America at 250 Honors Philadelphia’s Banking Pioneers

By 1780, the Continental Congress was effectively broke, its currency discredited and its army short of supplies. Philadelphia merchants led by Robert Morris formed the Pennsylvania Bank, pooling about $315,000 in private pledges to restore purchasing power. Morris later worked with broker Haym Salomon, whose personal credit helped the government raise funds and laid the groundwork for a banking system able to channel private capital into public and commercial needs.

A retrospective marking the United States’ 250th anniversary on July 4, 2026, argues that those financial architects deserve a place alongside the country’s political and military founders. Salomon sold $200,000 of government bonds in 1781 and helped raise $20,000 for the Yorktown campaign. Congress chartered the Bank of North America that year with $400,000 in authorized capital; it opened in Philadelphia in 1782 and became the young nation’s first commercial bank.