Tench Coxe

Although Daniel Raymond was the first American economist to write a systematic treatise on economic theory, Tench Coxe (1755-1824) takes the title as the first American economist to write a full book sized publication on the subject of political economy.  Tench Coxe was born in Philadelphia on May 22, 1755. He was the son of William and Mary Francis Coxe. The younger Coxe received an education from the College of Philadelphia, what is now the University of Pennsylvania, but it is not entirely clear whether he graduated. In 1776, just after the commencement of the War of Independence, Coxe would then enter into his father’s merchant house. During the war, Coxe maintained a position of neutrality, though some evidence suggests that he was sympathetic to the British. Later in the war, he would change his allegiance to the Continental Army. Then, in 1786, Coxe would be appointed as a member of the Annapolis Convention, and in 1788, he would serve in the Continental Congress. Like Alexander Hamilton, Coxe would also write in support of the adoption of the United States Constitution during the late 1780s. He would then become a Federalist, and in 1789, he would be appointed as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury under Hamilton, where he would assist in drafting The Report on Manufactures. Coxe would remain in this position until 1792, when he became Commissioner of Revenue.

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Coxe would eventually change political loyalties, becoming a Democratic-Republican. This shifting of allegiances meant that Coxe was branded a traitor by Federalists and would be given the name “Mr. Facing Both-Ways.” Coxe would then be removed as Commissioner of Revenue in 1797 by President Adams. His next government appointment would not be until 1803, when Jefferson entered the White House and appointed Coxe as Purveyor of Public Supplies, a position he retained until 1812. Coxe then became a collector of internal revenues for the district of Philadelphia in 1813. These menial roles were, of course, displeasing to Coxe, who saw himself, probably quite rightly, as the most obvious candidate for the US Secretary of the Treasury.

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Coxe produced numerous tracts on political economy throughout his life. The first of these would appear in 1878. This was a pamphlet entitled An Enquiry into the Principles on Which a Commercial System for the United States of America Should be Founded, which represents the first elaboration of his protectionist views. In 1791, he would produce A Brief Examination of Lord Sheffield’s Observations on the Commerce of the States, which was a response to the pamphlet written by the British statesmen John Lord Sheffield. His major work would appear in 1794. This was entitled A View of the United States of America in a Series of Papers, which represents a major statistical tome and the first ever book-sized economics treatise produced by an American. Other important works written by Coxe include Observations on the Agriculture, Manufactures, and Commerce of the United States (1789), An Essay on the Manufacturing Interest of the United States (1804), and A Memoir Upon the Subject of the Cotton Wool Cultivation, the Cotton Trade, and the Cotton Manufactures of the United States of America (1814). Tench Coxe would pass away on July 16, 1824, in Philadelphia.