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Biography of Tench CoxeName: Tench CoxeBirth Date: May 22, 1755 Death Date: 1824 Place of Birth: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States Nationality: American Gender: Male Occupations: economist, businessman Tench Coxe American political economist and businessman Tench Coxe (1755-1824) vigorously defended the development of a balanced national economy in which agriculture, manufacturing, and commerce would all contribute to the general prosperity of the country.Tench Coxe was born in Philadelphia on May 22, 1755. His father, a respected merchant, was active in local politics. At the age of 16 Tench entered the College of Philadelphia (now the University of Pennsylvania) to study law. He was more interested in business than law, however, and when he came of age, he became a partner in his father's firm.Coxe faced a dilemma during the American Revolution, as did many other established merchants. When the British invaded Philadelphia, he decided to remain neutral rather than declare his support for the Colonies. Some of his critics have claimed that Coxe was actually a royalist sympathizer and that he joined Gen. William Howe's army against the patriots. Considering his later …showed first 150 words…
…showed last 150 words…party, he remained active in the government until 1797, when he was removed from office by John Adams. Having supported Thomas Jefferson in the election of 1800, he was appointed purveyor of public supplies and held this position until 1812.Coxe played an important role in the development of American manufacturing. Called by some the father of the American cotton industry, he urged large-scale cultivation of cotton and in 1786 unsuccessfully attempted to import copies of Richard Arkwright's cotton-processing machinery. He died in Philadephia in 1824. Further Reading Harold Hutcheson, Tench Coxe: A Study in American Economic Development (1938), is a thorough study of Coxe's economic philosophy. For Coxe's views on cotton production see George S. White, Memoir of Samuel Slater: The Father of American Manufactures (1836).Cooke, Jacob Ernest, Tench Coxe and the early Republic, Chapel Hill: Published for the Institute of Early American History and Culture, Williamsburg, Va., by the University of North Carolina Press, 1978. |