Happy Birthday Alexander Hamilton

Alexander Hamilton

One of the interesting things about America is that our founding fathers came from diverse backgrounds. 8 of the 56 signers of The Declaration of Independence were born outside of the colonies.  With that being said, the founders born in the colonies also had very different lives. Those from South Carolina would have had different ideas and experiences than those from New York.  Alexander Hamilton for example was born on the Caribbean island of Nevis.

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Alexander Hamilton was born on January 11th. But what year? That is up to debate. He was born in Nevis, British West Indies.  In 1765 his father, James Hamilton, abandoned his family. His mother, Rachel, opened a shop to support them and Alexander went to work as a clerk for successful merchants from New York. In 1768 Alexander’s mother, Rachel, passed away. This is where the discrepancy in the year of his birth comes into play.  Official Nevis documents show a birth year of 1755. However, Alexander himself claimed a birth year of 1757. It is believed that Hamilton did this on purpose to make himself appear younger and more desirable for potential apprenticeships.  Regardless, he was born on January 11th. Alexander had impressed the merchants with his work ethic and performance.  After his mother’s death, his employers took him in and he was soon promoted. He was able to improve himself above his station through hard work.  

Alexander Comes to America

His employers were so impressed with him in fact, that they sent him to further his education in America. He first attended a prep school in New Jersey. In 1773 he went on to attend King's College in New York. King’s College is what is now known as Columbia University.  The colonies at this time were beginning to boil over with the ideas of independence and revolution.  Hamilton immediately became a supporter of the American colonist’s protest against British oppression.  When war was imminent between the colonies and Great Britain, Hamilton received a commission as a captain in the provincial artillery and organized his own company. 

Alexander Hamilton- Solider

Hamilton Joins George Washington's Staff

He proved his leadership and value at the Battles of Trenton, 2nd Trenton, and Princeton. He impressed George Washington enough that Washington made him an aide-de-camp and promoted him to Lt. Colonel.  Alexander Hamilton, though still very young, became one of General Washington’s most trusted advisors and Washington became like a father to Hamilton.

Alexander Hamilton with George Washington

Hamilton would serve on Washington’s staff for four years but eventually he became frustrated by the lack of action.  He repeatedly asked General Washington for a field commission. He craved battlefield glory.  Washington knew his value as his advisor so he repeatedly denied his requests. Hamilton was relentless though. He and Washington ended up having an argument or disagreement and Hamilton leaves Washington’s staff. However they remain very close and Washington does give him command of a battalion. Hamilton would go on to play a pivotal role in the battle of Yorktown.

Post War

After the war, Hamilton would go back to New York and become a lawyer.  He was famous for defending loyalists that were being oppressed. Loyalists were those who remained loyal to King George and Great Britain during the war.  After the war laws were passed to disenfranchise loyalist voters, disbarring loyalist lawyers, and allowing loyalists to be sued for trespassing during the war. So what does all that mean? Disenfranchising means that laws were passed specifically to make it illegal or harder for a certain group of people to vote, in this case the loyalists.  Disbarring means that loyalist lawyers were no longer able to practice law. Hamilton was specifically defending loyalists against the Trespass Act. New York was under British control for most of the war. In fact New York is where the last British troops departed from after the war.  When patriots returned after the war, they found that loyalists had moved into their homes and businesses.  The Trespass Act allowed loyalists to be sued for compensation for the use of and damage to the property.  Hamilton’s defense of loyalists being sued under the Trespass Act helped establish due process in America, led to the Trespass Act being repealed, and led to other laws directed at loyalists being repealed as well.

Political Action

Alexander Hamilton’s years serving on Washington’s staff showed and frustrated him about the inefficiencies and ineptitude of the American government. During the war the colonies were very loosely joined together.  The Continental Congress had very little power when it came to financing the war.  The same was true after the war under the Articles of Confederation which Hamilton was against from the beginning.  Congress had very little authority when it came to taxing or financing the fledgling nation.  Hamilton supported a strong central government. 

Hamilton served as a delegate from New York several times after the war, including at the Constitutional Convention. The Articles of Confederation were clearly not working as written. They either needed to be fixed or replaced all together. Hamilton supported replacing them.  Hamilton had very little to do with writing the Constitution but he should be given credit for fighting harder than anyone to get it ratified, especially in New York.

Ratifying the Constitution

Alexander Hamilton again was a staunch Federalist, believing in a strong federal or central government that would hold power over the individual states.  His own plan was for the federal government to have unlimited powers over the states. Now, thankfully it didn't go far.  The constitution was written and passed by the Constitutional Convention but it needed to be ratified or approved by the 13 states in order to become the law of the land.  Hamilton as well as James Madison and John Jay would write The Federalist Papers. The Federalist Papers were a collection of 85 essays in support of the constitution that were printed in New York newspapers. Hamilton wrote ⅔ of the essays himself.  The Federalist Papers helped gain the support of the American people for ratifying the constitution.

