Alexander Hamilton Essay

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. So begins the biography of Alexander Hamilton on the web page from Revolution to Reconstruction.   Even   Jefferson was in awe of him as he told James Madison in 1795, â€Å"Hamilton is really a colossus . . . without numbers, he is a host within himself.† – quoted by De Coralis. Alexander Hamilton was born in about1757 on the Caribbean island of Nevis. He had no birth certificate so the exact date is disputed, but he always said it was in 1757. He was one of two sons born illegitimately to a French Huguenot mother by an irresponsible Scots father who was later to abandon his family. His mother died of yellow fever when he was only 13, having been imprisoned for adultery at the instigation of her husband , who then managed to successfully sue for all her meagre assets, leaving the two boys with nothing. All his life Hamilton was aware that people knew of his beginnings and discussed them behind his back. After his mother’s death he began to work as clerk to New Yorker Nicolas Cruger. In Cruger’s absence he ran the firm and so even as a teenager he came to learn and to manage the intricacies of international trade – something that was to be in his stead later. He also saw the dark side of trading – slavery, which he came to hate. Eventually he was to co-found an abolitionist society. Another mentor was clergyman Hugh Knox, who tutored him in both humanities and sciences. It was these mentors and other rich islanders who paid for him to study in New York at the then King’s College . (Now Columbia University). Their idea seems to have been that he study medicine and then return to set up practice. That was the theory, but the fact was that he never returned to the islands. He arrived in New York in 1773. In 1774 the first continental Congress met to decide what to do about what they saw as the tyrannical rule of England. Following the Boston Tea Party Hamilton travelled to Boston where he became convinced of the rights of the colonists. The newspapers were full of arguments for and against and Hamilton joined in when he wrote his first pamphlet â€Å"A Full Vindication of the Measures of Congress,† According to   Lisa Marie de Coralis on the web page ‘From Revolution to Reconstruction’,   in 1769 Hamilton had written to a friend saying that what better way was there for a young man to change his station in life than in war. His argument was that in war it is one’s abilities rather than one’s background that counts. Considering his background it is hardly a surprising view. In the summer of 1776 the British fleet were sailing towards the city of New York and Hamilton responded quickly to a call for volunteers. He soon became captain of a group of artillerymen, even paying for their uniforms himself. He and his company fought alongside Washington and his men at Long Island and in other battles that year   His talents were recognised and he became, aged 20, aide-de-camp to General George Washington with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. It seems with hindsight that he made the right choice, for he had earlier turned down similar positions with other military leaders. He continued to be close to Washington for most of the time and was eventually among those who composed Washington’s farewell address in 1796. Valley Forge in the winter of 1777 -78 was an important time for Hamilton. Washington had some 9,000 men forced to scavenge for supplies, because of the inability of Congress to act on their behalf. All around men were starving and Hamilton realised that the   Americans would become a laughing stock if their government was seen to be unable to support its troops. There was to be an alliance with France and Hamilton, probably using the French he had leant from his mother, became interpreter. In the summer of 1779 rumours began to circulate that Hamilton was to lead a move to overthrow congress and install Washington as a dictator. Colonel John Brooks told Hamilton of these rumors adding that he had heard someone say † Mr. Hamilton could be no ways interested in the defence of this country; and therefore, was most likely to pursue such a line of conduct as his great ambition dictated.† His colleagues realised that the rumours were false. Hamilton was frustrated with Congress, no more. It   did make one thing plain though, Hamilton was, and always would be viewed as an outsider – a non-American, a major reason why, despite his massive abilities he is not included in the list of American Presidents. Other reasons given are his affair and the fact that his politics and reasoning were way above the heads of most Americans. Hamilton on the other hand firmly links himself with the American cause as when he wrote to Congressman Duane in 1780 â€Å"the defects of our present system, and the changes necessary to save us from ruin.