert her to mine.” She ought to be Christian but not Catholic. As to money in hand: “The larger stock of that the better. Money is an essential ingredient to ...
Page 26
... politicians, yet he didn't depend on the bankers' circumspection for the success of his scheme. Their self-interest in preserving the liquidity of the bank would prevent their overreaching. Moreover—and here Hamilton hit a point that ...
... politicians, yet he didn't depend on the bankers' circumspection for the success of his scheme. Their self-interest in preserving the liquidity of the bank would prevent their overreaching. Moreover—and here Hamilton hit a point that ...
Contents
15 | |
The Bank War | 57 |
The Bonds of Union | 97 |
The Great Gold Conspiracy | 131 |
The Transit of Jupiter | 159 |
The Money Answer | 199 |
For Further Reading | 217 |
Other editions - View all
The Money Men: Capitalism, Democracy, and the Hundred Years' War Over the ... H. W. Brands No preview available - 2007 |
Common terms and phrases
Adams Alexander Hamilton American Andrew Jackson Bank’s bankers Boutwell Bray Hammond British brokers Bryan bulls campaign capital capitalists central charter Chase Clay Cleveland Coin Congress Constitution Cooke’s Corbin Correspondence of Biddle country’s currency Daniel Butterfield debt declared democracy democrats didn’t dollars economy election Erie Erie War ernment farmers favor federal government Federalists Fisk five-twenties gold and silver gold standard government’s Grant greenbacks H. W. Brands House ibid interest investors issues J. P. Morgan Jay Cooke Jay Gould Jefferson knew Madison ment million money question money supply national bank never Nicholas Biddle notes Oberholtzer panic paper party Philadelphia politics president proposed purchase railroad Republicans Ron Chernow Roosevelt sell Senate sold specie speculators thought tion told took trade Treasury secretary U.S. Steel Union United Untermyer veto vote Wall Street wanted Washington wrote York