“Those who stand for nothing fall for anything.” This quote by Alexander Hamilton shows his desire to leave a legacy, just like the focus of our unit. Throughout our legacy unit we have been looking at different celebrities, political figures, and many other types of people to see how they have impacted our world. The legacy that will be covered in this paper is the legacy of Alexander Hamilton. Alexander Hamilton was the first Secretary of the Treasury and has left a huge legacy in the U.S.
On January 11th, 1757 Alexander Hamilton was born in the British West Indies on the Island of Nevis (“Alexander Hamilton: Biography”). At this time, the Caribbean was a desolate place of famine and disease. Alexander’s mother was Rachel Fawcett Lavien,
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In the war John Laurens was killed and after the war ended Lafayette was sent back to France where the French Revolution was brewing. While Hamilton was serving as an advisor for Washington he realized that Congress’ state allegiance was caused by the flawed Articles of Confederation. When Hamilton was sent to the Constitutional Convention he made a speech, that was 6 hours, presenting his own form of government. This structure of this government is almost identical to the one we run today. It was a three branched government with an Executive, Legislative, and Judicial. The only variation is that the president would serve for all of his life. This is eventually developed into the constitution after Hamilton and his fellow Federalists (James Madison and John Jay) wrote the Federalist papers. The Federalist papers were a series of essays that are trying to convince the American public to accept Hamilton’s Democracy. John Jay got sick after writing 5 of the federalist papers, James Madison wrote 29, Hamilton wrote the other 51(“Alexander Hamilton Biography”). Soon after George Washington is unanimously elected as the first President of the United States. George Washington nominates his group of advisors, his cabinet members. He nominates Alexander as Secretary of the Treasury. For Secretary of State he nominates a diplomat who had just returned from a diplomatic trip to France, Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson and …show more content…
They are (in order of birth) Philip Hamilton, Angelica Hamilton, Alexander Hamilton Jr., James Alexander Hamilton, John Church Hamilton, William S. Hamilton, Eliza Hamilton, and Philip Hamilton II (“Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton: Alexander Hamilton’s Beloved Wife”). Alexander Hamilton’s kids were his pride and joy, but in all of Hamilton’s success he did one unspeakable thing. He began to see a woman named Mariah Reynolds. This would turn out to be one of the first political sex scandals in American history. He had a one year affair with Mariah while paying money to her husband, who was blackmailing him. Once Hamilton was confronted on these charges by future president James Monroe he came clean to the world. He published a very long pamphlet telling the whole public, in explicit detail, his encounters with Mariah Reynolds.This would be called the Reynolds Pamphlet. This poisoned Hamilton’s political career. Eliza was so shocked and heartbroken that she did not make any public comment on the pamphlet. The Hamilton’s moved uptown to try and get away from the taunting and the gazes that the family was receiving in the city. The Reynolds Pamphlet soon caused even more damage to the Hamilton family when Hamilton’s first born, Philip challenged George Eacker to a duel because he was taunting his father about his affair in a public speech. This duel would end up in
Throughout Alexander Hamilton’s life he was thoroughly involved in American Politics and was always involved in the latest issues in some way or form. As soon as Hamilton arrived in America he began to investigate the ever-growing tensions between England and America. One of Hamilton’s first known political pieces was on the Boston Tea Party in which he endorsed the unity of colonies and denounced the port closure and un-fair taxations. After this he started to gain a reputation for publishing anti-British pieces. Another well-known piece were the Farmer Refuted essays in which he insisted on colonial unity with an extreme confidence in his views.
The new government had a hard start since they had a huge national debt of 52 million dollars. George Washington was unanimously elected president of the United States and John Adams was elected vice president in Washington’s administration. One of Washington’s important legacies was the formation of a cabinet which basically advised the president. Hamilton came up with the idea of new excise taxes and high tariffs to raise revenue for the government. Hamilton’s interpretation of the government was a loose construction while Jefferson and madison where against his ideals favoring a strict construction.
Hamilton was born in 1755/1757 in the island of Nevis, in the British West Indies, to James Hamilton and Rachel Fawcett Lavine to which his father some years later would abandon his older brother, mother, and himself and leave them in destitute. Alexander Hamilton’s mother died shortly after his father’s abandonment. Alexander was later shot by Aaron Burr in 1804. He went to King’s College after he
After securing its independence from Britain, America was immediately faced with a crisis of how the budding country should be governed. The Articles of Confederation was the first effort to establish a democratic government in the US; however, this feeble attempt at a creating a stable government failed due to a lack of control over the states. Rather than a functioning authority in the nation, the Articles created a “firm league of friendship” between the states. To remedy this pathetic excuse for a ruling body, a Constitution was drafted, and rival sides emerged quickly on the main issues the new document was supposed to address. Two men that embodied this conflict were Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton, both passionate patriots who strongly believed that their proposed forms of government were in the best interests of the country, but they disagreed fundamentally on what that form of government should be.