† –   See chapter 8 ‘From Revolution to Reconstruction. In the letter he sees America as other nations would see her, with a weak congress, unable to fulfil its commitments. Much of the letter is about his financial plans for the country – not surprising for someone who was to become its treasurer. Washington was not known as a placid man. There were several spats and then in 1781, Washington felt that Hamilton was not respecting him and the two fell out. In April of that year he resigned as aide-de camp and went to stay with his new wife in Albany. From here he began his first essays on American government. â€Å"The Continentalist,† In 1781 he finally had his first command and victory at Yorktown. In January of 1782 his first child was born and two months later he resigned from the military, being appointed as Receiver of Taxes for New York. At the same time he began to study law, completing a three year course in just a few months. In 1782 he also became a congressman.   He is quoted by De Coralis as writing to Lafayette:- I have been employed for the last ten months in rocking the cradle and studying the art of fleecing my neighbours. I am now a Grave Counsellor   at law, and shall soon be a grand member of Congress. The Legislature   at their last session took it into their heads to name me pretty unanimously one of their delegates.† As a lawyer he acted in many cases involving anti-loyalists laws. One of his most important cases ensured that federal laws were to be treated as supreme over those of individual states. Hamilton could be quite outspoken. In June 1780 he write to John Laurens describing   his fellow Americans as having ‘the passiveness of sheep †¦they are determined not to be free†¦I f we are saved France and Spain must save us.’ Eventually of course they rose to the occasion, though France did contribute to the success by not allowing Britain to make full use of its military and naval powers. Despite his American nationality he admired   the British system of government . He said when addressing congress in June 1787 ‘I believe the British government forms the best model the world ever produced.’ Hamilton is one of the anonymous contributors to the Constitution, the final text of which was drawn up by James Madison in July of 1787, according to Cohen and Major ( page 511). First of all Hamilton asked for a revision of the articles of confederation. He called them to arms saying as quoted in volume 4 of his papers:- Let Americans disdain to be instruments of European greatness! Let the thirteen states, bound together by strict and indissoluble union, concur in erecting one great American system. He signed the constitution in September 1787 and when Washington took on the presidency he knew that Hamilton was the best man to take on the country’s finance and he became the first, and perhaps the greatest, Secretary to the Treasury in 1789. He served in this post from 1789 to 1795, during which period he succeeded in restoring the country’s financial position. Early in his period of office he produced lengthy reports for congress about what the country needed financially including a system of taxation and funding of the national debt. The report controversially included the need for a national bank, an idea that Washington for one did not at first approve of. In 1792 there was a stock market panic and from this time on Hamilton came under attack for his policies. In 1804 there was to be an election. During the run up Hamilton, then leader of the Federalist party and famous for arguing for freedom of speech, was heard , on more than one occasion, to be vilifying Aaron Burr, the Republican leader, vice-president and a long time enemy. He had already come out heavily against Burr in the press. Burr demanded satisfaction in the form of a duel, and despite the fact that his beloved son had died in a duel, Hamilton, after the interchange of several letters, finally conceded. It was his eleventh and last duel. Hamilton fired firs t and missed. Burr’s first shot, hit Hamilton in lower abdomen, paralysed him and he died at home the following day, having confessed to hi s doctor that he had had no intention of hitting Burr. He died   leaving a wife, seven children and a mountain of debts, having frequently undercharged clients, subsidised newspapers and having refused an army pension. The financial genius had failed to provide for himself. Neither man benefited as Burr was indicted for murder, though duelling was not outlawed in New Jersey, and though later acquitted, Burr’s political career was over, as of course was Hamilton’s. Bibliography Crystal, D. editor, The Cambridge Biographical Encyclopedia, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1995 Hamilton,A. Address to the Constitutional Congress, 11th June 1787, quoted by Cohen,M. and Major,J. in History in Quotations, Cassell, London ,2004. Hamilton, A., The Papers of Alexander Hamilton vol2 (1961) pages 347-8, volume 4,   page 345. Electronic Sources De Coralis, L.M. From Revolution to Reconstruction, Biography of Alexander Hamilton found 2nd June 2007   http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/B/hamilton/hamilxx.htm