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The Golden Voyage: The Life and Times of William Bingham, 1752-1804

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Many have called George Washington the Indispensible Man, and he was. But without selfless men like William Bingham he never would have had the support necessary to succeed for our Country and for the world. Today there are over 200 democracies on earth. In 1776 there were none. The world owes much to their generation.

William Bingham was the initial Secretary to the Committee on Correspondence, precursor to the State Department. Replaced by Thomas Paine, he was reassigned by Congress as agent to Martinique in the West Indies. He successfully waged war from this tiny French island with impunity. Raising an American Navy of privateers so belligerent that England was to complain that they were at peace with France but at war with Martinique, he funneled muskets, shot, powder and other critical war supplies to Washington's troops, repaired American warships, paid American ship crews, arranged for French warships to convoy American merchantmen to US ports and borrowed liberally on his own credit to finance the American war effort. He is credited by many for having initiated the shooting war between England and France that brought French support and alliance to America in 1778. It would take Congress five years to repay him the personal funds he used to finance these efforts on America's behalf.

Upon his return to Philadelphia four years later, he assisted Robert Morris in founding the Bank of Pennsylvania which financed arms, ammunition and clothing for the Continental Army, then encamped and suffering at Morristown. This work became the model for similar banks subsequently founded in Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York. In 1780 he wrote the bylaws for the Bank of North America, the Nation's first bank. So good was he that subsequent scholars referred to him as "the ablest banker of the period."

He spent three years in Europe pursuing political and business relationships and amassing a substantial fortune trading tea, furs and other commodities, becoming the wealthiest American of his time. Through his US partnerships he owned interest in 18 ships engaged in the China, India and South American trade. He would accumulate a fortune so large that upon his death in 1804, his estate would not be settled until 1960. Returning to Philadelphia he would continue to pursue his business interests, acquiring huge tracts of land in Pennsylvania, New York and Maine. He was an entrepreneur before that term was coined and a philanthropist who put his wealth to work well founding Dickinson College with Dr. Benjamin Rush and became a member of the Philosophical Society under Benjamin Franklin.

While in Europe he had acquired firsthand knowledge of the laughingstock the United States had become after the Revolutionary War. Without a central government who could negotiate on behalf of the 13 States, US sovereignty was open to serious question. The United States claimed to be a nation but couldn't function as one on the world stage. Commerce was at a standstill, the US was frozen out of certain aspects of global trade and the treasury was bankrupt. Bankrupt, it could not pay its bills nor could Congress access the credit necessary for the country's continued survival. Along with his closest friends, Washington, Madison, Rush, Franklin, Hamilton and Morris to name a few, he would become a staunch member of what would become the Federalist Party, without which America as we know it today would have not occurred. Never a political leader like the others, his business acumen made him what we would call today a go-to man, one whose knowledge, connections and wealth could facilitate the opening of necessary political doors at home and abroad for his country and friends. How the United States could have survived without men like Bingham, Robert Morris, Governor Morris and others, each of whom repeatedly and individually underwrote the United States creditworthiness from their personal net worth when the States themselves refused to do so, is quite uncertain.

In 1885, he was elected to the Continental Congress and backed Pennsylvania's ratification of the Constitution. He is credited with working seamlessly with Alexander Hamilton in setting up the financial system that gave America the stability it required to function. Requested by Hamilton for his thoughts as to America's financial system, his 5,000 word response, adopted almost verbatim, was not discovered by scholars until 140 years later in the 1930s in the papers of Oliver Wolcott, Treasury Secretary who succeeded Alexander Hamilton. It is quite surprising that this man, America's wealthiest man and largest land owner, so well known that he was one of six pall bearers for Benjamin Franklin, would, over time, have his contributions to our country quite forgotten.

He served as Senator from Pennsylvania during Washington's second term and Adam's Presidency, focusing on financial and maritime issues. Quite independent, during the Federalist so called Reign of Terror, he supported the Alien Act, a law still on the books today, while voting against the horrific Sedition Act which attacked the nation's First Amendment rights. He broke with the Federalists again, voting against war with France, a measure defeated by just three votes. He joint ventured with the largest merchant bank in Britain, Baring Brothers, selling them and the Dutch merchant banking firm of Hope and Company, a 50% interest in his Maine real estate holdings. He was so well thought of internationally that Sir Alexander Baring viewed him as the perfect vehicle through which to penetrate the North American market. Baring Brothers would exist until 1995 when it was merged into ING. Upon the marriage of daughter Anna Louise Bingham and son Alexander Baring, the commercial alliance between the Binghams and Barings become a family connection as well. During the United States' preparation for possible war with France, the House of Baring bought 11,000 muskets and 330 cannon from the British government for transshipment to America. He knew how to get things done. This was not the first, nor the last time, William Bingham would use his business and personal relationships to support and defend his country.

