(born Jan. 31, 1734, Liverpool, Merseyside, Eng.—died May 8, 1806, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.) British-born American financier and politician. He immigrated to join his father in Maryland in 1747 and entered a Philadelphia mercantile firm the following year. As a member of the Continental Congress in the American Revolution, he practically controlled the financial operations of the war from 1776 to 1778, borrowing money from the French, requisitioning from the states, and even advancing money from his own pocket.
He established the Bank of North America (1781) and served as U.S. superintendent of finance (1781–84) under the Articles of Confederation. He was a delegate to the Annapolis Convention and the Constitutional Convention and served in the U.S. Senate (1789–95). After investing heavily in land speculation, he went bankrupt and spent more than three years in a debtors' prison before his release in 1801.
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