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发帖数: 7039 | 1 美国独立战争资金的提供者——共济会员所罗门
哈扬·所罗门Haym Salomon，一位犹太金融家，北美独立战争和建立美国政府的资金几
乎是由他一人筹集的。有历史学家认为他的作用不亚于华盛顿和富兰克林——没有哈扬
·所罗门就没有现在的美国。
然而哈扬所罗门却是一位默默无闻的幕后人物。如此一位真正的英雄却少有人知，不但
中国人，连美国普通人都很少知道，因为在主流历史教科书中几乎看不到对他的介绍。
直到1975年，美国邮政才发行了一张纪念哈扬所罗门的邮票，在邮票小型张上印着这样
的话：资助英雄——作为商人和经纪人的哈扬·所罗门提供了北美独立运动所需的绝大
部分资金，并拯救了新政府使其免于财政破产。
哈扬-所罗门出生于波兰莱斯诺，他出身于来自葡萄牙的一个西班牙谱系的犹太家庭，
父亲是一位虔诚的犹太教拉比。青年时期，他学习了希伯来语。 他曾在欧洲游历，获
得了多种语言的能力和金融知识。1770年他回到波兰，两年后离开波兰到英格兰。
1775年，他移居到纽约市，他在那里建立自己的商行，成为一个从事海外贸易的金融经
纪人。
所罗门同情北美独立者的事业，加入了共济会在纽约建立的“自由之子”分部。1776年
9月，他因从事间谍活动被英国当局逮捕，在受刑和在英国轮船服苦役18个月后，英国
当局赦免了他，让他加入了来自黑森州的雇佣军。所罗门利用职务之便，继续帮助被英
国关押的犯人越狱，阻挠英国的军事活动。 1778年，所罗门再次被捕，并被判处死刑
，但他设法逃到费城，与他的家人合作，反叛英国。
所罗门重获自由后，继续从事作为一个金融经纪人的业务。1781年，他开始与罗伯特·
莫里斯合作，为新独立的十三个殖民地做金融代理工作。他成为代理北美殖民地政府偿
付法国雇佣军贷款的财政经纪人，并通过买卖和发行金融债券为大陆议会筹集财政援助
，而此时的大陆议会还没有能力通过税收来维持华盛顿的军队。他不但以贷款向独立军
资助军费，甚至提供经费直接为议会成员以及后来的美国总统支付工资。
１781年8月，北美大陆军被困在弗吉尼亚州沿海的小约克敦镇。乔治·华盛顿的将领和
拉法叶伯爵统帅的法国军队决定从哈德逊高地对英军发动致命的反击。但华盛顿发现的
资金库是空的。华盛顿估算，需要至少20,000美元的后勤资助。但财务官莫里斯告诉他
，自己已经没有资金，也没有办法筹集贷款。华盛顿告诉他——“去找所罗门”。所罗
门提供了所需的20,000美元，使得华盛顿的约克敦战役得以实施，这是北美革命战争的
决定性一战。
所罗门谈判出售的债券购买者大多数是法国和荷兰的犹太商人。所罗门提供贷款给独立
军政府，他的利率低于市场，但是事实上他从来没有得到偿还。
1783年9月3日巴黎条约签订，结束了独立战争。但是新成立的政府继续面临严重的财政
问题。所罗门继续设法筹集资金，帮助债台高筑的政府摆脱困境。
据时任大陆议会财政总监（相当于财政部长）的罗伯特 莫里斯Robert Morris的日记记
载，1781——1784年间，他代表北美新政府向所罗门借款多达75次的。据《不列颠百科
全书》记载，哈扬·所罗门前后总共为北美殖民地政府及其领导人筹集提供了大约60万
美元的资助，折合成2005年的美元汇率相当于39,264,947,368.42美元，也就是将近400
亿美元，如果算上利息则已将近上万亿美元。
而这些巨额神秘资金的真正的来源，并非完全出自哈扬个人，他不过是一个借贷经纪人
和经手人——资金的真正来源是反对英国人独占北美的法国、荷兰的犹太人富商的共济
会。
所罗门是一个标准的犹太人，虔诚而尽职，热衷于参与犹太社区事务。1782年他为费城
建立犹太教堂作出了最大的个人贡献。1784年，他在回答记者反犹太主义的诽谤时说：
“我是犹太人，这里就是我自己的国家，我不绝望，我们将获得所有其他的特权，我们
期望与我们的同胞一起享受。 “
1785年1月6日哈扬所罗门在宾夕法尼亚州费城去世。
美国政府从未偿还哈扬提供的贷款。而哈扬所罗门本人于1785年45岁那年去世时，也已
因为巨额债务缠身破产。他的后代也没有从美国政府得到任何补偿。所罗门死后葬在费
城的密卡维以色列犹太教堂公墓，如同很多葬在这里的曾经资助美国政府的犹太商人那
样，由于没有墓碑标记而地点不明。虽有着神一样的品德和业绩，他几乎从未出现在主
流媒体和公众面前，在全美只有两三座纪念碑，是在他死后一个多世纪才修建的。
如同华盛顿一样，哈扬所罗门是一名共济会员。而他的共济会员身份甚至比他对美国独
立的资助更隐秘，更不为人知。在美国北凯洛莱纳共济会总会的网站上介绍了一些著名
的共济会员：如成为成为共济会master的美国国父乔治华盛顿，华盛顿的重要战友、支
援北美独立战争和法国大革命的法国将军、外交家拉法叶，《独立宣言》的第一签署人
约翰汉考克John Hancock等等，也包括哈扬·所罗门。
据密苏里共济会大师master 威廉姆丹斯洛William R. Denslow 1957年出版的《一万名
著名共济会员》一书中的介绍，哈扬·所罗门于1764年6月21日加入费城共济会，6月23
日获得共济会前两级称号。1784年8月9日晋升为大师master。
可以说，美国是由共济会成员一手建立的，从组织者到资助者，共济会编织了一个完美
的网络，提供了一个高层交流平台。然而在历史书中却极难见到它们的身影，如同造物
主般，秘而为之，功成而弗居。
今天的共济会分支已经布满地球每一个角落，如此庞大又有着如此辉煌历史的社团组织
居然如此低调不为人知，实在有些不可思议。
Haym Solomon
Haym Solomon, financier of the American Revolution.