At the time Hamilton was to Eliza Schuyler. Eliza had gone up state with her sister Angelica to see their father for the summer. While they went away Hamilton stayed to do some work. He was then greeted by a woman named Maira Reynolds. She came to his home and he gave her some money and took her home because he felt bad because she told him that her husband was beating her.
Alexander Hamilton is an American politician and one of the pioneers of the United States. He devotes himself to boosting and spreading the US Constitution. Meanwhile, he contributes to found American financial system, the Federalist Party, the United States Coast Guard, and The New York Post newspaper. He is also the first finance minister and the major writer of the economic policies of the George Washington administration (par. 1). He was born on an island called Nevis, Which belongs to British West Indies.
His manner on the ground was calm and composed beyond expression the New York Post reported. The idea of his own danger seemed to be lost in anticipation of the satisfaction which he might receive from the final triumph of his generous moderation. Philip was then rushed across the river to the home of his aunt angelica schuyler church in Manhattan. She wrote His conduct was extraordinary during this. Upon hearing of the events, the elder Hamilton rushed to the home of Dr. david
Alexander Hamilton began his life as a young boy living in the British West Indies. At the age of 11, Hamilton began working tirelessly to provide for his family. With time and experience, Hamilton started working with international commerce and slave trade. His boss, Hugh Knox, recognized his ambition and decided to send him to America. Hamilton attended King’s college, other known as Columbia University, and became more involved in politics.
Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of Treasury, Washington’s Right Hand Man, author of the Federalist Papers, founder of the first nation bank, and one of America’s Founding Fathers, impacted American history significantly. He accomplished all of his momentous dreams. Despite his success, Hamilton had to overcome strenuous obstacles: he was born on an island where death at an early age was common due to diseases, came from a low-income family, and did not have anyone to help him with his education nor his career. He gave it his best and faced all of his obstacles; he never gave up.
Hamilton was also a founding father of America. Hamilton was pushing the idea of the people electing the president and wanted it to happen. From Alexander Hamilton, “Federalist 69”, The Federalist Papers: 1788, Hamilton expresses his thought that the president should be elected by the people. The document says -“The President of the United States would be an officer elected by the people for four years” This is showing that Hamilton believes in the idea that the president needs to be elected by the people of America.
Hamilton, in the way he shaped the government, is considered rather shady, for lack of a better word; he took any methods to get what needed to be done, done. This was what typically led to the Jeffersonians’ attacks on him: not only were his actions, at times, difficult to justify, but they made him an easy target for the preying Jeffersonians. If we are to judge the parties solely by their figureheads, then we must take into account Jefferson himself, rather than basing our opinions of the Federalists on Hamilton’s ruthlessness and then taking an angle that makes the Jeffersonians Hamilton’s complete opposites. For all of Hamilton’s low points, it must be remembered that Jefferson was not so noble himself: the ideological differences between Federalists and Jeffersonians brought out the worst in the Founders. The fear of the “Hamiltonian juggernaut,” running a successful development of the nation’s government, was what triggered Jefferson’s increasingly vengeful moves against him and the Federalists.
Alexander Hamilton (2004) is a detailed true story of one of the most important figures in American history. It is based on Hamilton’s early life. As a politician, as a revolutionary war hero, and the first treasury secretary, Hamilton dedicated his life and intellect to unifying and strengthening the United States. Hamilton in truth did perhaps more than any other one person to secure the power of the American Union. Though he was never president, he was a hero deemed as a true founding father, title he kept till his death.
Not long after the gubernatorial election, the Albany Register published letters from Dr. Charles D. Cooper that relayed the doctor’s understanding of Hamilton’s opinion of Burr. According to Cooper, Hamilton had, during a dinner party, expressed that he thought the Vice President to be a “dangerous man, and one who ought not be trusted with the reins of government.” Cooper also claimed to know of “a still more despicable opinion” Hamilton had of Burr. Burr, who took this as an insult to his honor, sent a letter to Hamilton, demanding an apology.
Because of many of his radical views, he gained a lot of opposition in both the Federalist and Democratic-Republican parties, and was forced to resign, yet still remained popular, with a greatly valued opinion (Brookhiser). Hamilton then lost his firstborn son (Phillip) in a duel when Phillip challenged George Eacker to uphold his father’s honor. And yet Hamilton refused to remain quiet and openly opposed Aaron Burr in the election of 1800, and worked against Burr again when the Vice President ran for New York governorship. In an attempt to heal his wounded pride, Aaron Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel, and the discredited Alexander Hamilton died the day after. (Foner).
In this paper I will be discussing why I believe Alexander Hamilton to be an economic genius. Who is Alexander Hamilton?