In the contested election of 1800, Bingham would again break ranks with the Federalists in the deadlocked election of 1800, supporting Thomas Jefferson against Aaron Burr. Bingham would resign from the Senate just prior to his wife's death and when his daughter and son-in-law returned to England for Alexander to assume enhanced responsibilities at Baring Brothers, he would accompany them. He would never to return to America. But this ardent patriot was not yet done working for his country. In 1803, not realizing that Napoleon had already decided to sell Louisiana, Bingham would suggest to his longtime acquaintance, Talleyrand, that France sell Louisiana to the United States. Days later when Talleyrand agreed with America's French Ambassador to sell Louisiana, Bingham was already arranging the financing of the Louisiana Purchase with his Maine real estate partners, England's Baring Brothers, and Holland's Hope and Company. In the end, the Baring-Hope-Bingham combine would purchase the Louisiana Territory from France and resell it to the United States!

I found this book by Robert Alberts absolutely fascinating. William Bingham's life is the story of the earliest, most fundamental foundations of the United States of America. For 27 years, from the American Revolution to the adoption of the Constitution, the Quasi War with France, the first peaceful transition of power between opposing political parties the world had ever seen and on through the Louisiana Purchase, William Bingham participated as no other American of his day. His is a life worth knowing about and Alberts excellent work at long last gives this amazing Founding Father his just due.

You will not be disappointed in the least. This is a superb piece of literature!

Many have called George Washington the Indispensible Man, and he was. But without selfless men like William Bingham, Washington never would have had the support, or more importantly the means, to succeed for our Country and for the world. No large nation has provided more stability, prosperity, security and liberty to more people than the United States of America. Moreover, today there are over 200 democracies on earth. In 1776 there were none. The world owes much to their generation.

An ardent patriot from the start of American Revolution, William Bingham was the initial Secretary to the Committee on Correspondence, precursor to the State Department. Replaced by Thomas Paine, he was reassigned by Congress as agent to Martinique in the West Indies, then France's premier sugar colony in the Caribbean. It was an extraordinarily prescient appointment, for he successfully waged war from this tiny French island with impunity, raising an American Navy of privateers so belligerent that England was to complain that they were at peace with France but at war with Martinique. In addition to devastating British shipping on the high seas, Bingham funneled muskets, shot, powder and other critical war supplies to Washington's troops, repaired American warships, paid American ship crews, arranged for French warships to convoy American merchantmen to US ports and borrowed liberally on his own credit to finance the American war effort. He is credited by many for having initiated the shooting war between England and France that brought French support and alliance to America in 1778. It would take Congress five years to repay him the personal funds he used to finance these efforts on America's behalf.

Upon his return to Philadelphia four years later, he assisted Robert Morris in founding the Bank of Pennsylvania which financed arms, ammunition and clothing for the Continental Army, then encamped and suffering at Morristown. This work became the model for similar banks subsequently founded in Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York. In 1780 he wrote the bylaws for the Bank of North America, the Nation's first bank. So good was he that subsequent scholars referred to him as "the ablest banker of the period."

He spent three years in Europe pursuing political and business relationships, amassing a substantial fortune trading tea, furs and other commodities and in the process became the wealthiest American of his time. Through his US partnerships he owned interests in 18 ships engaged in the China, India and South American trade. He would accumulate a fortune so large that upon his death in 1804, his estate would not be settled until 1964. Returning to Philadelphia he would continue to pursue his business interests, acquiring huge tracts of land in Pennsylvania, New York and Maine. He was an entrepreneur before that term was coined and a philanthropist who put his wealth to work well founding Dickinson College with Dr. Benjamin Rush and becoming a member of the American Philosophical Society under Benjamin Franklin.

While in Europe he had acquired firsthand knowledge of the laughingstock the United States had become after the Revolutionary War. Without a central government that could negotiate on behalf of the 13 States, US sovereignty was open to serious question. The United States claimed to be a nation but couldn't function as one on the world stage. Commerce was at a standstill, the US was frozen out of certain aspects of global trade and the treasury was bankrupt. Bankrupt, it could not pay its bills nor could Congress access the credit necessary for the country's continued survival. Along with his closest friends, Washington, Madison, Rush, Franklin, Hamilton and Morris to name a few, Bingham would become a staunch member of what would become the Federalist Party, without which America as we know it today would have not occurred. Never a political leader like the others, his business acumen made him what we would call today a go-to man, one whose knowledge, connections and wealth could facilitate the opening of necessary political doors at home and abroad for his country and friends. How the United States could have survived without men like William Bingham, Robert Morris, Governor Morris and others, each of whom repeatedly and individually underwrote the United States' creditworthiness from their personal net worth when the States themselves refused to do so, is quite uncertain.

