I am so sorry!

Just ignore the subscripts. I haven't been on here in forever, but I've been working on a research paper. It took me a long time and I'm not ever sure if it's good enough right now. Ohhhwell, I've already turned it in.

Alexander Hamilton's life was much different than most of the other delegates at the Constitutional Convention. His early life was lived in Nevis, a Caribbean island an island southeast off the coast of from Florida. He did not play a really important part in the Constitutional Convention because both of the other delegates from New York were Anti-Federalists and were against most of his ideas.

Alexander Hamilton was born on January 11, 1755 in Charlestown, Nevis. He claims that he was born I 757, but recent evidence shows that he was born in 1755. His father was James Hamilton, son of Alexander Hamilton, (the senior). His mother was Rachel Fawcett. She was actually married to John Michael Lavine, a merchant. Lavine beat Rachel frequently. She began living with James Hamilton in 1752, though Lavine did not divorce her until 1758. ¹

Alexander was born in 1755. This made his birth illegitimate. He had a brother named James. His dad left Rachel, James, and Alexander in 1765. Rachel set up a small shop, while Alexander kept records at a local store. His mom died in 1768. This left him an orphan at 13. He moved into a merchant's store and was employed as a bookkeeper. In 1772 he advanced from a bookkeeper to a manager in the shop. ²

Alexander Hamilton was educated well. His mother taught him how to read and do arithmetic. He might have also gone to a small Jewish school for a short time. Alexander really wanted to travel. With the help of a Presbyterian minister, he went off to the British mainland to go to college.

He arrived at Princeton with the great hopes of being allowed to advance through his classes very quickly. He was not allowed to do so, so he quit and went to the King's College to study. Hamilton and his friends formed a club to discuss politics. ² In preparation for the war, Alexander Hamilton drilled with a small group of men that he furnished and supplied with his own money. He drilled at St. George's Chapel courtyard with a group called the Corsicans. During his years at college, a pamphlet was published by a Reverend Seabury attacking the Continental Congress. Later, another pamphlet was published with a response. It was a fiery pamphlet. The colonies were in a dizzy to find out which “elder statesman” wrote the pamphlet. That writer was 19 year old Alexander Hamilton.

During the time before the War of Independence, Hamilton spent time studying war tactics and artillery. In March 11, 1776 he joined the New York Artillery. He was given the job of captain which required that he saw that the men had food, clothing, heat, shelter, basically everything. At some point Hamilton wrote to Congress to request more payment because his crew was getting paid the least and did the same amount of work as the other artillery groups. Hamilton's group of men helped cover General Washington's men during a number of retreats. During one particular battle, Alexander helped to turn away a Hessian advance by use of a cannon. That earned him considerable favor with the high command and helped destroy some of the British's attempt to move forward in the attack. His artillery covered the retreat from New Brunswick, New Jersey. The following year, 1777, Washington recaptured New Brunswick.

Hamilton was chosen as Washington's aide de camp in March of 1777. At some point Alexander was asked by Washington to see him for a minute. Hamilton replied that he would be there in a few minutes. Upon going to Washington's aide Hamilton encountered Lafayette who detained him for approximately 10 minutes. When Hamilton left Lafayette, and went back to Washington, Washington was outraged. They parted there. When Hamilton saw Lafayette again, he told of the event. Lafayette tried to repair things thinking that he might have detained Hamilton from doing what Washington asked. But nothing worked. In April of 1777, he resigned and went home after trying one last time to get a position from Washington. ³

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Alexander Hamilton's religious views were somewhat annihilated in his youth. As he had an illegitimate birth, he was not allowed to go to church. The church denied his mother even a Christian burial. He met a Presbyterian minister whose name was John Knox. Knox encouraged Hamilton to be religious. After the war, Hamilton and his wife rented pews at a church, although Hamilton rarely attended. He is identified as a Presbyterian^.4

