tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1682750342473263176.post3538079088787839164..comments2014-09-20T15:52:33.848-07:00Comments on Jewish People Instrumental in the Independence USA: Haym Solomon - Historian David McCullough LamentsAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08513429496023650539noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1682750342473263176.post-42403523307149789552011-01-19T00:14:05.335-08:002011-01-19T00:14:05.335-08:00Haym SalomonMain article: Haym Salomon
The same da...Haym SalomonMain article: Haym Salomon<br />The same day that Nathan Hale was executed in New York, British authorities arrested another Patriot and charged him with being a spy. Haym Salomon was a recent Jewish immigrant who worked as a stay-behind agent after Washington evacuated New York City in September 1776. Salomon was arrested in a round-up of suspected Patriot sympathizers and was confined to Sugar House Prison. He spoke several European languages and was soon released to the custody of General von Heister, commander of Hessian mercenaries, who needed someone who could serve as a German language interpreter in the Hessian commissary department. While in German custody, Salomon induced a number of the German troops to resign or desert.<br /><br />Eventually paroled, Salomon did not flee to Philadelphia as had many of his New York business associates. He continued to serve as an undercover agent and used his personal finances to assist American patriots held prisoner in New York. He was arrested again in August 1778, accused this time of being an accomplice in a plot to burn the British fleet and to destroy His Majesty's warehouses in the city. Salomon was condemned to death for sabotage, but he bribed his guard while awaiting execution and escaped to Philadelphia. There he came into the open in the role for which he is best known, as an important financier of the Revolution.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08513429496023650539noreply@blogger.com