In 1885, he was elected to the Continental Congress, supported the 1787 Constitutional Convention and worked diligently for Pennsylvania's subsequent ratification of the Constitution. He is credited for working seamlessly with Alexander Hamilton in setting up the protocols that gave America the stability it required to function as a nation. Requested by Hamilton for his thoughts as to America's financial system, his 5,000 word response, adopted almost verbatim, was not discovered by scholars until 140 years later in the papers of Oliver Wolcott, the Treasury Secretary who succeeded Alexander Hamilton. He became a Director and Senior Banker in Alexander Hamilton's Bank of the United States which functioned as the country's Central Bank, the equivalent of today's Federal Reserve. It is quite surprising that this man, America's wealthiest private individual and largest land owner, so well known in his time that he was a pall bearer for Benjamin Franklin, would, over time, have his contributions to our country be quite forgotten.

Focusing on financial and maritime issues, he served as Senator from Pennsylvania during Washington's second term and Adam's succeeding Presidency. Quite independent, during the Federalist so called Reign of Terror, he supported the Alien Act, a law still on the books today, while voting against the horrific Sedition Act which attacked the nation's First Amendment rights. He broke with the Federalists again, voting against war with France, a measure defeated by just three votes. He joint ventured with the largest merchant bank in Britain, Baring Brothers, selling them and the Dutch merchant banking firm of Hope and Company, a 50% interest in his two million acre Maine real estate holdings. He was so well thought of internationally that Sir Alexander Baring viewed him as the perfect vehicle through which to penetrate the North American market. A global powerhouse in financing world trade, Baring Brothers would exist until 1995 when it was merged into ING. Upon the marriage of daughter, Anna, to Baring's son, Alexander, the commercial alliance between the Binghams and Barings became a family connection as well. During the United States' preparation for possible war with France, the House of Baring bought 11,000 muskets and 330 cannon from the British military, receiving British government approval for transshipment to America. The most significant arms transaction of its time, William Bingham knew how to get things done. Preparing his country for possible war with France this was not the first time, nor the last time, he would use his business and personal relationships to support and defend his country.

Bingham would again break ranks with the Federalists in the deadlocked election of 1800, supporting Thomas Jefferson against Aaron Burr. He would resign from the Senate just prior to his wife's death and when his daughter and son-in-law returned to England for Alexander to assume enhanced responsibilities at Baring Brothers, a distraught William Bingham would accompany them. He would never to return to America. But this ardent patriot was not yet done working for his country. In 1803, not realizing that Napoleon had already decided to sell Louisiana, early in the negotiations Bingham would suggest to the French Foreign Minister and his longtime acquaintance, Talleyrand, that France sell Louisiana to the United States. Months later when Talleyrand agreed with America's French Ambassador, Robert Livingston, to sell Louisiana to America, Bingham was already arranging the financing of the Louisiana Purchase with his Maine real estate partners, England's Baring Brothers and Holland's Hope and Company. In the end, the Baring-Hope-Bingham combine would purchase the Louisiana Territory from France and resell it to the United States! Who knew?

I found this book by Robert Alberts, about a complete unknown few people today have ever heard of, absolutely fascinating. William Bingham lived the earliest, most tenuous and most formative years of the United States of America. His contributions were enormous. For 27 years, from single handedly waging naval warfare against France during the American Revolution to the evolution and adoption of the Constitution, the Quasi War with France, the first peaceful transition of power between opposing political parties the world had ever seen and on through the Louisiana Purchase, William Bingham participated in the growth and evolution of the United States of America as no other American of his day. He was a mover and shaker beyond belief who traveled not just in the upper circles of American's political elite but also in the upper echelons of international global trading and finance. Almost 10 years after Bingham's death, in a moment of pique, President John Adams, never one to appreciate being upstaged, would say that all of them, Franklin, Washington, Congress and Adams himself had been working for William Bingham all along. It was a most amazing compliment indeed and from one who was positioned to know just exactly what he was talking about. William Bingham is well worth knowing and Robert Alberts' excellent work at long last gives this amazing, albeit unknown, Founding Father his just due.

This is a superb piece of literature, an exciting tale well told, about a man who never waivered in his support for his country. He is buried at Bath, England.