Revolution on $33,000 a day Part 1 (Ep11)
EPISODE 11: REVOLUTION ON $33,000 A DAY, PART 1. This episode is about the financing and logistics of the American Revolution. In order to get a full picture of the Revolution, one has to study more than the battles fought, the soldiers who fought them, and the political ideals expressed by the Founding Fathers. Those are crucial, of course, but war isn't waged with soldiers and ideals alone. Wars cost money -- lots of money. Armies and navies need forts, ships, guns, and cannons. Soldiers need uniforms, rifles, bayonets, and ammunition. Armies need to be fed. You also have to ask, “Who paid for all this stuff and how did it get to where it was needed?” This episode focuses on the first three years of the War, from 1775 to 1778, when America was a scrappy start-up venture. It illuminates the ways in which the Continental Congress paid for the War. Chief among these are that they printed money, took out foreign loans, and received foreign military aid. But they also employed less familiar methods, such as government-sanctioned piracy. This episode also describes the far-flung supply network that handled logistics for the Americans, which was essential to receiving and transporting needed supplies, such as gunpowder and arms. It features the man who did more than anyone to fund the War and to get provisions where they were needed: Philadelphia financier Robert Morris. This is the first of a 3-part series that takes us through the end of the War of Independence.
Timestamps for major events/discussions:
[04:25] – Mercantilism explained
[06:46] – The ways in which the Second Continental Congress paid for the war
[08:16] – Introducing the Continental Dollar
[19:37] – Enter Robert Morris
[21:29] – Merchants – the most impressive people of their age
[31:40] – The Pennsylvania Assembly’s Committee of Safety buys gunpowder
[39:29] – Robert Morris becomes a member of the Continental Congress
[42:55] – Morris joins the Secret Committee of Trade
[46:47] – Mysterious Frenchmen arrive in America
[51:57] – Enter Silas Deane
[55:45] – The French playwright Beaumarchais becomes an arms dealer
[1:01:26] – Ben Franklin, the rainmaker of “American Revolution Inc.”
[1:06:28] – Pirates for America
Portrait of Robert Morris by Robert Edge Pine (c. 1785)
Books to read:
Some books relied upon to craft this episode were
· The Continental Dollar: How the American Revolution Was Financed with Paper Money, by Farley Grubb (University of Chicago Press, 2023).
· Robert Morris: Financier of the American Revolution, by Charles Rappleye (Simon & Schuster, 2010)
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