Stuff You Missed In History Class

John Jacob Astor came to the U.S. from Germany not long after the colonies gained their independence as a nation. He made his first fortune in the fur trade, and then diversified his income and built a legendary fortune. Research: Irving, Washington. “Astoria, Or, Anecdotes of an Enterprise Beyond the Rocky Mountains.” G.P. Putnams Sons. 1861. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Astoria/DAzBRmfcZloC?hl=en&gbpv=0 “ROMANCE OF THE HISTORIC EDEN FARM OWNED BY ASTOR FAMILY SINCE 1803.” New York Times. Feb. 29, 1920. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1920/02/29/118265256.html?pageNumber=80 Shachtman, Tom. “The Founding Fortunes: How the Wealthy Paid for and Profited from America's Revolution.” St. Martin's Press. 2020. “John Jay’s Treaty, 1794–95.” U.S. Department of State. Office of the Historian. https://history.state.gov/milestones/1784-1800/jay-treaty Youngman, Anna. “The Fortune of John Jacob Astor.” Journal of Political Economy, vol. 16, no. 6, 1908, pp. 345–68. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/s