Background
James Swan was born in 1754 in Fifeshire, Scotland and emigrated to Massachusetts in 1765.
(This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ++++ The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to ensure edition identification: ++++
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(Title: National arithmetick, or, Observations on the fina...)
Title: National arithmetick, or, Observations on the finances of the commonwealth of Massachusetts : with some hints respecting financiering and the future taxation in this state, tending to render the publick contributions more easy to the people. Author: James Swan Publisher: Gale, Sabin Americana Description: Based on Joseph Sabin's famed bibliography, Bibliotheca Americana, Sabin Americana, 1500--1926 contains a collection of books, pamphlets, serials and other works about the Americas, from the time of their discovery to the early 1900s. Sabin Americana is rich in original accounts of discovery and exploration, pioneering and westward expansion, the U.S. Civil War and other military actions, Native Americans, slavery and abolition, religious history and more. Sabin Americana offers an up-close perspective on life in the western hemisphere, encompassing the arrival of the Europeans on the shores of North America in the late 15th century to the first decades of the 20th century. Covering a span of over 400 years in North, Central and South America as well as the Caribbean, this collection highlights the society, politics, religious beliefs, culture, contemporary opinions and momentous events of the time. It provides access to documents from an assortment of genres, sermons, political tracts, newspapers, books, pamphlets, maps, legislation, literature and more. Now for the first time, these high-quality digital scans of original works are available via print-on-demand, making them readily accessible to libraries, students, independent scholars, and readers of all ages. ++++ The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to insure edition identification: ++++ SourceLibrary: Huntington Library DocumentID: SABCP00603600 CollectionID: CTRG10180064-B PublicationDate: 17860101 SourceBibCitation: Selected Americana from Sabin's Dictionary of books relating to America Notes: Collation: viii, 1, 91, 3 p. ; 21 cm
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(This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ++++ The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to ensure edition identification: ++++ Causes Qui Se Sont Opposées Aux Progrès Du Commerce: Entre La France, Et Les États-Unis De L'Amérique : Avec Les Moyens De L'accèlèrer, & La Comparaison De La Dette Nationale De L'Angleterre, De La France, & Des Etats-Unis; En Six Lettres Adressées À Monsieur Le Marquis De La Fayette null A l'Imprimeriede L. Potier de Lille, rue Favart, no. 5 et chez les Marchands de Nouveautés, 1790 France; United States
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James Swan was born in 1754 in Fifeshire, Scotland and emigrated to Massachusetts in 1765.
Emigrating to Boston in 1765, James Swan became a clerk in a counting-house near Faneuil Hall. He attained the rank of major by the close of the Revolution and was later made a colonel. Swan abandoned active service and became a placeman, serving as secretary to the Massachusetts Board of War in 1777, as a member of the Massachusetts legislature in 1778, and then as adjutant-general of the commonwealth.
In 1786 he purchased the Burnt Coat group of islands lying off the east coast of Maine, the largest of which bears his name. Heavily in debt by 1787, Swan went to France to recuperate his fortunes.
Assisted by his constant friend, Lafayette, he obtained remunerative contracts to furnish the French marine with naval stores and salt meat provisions, and in 1795 was able to make another profitable deal by which he gained control of the remainder of the United States debt to France, amounting to $2, 024, 899. 93. Successful in gaining the appointment as agent of the French Republic, he outwitted his banking competitors, among whom were the American speculators, Gouverneur Morris and Robert Morris, the Boston banker, Daniel Parker, and the powerful bankers of the United States government at Amsterdam, Willink, Van Staphorst, and Hubbard, by his scheme for commuting the debt.
By the congressional act of March 3, 1795, it was made possible for American debt obligations to France to be exchanged for 41/2 and 51/2 per cent. United States domestic stock issued under authority of this act. Acting both as agent of the French Republic and as broker, Swan accepted American debt obligations from France in payment for supplies furnished or to be furnished the French marine, and in turn exchanged these for American domestic stock on which the interest rate was one-half per cent higher.
On June 15, 1795, the arrangement was closed, and the American foreign debt to France was transformed into a domestic one. Swan returned to the United States the better to direct these transactions and remained until 1798. Going back to France he engaged in further mercantile ventures which met with only varying success, and in 1808 he was cast into a debtor's prison in Paris where he died on July 31, 1830.
Swan published A Dissuasion to Great-Britain and the Colonies, from the Slave-Trade to Africa (1773), National Arithmetick: or, Observations on the Finances of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (1786), and Causes Qui Se Sont Apposees aux Progres du Commerce entre la France et les etats-Unis de l'Amerique (Paris, 1790).
(Title: National arithmetick, or, Observations on the fina...)
(This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)
(This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)
James Swan was a member of the Boston Tea Party.
Swan used an inheritance of his wife to live lavishly, to invest in Loyalist properties confiscated by the commonwealth, and to speculate in lands in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Kentucky.
James Swan early found his place among the radically patriotic youth of the city and became a member of the Sons of Liberty. He was also a member of the Scots Charitable Society of Boston.
James Swan was married to Hepzibah Clarke of Boston (intention signified, October 3, 1776). Though he lived in some comfort on a stipend from his wife, he refused to have what he considered an unjust debt paid by her. His wife, son, and three daughters--one of them the wife of William Sullivan --remained in the United States during his twenty-two years of imprisonment.
His four children were: Hepzibah (Hepsy), born c. 1777; Christiana (Kitty), born c. 1778; Sarah (Sally), born c. 1782; James Keadie, born c. 1783.