{"product_id":"the-banker-who-made-america-thomas-willing-and-the-rise-of-the-american-financial-aristocracy-1731-1821-hardback-9781509569083","title":"The Banker Who Made America; Thomas Willing and the Rise of the American Financial Aristocracy, 1731-1821 (Hardback) 9781509569083","description":"\u003cfont face=\"Georgia\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"6\"\u003eThe Banker Who Made America\u003c\/font\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\u003cfont size=\"5\"\u003eThomas Willing and the Rise of the American Financial Aristocracy, 1731-1821\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"4\"\u003eRichard Vague (Author)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e9781509569083, Polity Press\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eHardback, published 6 February 2026\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e448 pages\u003cbr\u003e23.6 x 16.3 x 4.1 cm, 0.862 kg\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\"With two hundred and fifty years of writing about the American Revolution behind us, what new insights could an author possibly bring to the table? Richard Vague has the answer: a whole heck of a lot! \u003ci\u003eThe Banker Who Made America \u003c\/i\u003ebrings an underappreciated American Founder to life through deep research in primary sources, keen historical insights, and engaging prose. You will love it.\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eR. Scott Stephenson, PhD, President \u0026amp; Chief Executive Officer, Museum of the American Revolution\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Thomas Willing's many interwoven careers – merchant trader, politician, peerless banker – contributed enormously to America's early history. But what makes Richard Vague's biography \u003ci\u003eThe Banker Who Made America: Thomas Willing and the Rise of the American Financial Aristocracy\u003c\/i\u003e fascinating is his exploration of the many Revolutionary-era socio\/economic\/political struggles, in which Willing was deeply involved, and which foreshadow similar polarizing American divisions today.\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePat Toomey, Former United States Senator\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Richard Vague's absolutely engrossing biography of Thomas Willing tells the little-known story of the wealthy Philadelphia merchant banker, whose steady hand helped save the fledgling American republic from financial ruin – first by stabilizing confidence in its currency following the hyperinflation of the War of Independence, and then, as president of its first central bank, the Bank of the United States, by steering it through the speculative booms and busts of those first few years.\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLiaquat Ahamed, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of \u003ci\u003eThe Lords of Finance\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Willing was present at the creation of so much of our country's core history yet hasn't been considered with the depth and clarity Vague brings to this compelling subject. I urge you to read this insightful narrative about how our country's Revolution was financed and our early Republic sustained.\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eChris Coons, United States Senator\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\"The full-length biography of Willing that was missing from our shelves\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eNational\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\"Vague is especially good at explaining why the British demanded the notorious 'taxation without representation,' and why the colonists responded so furiously.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAdam Gopnik, \u003ci\u003eThe New\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eYorker\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Impressive and engaging [...] an engrossing read\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Society of Professional\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e Economists\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"An illuminating and original study of the life of one of early America's dominant financiers.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eAmerican Heritage\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eIf you haven't followed the money, chances are you don't know the real story of America and its Revolution. Nothing gives a clearer insight into this history than the life of early America's dominant merchant trader, first bank president, and first central banker, Thomas Willing.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn this book, Richard Vague shows how Willing bankrolled – and in the process helped save – the Revolution and then fundamentally shaped the financial architecture of the young Republic. So powerful was Willing that President John Adams complained that George Washington and Alexander Hamilton were governed by him. Yet at a decisive moment in Willing's life he voted against independence, as conflict between Pennsylvania's moneyed elite and the emergent lower and middle classes embroiled the politics of 1776 in bitter class conflict. This dynamic would continue after independence, as Willing and his associates attempted to tame the democratic forces unleashed by revolution and thereby set up a tension that has never stopped shaping US politics. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis dramatic untold story sheds genuinely new light on the genesis of the American Republic, as well as the enduring economic and political conflicts that still shape US society today.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eIntroduction\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePART ONE: EMERGENCE\u003cbr\u003e1. \"A life of care \u0026amp; anxiety\" \u003cbr\u003e2. \"I propose to continue in business\"\u003cbr\u003e3. \"Perfidious and deserving of annihilation\"\u003cbr\u003e4. \"The melancholy state of the North American commerce\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePART TWO: POLARIZATION\u003cbr\u003e5. \"May we not... rely on your suspending your trade with Great Britain?\"\u003cbr\u003e6. \"Know ye, we despise you\"\u003cbr\u003e7. \"In wars the longest purse must chiefly determine the event\"\u003cbr\u003e8. \"Extremely unanimous, spirited, zealous and determined\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePART THREE: REVOLUTION\u003cbr\u003e9. \"The prospect of interest or some reward\"\u003cbr\u003e10. \"The proper time for America to make her bargain\"\u003cbr\u003e11. \"They will have blood for blood\"\u003cbr\u003e12. \"The opulent merchants of this city\"\u003cbr\u003e13. \"The loss of our independence is impossible\"\u003cbr\u003e14. \"A flagitious contempt of moral obligations\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePART FOUR: COUNTERREVOLUTION\u003cbr\u003e15. \"Vanity, luxury, drunkenness and debauchery\"\u003cbr\u003e16. \"The adventurous pursuits of commerce\"\u003cbr\u003e17. \"A pathless wilderness\"\u003cbr\u003e18. \"The great men are going to get all we have\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePART FIVE: EXPLOSION\u003cbr\u003e19. \"To make new loans on advantageous terms\"\u003cbr\u003e20: \"One continued scene of parties upon parties\"\u003cbr\u003e21. \"The temptations of momentary exigencies\"\u003cbr\u003e22. \"The rage of gambling in the stocks\"\u003cbr\u003e23. \"The deepest regret\"\u003cbr\u003e24. \"Such prominent marks of prosperity\"\u003cbr\u003e25. \"An immense quantity of land\"\u003cbr\u003e26. \"I can never do things small; I must either be a man or a mouse\"\u003cbr\u003e27. \"My domestic happiness has vanished\"\u003cbr\u003e28. \"We all tremble about the magnitude of the American account\"\u003cbr\u003e29. \"He could not articulate\"\u003cbr\u003e30. \"At that dread hour\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEpilogue\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eSubject Areas: Economics [\u003ca title=\"See our other books on Economics\" href=\"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/search?q=%22Economics%20%5BKC%5D%22\"\u003eKC\u003c\/a\u003e]\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/font\u003e","brand":"Polity","offers":[{"title":"Brand New","offer_id":52453505564952,"sku":"9781509569083","price":18.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0730\/2037\/5320\/files\/9781509569083.jpg?v=1785285428","url":"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/products\/the-banker-who-made-america-thomas-willing-and-the-rise-of-the-american-financial-aristocracy-1731-1821-hardback-9781509569083","provider":"Freshly Printed Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}