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The first full-scale study of the entire career of William Duer (nicknamed “King of the Alley” by Thomas Jefferson), this publication traces the significant role he played in the original organization of the federal government. Duer, as a member of the New York State Convention and the Continental Congress, Secretary to the Board of Treasury under the Articles of Confederation, and Assistant to the Secretary of the Treasury, held immense influence during the Early American Republic and American Revolution. This publication examines his public profile as well as his career as a stock speculator, land promoter, army contractor, and merchant. Though he never tired of attempting to combine public office with private profit, this in-depth profile of Duer nonetheless demonstrates how he belonged to the middle ranks of those who led America to success in her struggle for independence, standing just behind such men as John Jay and Robert R. Livingston.
Price: $34.99
Pages: 236
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc.
Imprint: The American Philosophical Society Press
Series: Memoirs of the American Philosophical Society
Publication Date:
01 January 1992
Trim Size: 10.00 X 7.00 in
ISBN: 9780871692023
Format: Hardcover
BISACs:
HISTORY / United States / Revolutionary Period (1775-1800)
"Robert F. Jones strives to comprehend the range of the various political, entrepreneurial, and speculative activities of ‘The king of the Alley’ (Thomas Jefferson’s title for Duer.) In the process he offers us an important glimpse of the interrelationship of Duer’s government and business careers. … The author thus provides an important service to scholars."
— Paul A. Gilje
"Insider trading, securities fraud, conflict of interest, rampant speculation, bankruptcy Robert—although this sounds like the 1980s and early 1990s, Robert F. Jones has focused on these activities during the founding of the republic in the 1780s and 1790s. … Jones’ portrait of Duer as a scheming speculator … is well researched and persuasive."
— Carl E. Swanson
"Robert Jones’s study … offers many valuable insights on the period and on Duer’s personality flaws. … More important, Jones analyzes the business ethics of the early republic in which men like Duer freely mixed their desire for personal gain with matters of public policy. … [T]his book is well written, and through an in-depth analysis of Duer’s career it provides a unique look at a personal and business failure during the early republic."
— John Haeger
"This meticulous reconstruction of William Duer’s life in New York and the new nation reveals a man who ‘belonged to the middle ranks’ … of the Revolutionary generation but was never happy there. … It is not easy to reconstruct the careers of middling Americans in this rapidly changing era, and the depths of Jones’s research … is clear. … As this study presents Duer, we have a fascinating glimpse of one kind of Revolutionary…"
— Cathy Matson
"The spectacular bankruptcy of a colourful character in sleazy circumstances has a certain attraction for writers. Of the sheer tedium of failure, the painful attempt to regain credibility and creditworthiness, it is more difficult to write. … Jones has retold his [Duer’s] story in … much detail…"
— Colin Brooks
"[T]his readable and nicely crafted biography, … The King of the Alley is a condensation of Robert Jones’s long-term study of Duer from which historians have learned much about the intricacies of finance in the post-Revolutionary period. This work’s particular strengths provide insights into the economics of the Revolutionary War, the new opportunities created by its successful conclusion, and the boundaries of this new economic climate. The multifaceted career of this American entrepreneur is aptly portrayed as both fascinating and intriguing. … [T]he author and publishes are to be applauded for making his milieu accessible to a more general history readership."
— Stefan Bielinksi
— Paul A. Gilje
"Insider trading, securities fraud, conflict of interest, rampant speculation, bankruptcy Robert—although this sounds like the 1980s and early 1990s, Robert F. Jones has focused on these activities during the founding of the republic in the 1780s and 1790s. … Jones’ portrait of Duer as a scheming speculator … is well researched and persuasive."
— Carl E. Swanson
"Robert Jones’s study … offers many valuable insights on the period and on Duer’s personality flaws. … More important, Jones analyzes the business ethics of the early republic in which men like Duer freely mixed their desire for personal gain with matters of public policy. … [T]his book is well written, and through an in-depth analysis of Duer’s career it provides a unique look at a personal and business failure during the early republic."
— John Haeger
"This meticulous reconstruction of William Duer’s life in New York and the new nation reveals a man who ‘belonged to the middle ranks’ … of the Revolutionary generation but was never happy there. … It is not easy to reconstruct the careers of middling Americans in this rapidly changing era, and the depths of Jones’s research … is clear. … As this study presents Duer, we have a fascinating glimpse of one kind of Revolutionary…"
— Cathy Matson
"The spectacular bankruptcy of a colourful character in sleazy circumstances has a certain attraction for writers. Of the sheer tedium of failure, the painful attempt to regain credibility and creditworthiness, it is more difficult to write. … Jones has retold his [Duer’s] story in … much detail…"
— Colin Brooks
"[T]his readable and nicely crafted biography, … The King of the Alley is a condensation of Robert Jones’s long-term study of Duer from which historians have learned much about the intricacies of finance in the post-Revolutionary period. This work’s particular strengths provide insights into the economics of the Revolutionary War, the new opportunities created by its successful conclusion, and the boundaries of this new economic climate. The multifaceted career of this American entrepreneur is aptly portrayed as both fascinating and intriguing. … [T]he author and publishes are to be applauded for making his milieu accessible to a more general history readership."
— Stefan Bielinksi
Robert F. Jones (d. 2015) was a Professor Emeritus of History at Fordham University. As a historian and professor, Jones specialized in the histories of the Early American Republic, American political parties, and American presidency. His publications include King of the Alley: William Duer: Politician, Entrepreneur, and Speculator, 1768-1798 (1993) and George Washington: Ordinary Man, Extraordinary Leader (2002).