Winner of the 2015 Society for Historians of the Early American Republic Best Book PrizeIn the middle decades of the nineteenth century Jeremiah G. Hamilton was a well-known figure on Wall Street. Cornelius Vanderbilt; America's first tycoon; came to respect; grudgingly; his one-time opponent. The day after Vanderbilt's death on January 4; 1877; an almost full-page obituary on the front of the National Republican acknowledged that; in the context of his Wall Street share transactions; "There was only one man who ever fought the Commodore to the end; and that was Jeremiah Hamilton." What Vanderbilt's obituary failed to mention; perhaps as contemporaries already knew it well; was that Hamilton was African American. Hamilton; although his origins were lowly; possibly slave; was reportedly the richest colored man in the United States; possessing a fortune of $2 million; or in excess of two hundred and $50 million in today's currency. In Prince of Darkness; a groundbreaking and vivid account; eminent historian Shane White reveals the larger than life story of a man who defied every convention of his time. He wheeled and dealed in the lily white business world; he married a white woman; he bought a mansion in rural New Jersey; he owned railroad stock on trains he was not legally allowed to ride; and generally set his white contemporaries teeth on edge when he wasn't just plain outsmarting them. An important contribution to American history; Hamilton's life offers a way into considering; from the unusual perspective of a black man; subjects that are usually seen as being quintessentially white; totally segregated from the African American past.
#4622620 in Books Ingramcontent 2013-09-12Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.69 x .45 x 7.44l; .86 #File Name: 1230419756214 pagesThe Hindu Pantheon
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