Thomas Fitzsimons had in 1761 established with his brother-in-law George Meade a firm specializing in the West Indies trade, which had been hit by the new revenue measures created to help support the finances of the British Empire, including the much reviled Stamp Act of 1765.

Concerned with these ideas, Fitzsimons had become active in the Irish merchant community in Philadelphia, elected the head of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick in 1771 and later, in 1774, a steering committee organized to protest the Coercive Acts.

When Pennsylvania began mobilizing and organizing a militia to fight the British, Fitzsimons was soon involved, serving as captain of a company of home guards, which he raised, under the command of Colonel John Caldwalader.

Initially his company served as part of the soldiers who manned posts along the New Jersey coast to defend against British actions.

His unit later served as part of the reserve at the Battle of Trenton in 1776.

Later in the war, Pennsylvania's government asked him to head a board to oversee the newly formed Pennsylvania Navy.

Under this role, he has helped organize the strategic resources of Pennsylvania, and later provided supplies, ships, and money in support of Pennsylvanian and French forces.

John Nixon, the son of a Philadelphia shipping merchant, had signed the non-importation agreement against the Stamp Act, became active in opposing the encroachments of the English government upon American liberties, and was a member of the first committee of correspondence in Pennsylvania.

Becoming lieutenant-colonel of the third battalion of the Philadelphia Associators, a militia unit, in April 1775, he was also a member of the Committee of Safety.

From May to July 1776, he was in command of the defenses of the Delaware River at Fort Island, after which he was put in charge of the defenses of Philadelphia.

On July 8, 1776, Nixon had delivered the first public proclamation of the Declaration of Independence from the steps of the Pennsylvania State House.

Promoted colonel the same year, Nixon later served under George Washington at the Battle of Princeton, became a member of the Navy Board, and two years later was with Washington again at Valley Forge.

Robert Morris and his allies, including Fitzsimons and Nixon, supply the majority of war materials to the troops when the state fails to act.

Pennsylvania goes bankrupt in 1780 due to Constitutionalist policies which mandate state-controlled markets and self-imposed embargoes.

Ultimately, the state calls on Morris to restore the economy.

He does so by opening the ports to trade, and allowing the market to set the value of goods and the currency.

Robert Morris subscribes 10,000 pounds sterling to fund the Bank of Pennsylvania, established on July 17, 1780 by Philadelphia merchants.

Modeled after the (also privately held) Bank of England, it is not a bank in the ordinary sense but an organization formed for the purpose of financing supplies for the Continental Army.

Morris’s longtime business partner Thomas Willing becomes its first director; he precedes John Nixon in this position.

The United States, in 1780, has two interest-bearing banks.

The Bank of North America, although able to operate nationwide, primarily operates in three states, and in 1785 it loses its central bank status in Pennsylvania due to objections of "alarming foreign influence and fictitious credit", favoritism to foreigners and unfair competition against less corrupt state banks issuing their own bills of credit, such that Pennsylvania's legislature repeals its state charter on September 13, 1785.