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Haym Salomon, The Banker Who Bought the Revolution

He was arrested twice as a spy, escaped the hangman’s noose, and then loaned the cash-strapped Continental Army more than $650,000 of his own money — the equivalent of tens of millions today. Without Haym Salomon, there might have been no Yorktown victory. In Episode 2 of _Unsung Patriots_, we tell the incredible story of a Polish-Jewish immigrant who arrived in America with nothing, joined the Sons of Liberty, and used his financial genius and multilingual skills to keep the Revolution alive when the Treasury was empty. From brutal British prisons in New York to the counting houses of Philadelphia, Salomon repeatedly risked everything — bribing guards, encouraging Hessian deserters, and personally guaranteeing loans that funded George Washington’s final campaign.

By Zach Martin