Born April 7, 1740
Leszno, Poland
Died Philadelphia, United States
January 6, 1785
Nationality American
Occupation financier
Known for Prime financier of the Continental Army during the American
Revolutionary War.
Religion Jewish
Haym Solomon (or Salomon) (April 7, 1740 – January 6, 1785) was a Spanish
and Portuguese Jew who immigrated to New York from Poland during the period
of the American Revolution, and who became a prime financier of the
Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War against Great Britain
.[1]
Haym Solomon was born in Leszno, Poland to a Sephardi Jewish family from
Portugal. In his youth, he studied Hebrew. [2] During his travels in western
Europe, he acquired a knowledge of finance as well as fluency in several
other languages. He returned to Poland in 1770 but left for England two
years later in the wake of the Polish partition. In 1775, he immigrated to
New York City, where he established himself as a financial broker for
merchants engaged in overseas trade.[3][4]
Sympathizing with the Patriot cause, Solomon joined the Masonic New
York branch of the Sons of Liberty .
In September 1776, he was arrested as a spy but the British pardoned him,
only after serving 18 months of his sentence and claims of torture on a
British boat, in order to use his abilities as an interpreter for their
Hessian mercenaries. Solomon used his position to help prisoners of the
British escape and encouraged the Hessians to desert the war effort. In 1778
Solomon was arrested again and sentenced to death, but he managed to escape
, whereupon he made his way with his family to the rebel capital in
Philadelphia.[5]
Once resettled, Solomon resumed his activities as a broker. He became the
agent to the French consul, as well as the paymaster for the French forces
in North America. In 1781, he began working extensively with Robert Morris,
the newly appointed Superintendent for Finance for the Thirteen Colonies.[6].
In August 1781, the Continental Army had trapped Lieutenant General Charles
Cornwallis in the little Virginia coastal town of Yorktown. George
Washington and the main army and the Count de Rochambeau with his French
army decided to march from the Hudson Highlands to Yorktown and deliver the
final blow. But Washington's war chest was completely empty, as was that of
Congress. Washington determined that he needed at least $20,000 to finance
the campaign. When Morris told him there were no funds and no credit
available, Washington gave him a simple but eloquent order: "Send for Haym
Solomon". Solomon raised $20,000 and Washington conducted the Yorktown
campaign, which proved to be the final battle of the Revolution.[7]
Solomon negotiated the sale of a majority of the war aid from France and
Holland, selling bills of exchange to American merchants. Solomon also
personally supported various members of the Continental Congress during
their stay in Philadelphia, including James Madison and James Wilson. Acting
as the patriot he was, he requested below market interest rates, and he
never asked for repayment.[8]
The Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3, 1783, ended the Revolutionary
War but not the financial problems of the newly established nation. It was
Haym Solomon who managed to raise the money to bail out the debt-ridden
government.
Solomon was involved in Jewish community affairs, being a member of
Congregation Mikveh Israel in Philadelphia, and in 1782 made the largest
individual contribution towards the construction of its main building. In
1783, Solomon was among the prominent Jews involved in the successful effort
to have the Pennsylvania Council of Censors remove the religious test oath
required for office-holding under the State Constitution. In 1784, he
answered anti-Semitic slander in the press by stating: "I am a Jew; it is my
own nation; I do not despair that we shall obtain every other privilege
that we aspire to enjoy along with our fellow-citizens."
His obituary in the Independent Gazetteer read, "Thursday, last, expired,
after a lingering illness, Mr. Haym Salomon, an eminent broker of this city,
was a native of Poland, and of the Hebrew nation. He was remarkable for his
skill and integrity in his profession, and for his generous and humane
deportment. His remains were yesterday deposited in the burial ground of the
synagogue of this city."[9][10]
The gravesite of Haym Salomon, Mikveh Israel Cemetery is located in the 800-
block of Spruce Street in Philadelphia. Though unmarked, there are two
plaque memorials. The east wall has a marble tablet that was installed by
his great-grandson, William Salomon, and a granite memorial is set inside
the cemetery gate. In 1980, the Haym Solomon Lodge #663 of the fraternal
organization B'rith Sholom sponsored a memorial in the Mikveh Israel
Cemetery on the north side of Spruce Street between 8th and 9th Streets in
Philadelphia. A blue ribbon panel and committee, including Robert S. Whitman
, Sidney Bruskin and Marvin Abrams, all lodge past presidents, arranged for
the renovation of the walls and walkways of the cemetery. They then arranged
for and oversaw the installation of a large, engraved memorial marker of
Barre Granite just inside the cemetery gates, inscribed "An American Patriot
".[11] |
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