Show haym salomon haym salomon who helped finance the american revolution was of jewish and portuguese ancestry he came to new york as a young man opening a brokers and commission merchants business his activities as an american patriot led to his imprisonment by the british in 1776 and again in 1778 he escaped to philadelphia where he became a financial broker with robert morris secretary of the treasury he raised large sums to pay army much of the money being his own and charged no interest paid the salaries of monroe and madison while in the continental congress paid the expenses of Lafay ettes army also pulaski and von steuben he never made any demand for the return of the money he suffered financial reverses after the war and died almost penniless in 1785 |