Essay
The Evolution of Francis Martin Drexel
21 Mar 2020
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/25c0-nq38
Abstract
In 1817 Francis Martin Drexel, a painter from Dornbirn, Austria, emigrated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In the United States, he remained a painter, traveling to South and Central America painting portraits before opening a brokerage house in 1837/38. This transition into banking would be an important moment for the Drexel family as it would become one of the largest banks in the United States. When previous historians have discussed Drexel, they have broken his life into two categories: life in the United States and life in Europe. This division makes his transition into banking appear random. I argue that during his time as a traveling painter in Europe and the Americas, he was able to pick up financial skills and gain experience working with different currencies that would prepare him for his transition into banking. By analyzing letters and journals that document the development of his career as a painter and banker, one starts to see that by traveling across Europe, South America, and Central America as a painter, he was also learning important business and financial skills making his transition into banking a more natural development.
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Details
- Title
- The Evolution of Francis Martin Drexel
- Creators
- Isabella Sangaline (Author) - Drexel University
- Number of pages
- 17 pages
- Format
- PDF
- Resource Type
- Essay
- Language
- English
- Course Name
- Senior Seminar II; HIST 491
- Academic Unit
- College of Arts and Sciences; Drexel University; History
- Other Identifier
- 991014739249404721