Alexander Hamilton: Early Life and Education

Early Life and Education

• Born out of wedlock in Charlestown, Nevis, on either January 11, 1755 or 1757.
• His mother, Rachel Lavien, was of half-British and half-French Huguenot descent, and his father, James A. Hamilton, was a Scottish merchant.
• Orphaned as a child after his mother passed away from yellow fever in 1768.
• Briefly taken in by his cousin Peter Lytton, who later died by suicide.
• Became a clerk at Beekman and Cruger, a local import-export firm, showcasing his trading capabilities at a young age.
• Wrote a detailed letter about a hurricane that devastated Christiansted in 1772, which was published and impressed community leaders.
• Community leaders sent him to the North American colonies for education.
• Lodged with Hercules Mulligan in New York City and attended Elizabethtown Academy in New Jersey.
• Entered King's College in New York City in 1773.

Revolutionary War Service

• Publicly spoke out in favor of the patriots' cause in 1773.
• Authored anonymous pamphlets, including "A Full Vindication of the Measures of Congress" and "The Farmer Refuted," in response to Loyalist publications.
• Saved Loyalist Myles Cooper, the president of his college, from an angry mob in 1775.
• Joined a New York volunteer militia company called the Corsicans, later renamed the Hearts of Oak.
• Led a successful raid for British cannons in the Battery.
• Raised the New York Provincial Company of Artillery in 1776 and was elected captain.
• Served as rearguard during the Continental Army's retreat up Manhattan.
• Participated in the Battles of Harlem Heights, White Plains, Trenton, and Princeton.
• Became an aide to General George Washington in 1777 with the rank of lieutenant colonel.
• Served as Washington's chief staff aide for four years, handling correspondence, drafting orders, and managing intelligence.
• Met and married Elizabeth Schuyler in 1780, and they had eight children.
• Commanded a battalion in the assault on Yorktown in 1781, leading the capture of Redoubt No. 10.

Post-Revolutionary War and Confederation Congress

• Resigned his commission in March 1782 and passed the bar in July.
• Served as a New York representative in the Congress of the Confederation from 1782.
• Advocated for a stronger central government with the power to tax.
• Frustrated with the decentralized nature of the Continental Congress and its dependence on states for financial support.
• Criticized the Articles of Confederation as unfit for war or peace.
• Played a role in addressing the Newburgh Conspiracy, where discontented soldiers posed a threat due to lack of pay.
• Drafted a call to revise the Articles of Confederation while in Princeton in 1783.
• Resigned from Congress in 1783 and practiced law in New York.
• Founded the Bank of New York in 1784.

Constitutional Convention and The Federalist Papers

• Played a major role at the 1786 Annapolis Convention, drafting its resolution for a constitutional convention.
• Argued for the sovereignty of the State of Vermont in the New York legislature.
• Served as an assemblyman from New York County in the New York State Legislature in 1787.
• Served as a delegate at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.
• Proposed a president-for-life, but it did not gain traction.
• Constructed a draft for the Constitution based on convention debates.
• Signed the Constitution as a delegate to the Convention from New York.
• Actively campaigned for the Constitution's ratification in New York.
• With John Jay and James Madison, wrote The Federalist Papers to defend the Constitution.
• Wrote 51 of the 85 essays, covering topics such as the division of powers, checks and balances, and the executive and judicial branches.

Secretary of the Treasury

• Appointed as the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury by President George Washington in 1789.
• Submitted a report on suggestions to improve the public credit in January 1790.
• Believed that government securities should be paid at full value to their legitimate owners.
• Proposed consolidating state debts with the national debt and labeling it as federal debt.
• Advocated for a sinking fund to retire the debt.
• Submitted the Report on a National Bank and suggested Congress charter a national bank with a capitalization of $10 million.
• His bank model had similarities to that of the Bank of England, but with differences.
• Tax revenue to initiate the bank was to come from increases on imported spirits.
• Submitted the Report on the Establishment of a Mint in 1791 and proposed a bimetallic currency.
• Proposed that the U.S. dollar should have fractional coins using decimals.
• Established the Revenue Cutter Service (now the U.S. Coast Guard) on August 4, 1790, to combat smuggling.
• Approved an excise tax on whiskey, which led to the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794.
• Submitted the Report on Manufactures in 1791, arguing for industrial policy and government assistance to "infant industries."
• Formed the Society for the Establishment of Useful Manufactures, a private industrial corporation.
• Remained neutral when France and Britain went to war in 1793.
• Negotiated the Jay Treaty with Britain, which passed the Senate in 1795.
• Resigned from his position as Secretary of the Treasury on January 31, 1795.
• Submitted the Report on a Plan for the Further Support of Public Credit to Congress to curb the debt problem.

Political Career and Later Life

• Resumed his law practice in New York and remained close to Washington as an advisor.
• Challenged by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, who formed the Democratic-Republican Party.
• Hamilton's allies began to call themselves the Federalists.
• Established the New York Evening Post newspaper in 1801.
• Suggested, in 1792, to Washington that Madison be consulted for the latter's draft.
• Publicly involved in a sex scandal with Maria Reynolds in 1797.
• Appointed a major general of the army during the Quasi-War with France.
• Worked to defeat John Adams in the 1800 election.
• Supported Jefferson over Burr in the 1800 election due to his lack of principles.

Duel and Death

• Challenged to a duel by Aaron Burr in 1804 after Hamilton spoke out against his character.
• Engaged in a duel on July 11, 1804, in Weehawken, New Jersey.
• Fatally wounded by Burr and died the following day in New York City.
• Buried in Trinity Church's cemetery in New York City.

Religious Views

• Was an orthodox and conventional Presbyterian in his youth.
• Nominally an Episcopalian later in life, but not a regular churchgoer.
• Returned to religion in his last years.

Views on Jews

• Believed Jewish achievement was a result of divine providence and that they were the cause of some providential plan from the Bible.
• Had a lifelong reverence for Jews.
• There were rumors that Lavien (Hamilton's mother) was Jewish or of Jewish descent which if true would make Johann Lavien (Hamilton's Grandfather) Jewish as well, but the consensus of mainstream scholars and historians is that the assertion is not credible.

Legacy

• His interpretations of the Constitution remain highly influential.
• His policies greatly influenced the development of the U.S. government.
• Viewed as a visionary architect of the modern liberal capitalist economy and a dynamic federal government.
• His reputation has varied throughout American history, with periods of praise and criticism.
• Actively opposed slavery and supported the Haitian Revolution.
• Influenced economic thinkers such as Friedrich List and Henry Charles Carey.
• Credited with creating the modern administrative state.
• Appeared as a significant figure in popular works of historical fiction.
• It is unclear whether Hamilton was born in 1755 or 1757.

Explore Alexander Hamilton's early life, born in Nevis and orphaned as a child. He displayed early trading skills and was sent to the North American colonies for education, attending King's College. Hamilton became a public supporter of the patriots' cause.