When Hamilton was shot by Aaron Burr in a duel, he received a mortal wound. He died the next day. His last words were, “I have a tender reliance on the mercy of the Almighty, through the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am a sinner, pray for me.” This might suggest that he wasconfident in the compassion of God because of the punishment of Christ. He claims that he haf done wrong. He was looking to Him for compassion and requested that pleas be made for him. This has a few lines which are similar to the Sinner's Prayer. Hamilton said he knew that he was a sinner and that he was trusting in the mercy of the Almighty, because of Christ.⁵

Alexander Hamilton's political policy was Federalist. He wanted a strong central government. He said, “A government ought to contain in itself every power requisite to the full accomplishment of the objects committed to its care, and to the complete execution of the trusts for which it is responsible, free from every other control, but a regard to the public good and to the sense of the people.” Federalist paper no. 31.

Paraphrased this means: Basically a government ought to hold everything essential to the full completion of the object committed to its care, and to the complete execution of the reliance for which it is responsible, free from every other control, but with a thought to the public good and to the sense of the people.⁶

Hamilton wrote the majority of the Federalist Papers. They are 85 papers promoting the acceptance of the Constitution. He used the pseudonym. He chose this from a Roman consul, named Publius. He wrote 51/85 of them. The series endeavored to answer questions and objections against the Constitution. Hamilton wrote the Federalist papers along with James Madison and John Jay.

Alexander Hamilton wanted a president for life. This seemed rather absurd to the other delegates. Didn't they just get rid of a king? Hamilton also founded the Federalist Bank. He co-authored the Federalist papers with John Jay, and James Madison, He wanted such a government, because he was afraid that the state government would be too democratic. Hamilton believed that people could not know what was the best thing for themselves. He was worried that the people would force the government to pass laws that would destroy the economy. His thoughts were that the best people should be in charge.

Both of the other delegates to the Constitutional convention from New York were Anti-Federalist and thought that the task at hand was that they needed to edit the Articles Of Confederation. The were adamant in their dislike of the Constitution. As Anti-Federalist, they wanted the people to have power. They left the convention, saying that they did not want to vote for something they did not agree with.

As a result of the revolution,America was up to its head in debt. They owed a huge amount of money totalling 54 million dollars. Hamilton was delegated the job of fixing this debt and was given the job of Secretary of Treasury. Hamilton wanted the government to pay off all of the state debts and be done with the huge debt that America was in. Hamilton proposed a National Bank to contain money in. This arose to serious opposition. A bank was considered unconstitutional, by the strict constituitionalists. The problem was that in order for the government to pay off all these debts the government had to have money. That meant taxes. Some states had already paid off their debt and that taxation would not be fair. Alexander also wanted to have a policy put in place that would protect American merchants from government tariffs. Hamilton is featured on the $10 bill while Benjamin Franklin is on the $100. They are the only two people who are featured on a currency but are not presidents. ³

Alexander Hamilton's personal life was characterized by scandalism. He married a girl named Elizabeth Schuyler and was happy with her. At some point she was away from him and he met Maria Reynolds who had a young daughter. Her husband had supposedly “fled” from her leaving a young daughter and no money to support them. Hamilton gave them money, but then became part of a sexual scandal that would ruin his reputation forever. Mrs. Reynold's husband was said to have told his wife to seduce Hamilton so that they could get him to pay money for them to be quiet. Throughout her life Elizabeth Schuyler was a faithful defendant of Hamilton. She refused to acknowledge his responsibility in his scandal and later, to his duel to the death.⁸

Hamilton was compliments by people. Here is one of them. “I consider Napoleon, Fox, and Hamilton, the three greatest men of our epoch, and if I were forced to decide between the three, I would give without hesitation the first place to Hamilton. He divined Europe."- Charles Maurice de Talleyrand.⁹

One would wonder what Hamilton thought about himself. Was he proud of all his accomplishments or did he think that he could have done better? Some people say that he lost presidency due to his affair with Maria Reynolds. Some might find it hard to believe that one wrong act could lead to losing something that could be very important. Others would see him as a wise leader of his country, though he made a few mistakes with his life.