Hamilton himself served as a delegate at the New York Ratification Convention.  He expertly argued for the benefits of the constitution, even though it did not go as far as he would have liked in giving the federal government power.  He was able to sway the convention in the constitutions favor even though it was seemingly an anti-federalist majority. 

Secretary of the Treasury

Article 2 of the United States Constitution established the Executive Branch and the office of the Presidency.  April 30, 1789 George Washington was sworn in as the first President of the United States of America. 

George Washington

Washington appointed Alexander Hamilton as the nation’s first Treasury secretary. Hamilton established financial policies that likely saved the United States from financial ruin.  Hamilton had a history of being abrasive and he constantly clashed with other members of the Washington administration including Federalist Vice President John Adams, and Anti-Federalist Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson. He and John Adams did not like or trust each other. He and Jefferson disagreed vehemently on many issues including foreign policy and the role and power of the federal government over the states and individual citizens.  His confrontational attitude and behavior would continue to define him throughout his life.

John Adams

After Washington’s two terms as president, John Adams was elected as the 2nd President of the United States of America. It was during his presidency that war seemed imminent with France. A lot had happened since the French were our allies during the Revolutionary War.  George Washington was called out of retirement to raise an army. He named Alexander Hamilton his 2nd in command.  After Washington's death in 1799, Hamilton assumed command of the army until the threat of war was over and congress disbanded the army.

Continued Rivalries

Hamilton had a history of meddling, instigating, and manipulating in politics.  Behind the scenes and through anonymous letters posted in newspapers he tried to sway political outcomes as he had when writing most of the Federalist Papers.  He lobbied behind the scenes against John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Aaron Burr. The feud with Burr would turn out to be fatal.

In 1800 Hamilton lobbied against fellow federalist John Adams being re-elected president and privately circulated a pamphlet titled “The Public Conduct and Character of John Adams, Esq., President of the United States”. Aaron Burr obtained a copy of the pamphlet and had it published.  This fractured the federalist electors, and the democratic republicans won. However, elections were very different back then. Voters didn’t vote for presidents. Electors were chosen by each state to represent them and in turn those electors chose the president and vice president. They would cast a vote for president and vice president, but there was no way to differentiate the votes. The top vote getter would be the President and the next person would be Vice-President.  That is how Thomas Jefferson, a democratic-republican, became John Adams’, a federalist, vice president in 1797.  Thomas Jefferson was the democratic-republican presidential candidate and Aaron Burr was the democratic-republican vice presidential candidate.  They ended up getting the same amount of votes. It was a tie.  

Thomas Jefferson

Most Federalists preferred Burr but Hamilton preferred Jefferson.  This was probably out of spite for what Burr had done to him. According to the constitution each state delegation in the House of Representatives would cast a vote to determine the presidency between Jefferson and Burr.  The first 35 rounds ended in a tie.  Hamilton lobbied for Jefferson and was able to convince several federalists to switch their vote. In one letter he described Burr as “a man of extreme and irregular ambition; he is selfish to a degree which excludes all social affections… he is inferior in real ability to Jefferson.” Jefferson won on the 36th ballot.  The controversies of the 1796 and 1800 elections led to the ratification of the 12th amendment. 

The Duel

The 1804 New York governor's race reignited the rivalry between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr.  Vice President Aaron Burr decided to run for governor. Alexander Hamilton of course was opposed to Burr becoming governor.  During the campaign, letters were published in the Albany Register alleging that Hamilton had made disparaging remarks about Burr at a diner party. When Burr lost the election, he blamed Hamilton.

Aaron Burr

Burr wanted retribution and challenged Hamilton to a duel.  Hamilton was opposed to dueling as his son, Philip, was killed in a duel 3 years earlier. However, he felt he had to defend his honor as a man.  Burr and Hamilton met at the dueling grounds in Weehawken, New Jersey on July 11, 1804.  Many believe that Hamilton missed on purpose because of the way he had seen his son suffer years before. It was not uncommon to miss on purpose. It was a way to save face and maintain honor. Burr however, did not miss.  Hamilton was mortally wounded and died the next day, July 12, 1804.  

Alexander Hamilton's Legacy

Hamilton left an undeniable impact on the United States of America. He was a brave soldier and trusted advisor to George Washington during the Revolutionary War.  His work lobbying against the Articles of Confederation were instrumental in having a Constitutional Convention. The Federalist Papers in support of a stronger central government helped get the constitution ratified.  He set forth policies that helped save the young nation from financial ruin as the first Treasury Secretary.  Was he always right? No.  Was he perfect? Absolutely not. Love him or hate him, Alexander Hamilton was a remarkable founding father and he loved the United States of America.