Robert Morris

choi

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John Steele Gordon, This Rebel Came Armed With a Balance Sheet. Wall Street Journal, Nov. 27, 2010.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703514904575602370668905224.html
(book review on Charles Rappleye, Robert Morris: Financier of American Revolution. Simon & Schuster, 2010
http://books.simonandschuster.com/Robert-Morris/Charles-Rappleye/9781416570912
)

Quote:

"in the case of the Revolution, Great Britain—the richest country in Europe and the possessor of the most advanced financial system—lost despite its silver bullets. And it lost to a ragtag bunch of former colonies that didn't have a regular money supply, let alone a financial system. Nor did the rebels have the capacity to manufacture arms or gunpowder in any quantity")

My comment:
(a) Robert Morris (financier)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Morris_(financier)
(1734-1806)
(b) Valley Forge
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valley_Forge
(site of the military camp of the American Continental Army over the winter of 1777–1778; Village of Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, 18 miles (29 km) northwest of Philadelphia; named for an iron forge on Valley Creek)
(c) I am unaware of the Chiese saying, "Wars are fought with silver bullets."

silver bullet
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_bullet
(In folklore, the silver bullet is supposed to be the only kind of bullet for firearms that is effective against a Werewolf, witch, or some monsters.)
(d) matériel (n: French): "equipment, apparatus, and supplies used by an organization or institution"

Akll definitions are from www.m-w.com.
(e) The "factor" in "a tobacco factor" (n; Latin factor doer): "one who acts or transacts business for another"
(f) The article mentioned the fact that Philadelphia was "the largest in the colonies" at the time of revolution. Manhattan was occupied in the lower end only (and Taiwan once was a jungle full of malaria).
(g) Silas Deane
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silas_Deane
(1737-1789; a delegate to the American Continental Congress and later the United States' first foreign diplomat; born in Connecticut)
(h) Washington's crossing of the Delaware River
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington%27s_crossing_of_the_Delaware_River
(December 25, 1776 in a planned surprise attack organized by George Washington against the Hessian forces in Trenton, New Jersey; won and crossed the river back to Pennsylvania;  then crossed the river a third time at the end of the year and defeated British reinforcements under Lord Cornwallis on January 2, 1777, and defeated his rear guard at Princeton before retreating to winter quarters in Morristown, New Jersey)

The article described the campaign as "the general's [Washington's] first victory of the Revolution."

(i) teamster (n): "one who drives a team or motortruck especially as an occupation"

team (n):
"1a: two or more draft animals harnessed to the same vehicle or implement
* * *
3: a group of animals
4: a number of persons associated together in work or activity"

(j) The article said, "He died penniless after a stay in debtors' prison, undone during the 1790s in part by the 'earliest American real estate bubble,' the author notes."
(k) The article also commented, "America was burdened by debts, and its central government lacked the powers to deal with the financial problems confronting it."

Colonies and later states collected income tax.

However, federal government did not (it was small and relied on customs duty), until 1861 (at 3% of all incomes over 800 dollars) to fight Civil War,which US Supreme Court ruled was unconstitutional. In 1913 the 16th Amendment to federal constitution passed, authorizing federal government to collect income tax.
(l) The article referred to Mr. Washington's "step-grandson."

Mr. Washington was childless. His only wife was Martha.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_Washington
(Martha Dandridge was born in 1731 in Virginia)

Quote:

"At age 18 she married Daniel Parke Custis, a rich planter two decades her senior. They lived at White House Plantation [in Virginia]. She had four children by Custis. A son and a daughter, Daniel (1751–1754) and Frances (1753–1757), died in childhood, but two other children, John (Jacky) Parke Custis (1754–1781) and Martha ("Patsy") Parke Custis (1756–1773) survived to young adulthood. Daniel Custis' death in 1757 left Martha a rich widow

"Martha Dandridge Custis in 1757Martha Dandridge Custis, aged 27, and George Washington, aged nearly 27, married on January 6, 1759 at the White House plantation.

(m) Mr. Morris recommended Alexander Hamilton to Mr. Washington for the post of "minister of finance." The word "minister" was/is used in United Kingdom, and US apparently found a new word "secretary" (likewise, a colony was a province prior to independence, and a state afterwards).

thirteen Colonies
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirteen_Colonies
(section 1 Colonies)

The British equivalent of Secretary of Treasury (of US) is Chancellor of the Exchequer, whose first office holder was Hervey de Stanton who took office in 1316.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chancellor_of_the_Exchequer

(n) soubriquet is a variant of sobriquet.

sobriquet (n: French): "a descriptive name or epithet : NICKNAME"


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