Alexander Hamilton

Done by: Rama Ayman Abusalim 10GA

One of the country's founding fathers, Alexander Hamilton fought in the American
Revolutionary War, contributed to the creation of the Constitution, and held the position of first
secretary of the treasury. The American financial system was founded by him, and he served as
its primary architect.

On January 11, 1755 or 1757, Hamilton was born in Charlestown, on the British island of Nevis.
When he was born, his parents, James Hamilton and Rachel Faucette, were not wed. Rachel
passed away in 1768, while James left the household in 1766. Hamilton spent his formative years
in St. Croix, a Danish colony. After Hamilton published an insightful letter describing a
hurricane that ravaged the island, the locals realized how smart he was and donated money to
send him to school in Britain's North American colonies.

Hamilton applied to the College of New Jersey when he first arrived in the colonies in late 1772,
but ended up attending King's College in New York City. Hamilton supported colonial protests
against British imperial policy while he was living in New York. In 1774 and 1775, he published
a number of pamphlets criticizing the opinions of prominent loyalist Samuel Seabury. Hamilton
trained with a volunteer militia company in 1775, and in March 1776 he was appointed captain
of an artillery company. He took part in the battles of Kip's Bay, White Plains, Trenton, and
Princeton during the American Revolution.

The youthful captain impressed senior officers in the Continental Army, and William Alexander
(Lord Stirling) even invited Hamilton to serve as his military aide. Captain Alexander Hamilton
of the New York company of artillery may learn of something to his advantage by applying to
the publisher of this paper, according to an advertisement published in the Pennsylvania Evening
Post on January 25, 1777. 1 This made reference to General George Washington's choice to
invite Hamilton to join his military staff, an offer that Hamilton gladly accepted and which
elevated him to the rank of lieutenant colonel. Hamilton served as one of Washington's most
valued staffers for the following four years and was responsible for a wide range of tasks, such as
drafting letters to members of Congress, state legislators, and other Continental Army officers.
On December 14, 1780, Hamilton, who was Washington's assistant, married Elizabeth Schuyler.
She was the daughter of Philip Schuyler, one of the richest people in New York and a major
general in the Continental Army. After a disagreement with the general and out of frustration
over his lack of field command, Hamilton left Washington's staff in March 1781. In the end,
Washington gave him a field command, and on October 14, 1781, Hamilton commanded the
successful assault on Redoubt 10 during the Yorktown siege, which helped force General Lord
Charles Cornwallis to surrender.

Following Yorktown, New York chose Hamilton to represent them in the Confederation
Congress in 1782. He was a member of a nationalist group in Congress that tried to use officer
discontent over pay to scare Congress and the states into passing an amendment allowing
Congress to tax imports. Only a personal appeal from Washington was able to put an end to the
so-called Newburgh Conspiracy, which involved some officers camped at Newburgh, New York,
who demanded to use force against Congress. Washington warned Hamilton that "the Army is a
dangerous instrument to play with" after this incident.

Hamilton proposed that the executive have a complete veto and that senators and the executive
branch serve for life. He was one of New York's delegates to the Philadelphia Constitutional
Convention in 1787. Hamilton fervently advocated for the Constitution even though his ideas
were not fully adopted. He co-wrote the majority of the essays in the Federalist Papers, which
were written in support of ratification along with James Madison and John Jay. In the summer of
1788, Hamilton served as a delegate to the New York ratifying convention in Poughkeepsie,
where he assisted in persuading the state—which was largely antifederalist—to ratify the
constitutions.

Hamilton was appointed secretary of the treasury by George Washington, who had just been
elected the first president of the country in 1789. Hamilton wanted to give the country a solid
financial foundation and give the federal government more authority. In order to tie creditors to
the federal government, he pushed for the federal government to take on state debts. This plan
was opposed by Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson and Representative James Madison, who
only helped it pass through Congress in exchange for Hamilton's agreement to a permanent-
 location for the capital along the Potomac River. The First Bank of the United States served as
the foundation of Hamilton's financial strategy. The bank, which was modeled after the Bank of
England, held public funds, made loans to the government, provided currency, and raised liquid
capital to support economic expansion. Jefferson and Madison were the leaders of Hamilton's
opponents, who thought that his policies dangerously strengthened the federal government and
favored the wealthy over yeoman farmers. Over time, Jefferson and Hamilton rose to
prominence as the leaders of the Democratic-Republican and Federalist parties, respectively.
Foreign policy also divided Jefferson and Hamilton. Hamilton supported Washington's
Proclamation of Neutrality after war broke out between Great Britain and France in 1793, while
Jefferson disagreed. Jefferson left his position in December 1793 because he was upset that
Washington frequently supported Hamilton. Hamilton contributed to the suppression of the
Whiskey Rebellion in 1794 and left his position as cabinet minister in January 1795.

After leaving the cabinet, Hamilton continued to be politically involved, contributing to the
writing of Washington's Farewell Address in 1796. When a war with France looked imminent in
1798, Washington was called out of retirement to command a Provisional Army. Washington,
who was getting older, insisted that Hamilton serve as his deputy, saying, "I know not where a
more competent choice could be made." 3 Up until his retirement from the army the following
year, Hamilton served as the army's highest-ranking officer following the death of Washington in
December 1799.

Some Federalist Congressmen wanted to award Aaron Burr the victory when Thomas Jefferson
and Burr tied on electoral votes in the 1800 election. Hamilton wrote to Federalists pleading with
them to support Jefferson because he thought Jefferson was better than Burr. He described Burr
as "a man of extreme and irregular ambition; that he is selfish to a degree that excludes all social
affections," and added that "he [Burr] is inferior in real ability to Jefferson," in one letter.
Jefferson was elected after Hamilton contributed to ending the congressional impasse. The
Albany Register published a letter during the 1804 New York governor's race alleging that
Hamilton had insulted one of the contestants, Aaron Burr, at a private dinner. Following his
defeat in the election, Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel after confronting Hamilton about the
alleged slander. Burr fatally wounded Hamilton on July 11, 1804, in Weehawken, New Jersey,
and Hamilton passed away the next day. Eliza passed away in 1854, fifty years after her
husband.
Hamilton's image can be found on the ten-dollar bill, and he is still remembered for his
contribution to the development of the American financial system. With the Tony Award-
winning Broadway production Hamilton, a musical about his inspiring rise to fame, he received
fresh praise in 2015.
Notes:
1. Pennsylvania Evening Post, January 25, 1777.
2. “To Alexander Hamilton from George Washington, 4 April 1783,” Founders Online, National
Archives.
3. “From George Washington to Henry Knox, 16 July 1798,” Founders Online, National
Archives.
4. “From Alexander Hamilton to James A. Bayard, 16 January 1801,” Founders Online, National
Archives.

Bibliography:
Borden, Morton. Parties and Politics in the Early Republic: 1789-1815. Arlington Heights, IL:
AHM Publishing, 1967.
Chernow, Ron. Alexander Hamilton. New York: The Penguin Press, 2004.
Harper, John Lamberton. American Machiavelli: Alexander Hamilton and the Origins of U.S.
Foreign Policy. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
McDonald, Forrrest. Alexander Hamilton: A Biography. New York: W.W. Norton, 1979.
Miller, John C. Alexander Hamilton: Portrait in Paradox. New York: Harper, 1959.