How does a bastard, orphan, and unfortunate immigrant become one of the most influen- tial men in American History? Alexander Hamilton was a classic case of what “coming up from the bottom'” really means. By putting a pencil to his brain, he worked hard non-stop and rose up the social-political ladder. His persistent effect on American matters of state included many of his well known triumphs, like his financial affairs on the Federal Government, which strengthened the states into a nation. His incredible intellectual abilities makes him one of the most prominent founding father. Even George Washington, our first president, once said, “This I can venture to advance from a thorough knowledge of him, that there are few men to be found who has a more general knowledge than he possesses and none whose soul is more firmly engaged in the cause.”
Alexander Hamilton had to deal with intense attacks on who he is as a person, due to his childhood, for most of his life as a political figure. He himself wrote in 1800 that, “Never was there a more ungenerous persecution of any man than of myself. Not only the worst construc- tions are put upon my conduct as a public man, but it seems my birth is the subject of the most humiliating criticism.” Hamilton’s exact birth date is not necessarily known, being that there were no official birth documents made for him, but it was approximately on January 11, 1755 or 1757 on the island of Nevis in the British West Indies. His parents were Rachel Fawcett Lavien and James Hamilton. At the time of his birth, his mother Rachel was actually married to a mer- chant, whom she was forced to marry as a teenager, and they had a son together named Peter. It is said that Rachel’s husband was abusive and even imprisoned her for adultery on certain occa- sions. Then when she was released she did not return to her husband and son but ran away to St. Kitts, where she met James Hamilton, a Scottish trader.
James and Rachel had two sons together, James and Alexander, but sadly after ten years James Hamilton deserted them and never came back, leaving them destitute. However not long after, Alexander and his mother fell ill with yel- low fever and to add on his run of bad luck, he woke to find his mother dead while holding him. Now orphaned, a cousin adopted Alexander, but he then committed suicide months later, also causing him and his brother to be seperated. All of these tragic series of events just made Alexan- der even more determined to make something of himself, so he began working at age 11 in sev eral places like an accounting clerk in a mercantile in St. Croix. Hamilton worked his way up quickly, learning many things about the business of money and trade, and became skilled in his writing, like his letter describing the hurricane that had hit in 1772, and his accounting skills. This impressed many people in St. Croix, so the businessman decided to put together some money to send Alexander to NeW York for a proper education, beginning his rise to the top.
His complicated background did indeed shape him in his adult life to be sensitive to in- sult, impulsive, having a need to outsmart his enemies, and even made himself subject to rumor and gossip, but it did end up benefiting him in the long run. Hamilton sailed away to New York in October 1772, and he was just 15 years old, where he studied at King’s College (now Colum- bia University) in Manhattan. Fellow students described him to be “striking, zealous, and alto- gether a memorable young man” and one of those memorable moments included his habit of pacing back and forth for hours talking to himself, which was one of his ways of organizing his problems logically. Being that it was the time that American colonies were beginning to revolt, being involved in it interested Hamilton more than his academics so he dropped out. Alexander defended the Patriots against Loyalists because he did not agree, along with many, about the taxes and buisiness arrangements given by Great Britain.
When the Revolutionary War began, he joined forces with the New York Provincial Artillery Company fighting in the battles of Long Is- land, White Plains, Trenton, Brandywine Creek, Germantown, and Princeton. With his growing experience, he became lieutenant colonel of the Continental Army which even gained his posi- tion as assistant and advisor to General George Washington. Hamilton wrote many of Washing- ton’s letters and reports on the war which furthered his skills. Hamilton was known to be sort of a ladies man who always attracted a lot of attention from women and during this time, Alexander married a woman named Elisabeth Schuyler, or Elisa, who was the daughter of a famous Philip Schuyler of New York, thus raising his social status even more. Still thriving for his glory in bat- tle, in 1781, Hamilton led the attack on the British in the famous Battle of Yorktown (with Wash- ington’s permission because he primarily did not want to risk losing Hamilton and his great intel- ligence) leaving America victorious in getting their independence, ending the American Revolu- tionary War. After the war, Hamilton studied more in-depth on Congress faults which separated instead of unifying the nation, so he started to work on beginning a solid central government which in his eyes was the “key to achieving America’s independence.”
To spread his ideas on government, Hamilton new that he had to become knowledgeable in law so he became a lawyer in New York City. With his law degree he was able to found the Bank of New York. Throughout all of his rise in political power he still had one accomplishment in mind: to gain a stronger federal government under a new Constitution. With that, he wanted to express his views on the new Constitution so he, along with James Madison and John Jay, wrote The Federalist Papers and he amazingly wrote 51 out of the 85 essays. In 1789, George Wash- ington gave Alexander Hamilton the job as the first Secretary of the Treasury and he was faced with a “great foreign and domestic debr” because of the Revolution. To get what he wanted, he agreed to have the capital in Virginia in return to establish the National Bank in New York. He alone promoted a more powerful nation and left a secure U.S. economy for the future to flourish from.
Though he had many triumphs, Hamilton faced many disputes in his life with many peo- ple that he just did not agree with like Aaron Burr, Thomas Jefferson and many others. A famous conflict had to do with The Reynolds family, with which Hamilton had an affair with a married woman named Maria Reynolds who seduced him to get his money, causing one of the first big- gest scandals in American History. More importantly, his dispute with Aaron Burr led to Alexan- der’s death on July 11, 1804 during a duel against him. The two once were friends but disagree- ments arose politically especially when Hamilton cost Burr his presidency. Interestingly, the duel took place where Hamilton’s eldest son had been fatally shot just three years before, and this fur- thered Hamilton to take up the duel which he, instead of aiming at his opponent, aimed at the sky just like his son.
Alexander Hamilton was undoubtedly a tremendous genius who overcame great odds to lead America through its early financial decisions and foundations. He paved a starting point on the path to a successtul future for our country. Hamilton’s life also teaches us an important lesson that no matter what state you’re in, if you work hard enough, you will achieve what you set out to do, and Hamilton beinga bastard, orphan, and immigrant, did just that. Always remember, “Those wh0 stand for nothing, fall for anything.”
