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Alexander Hamilton was born on the British West Indian island of Nevis, the son of James Hamilton and Rachel Fawcett Lavien. This conception could be considered illegal in modern times, as Rachel Lavien was married to another man at the time. Also, while James and Rachel started a family, they never married. In fact, while this is the official date of Hamilton's birth, it is known that he often lied about his age on documents and could actually be younger than he says.
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To earn a living to support the rest of his family, Alexander Hamilton begins working as a clerk at this trading post. The experiences he gained here taught him about business.
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As an orphan, Hamilton develops a view of the world which he kept up to his death: seeing the slaves being opposed on the island of St. Cruix led him to oppose slavery, and working as a clerk, bookkeeper, and, temporarily, manager, at a trading post called Cruger and Beckman taught him about buisness.
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Hamilton wanted to learn many things in a very small amount of time. He applied for the College of New Jersey (what is now Princeton University), but since they did not offer an accelerated course, he decided to go to King's College instead. There, he went under the tutelage of intellectual leader William Livingston. He was also part of a literary group on campus that could be called the predecessor to modern-day Columbia University's Philolexian Society.
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In a letter to his friend Edward Stevens, Hamilton wrote that he wished for a certain circumstance to come about so that he could have an adventurous life: a war. This war made Hamilton's life as a revolutionary and a founding father of this country possible. Without it, Hamilton (and most likely the rest of the founding fathers) would not be the men we know them as today.
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The opportunity Alexander Hamilton spoke of: in this position, he was able to have power but did not have to be involved in the war itself. Eventually, this allowed him to move on to bigger, better things in his life.
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Hamilton is wedded to Elizabeth Schuyler, and becomes part of one of the most powerful political families in New York. He also becomes very close to Elizabeth Schuyler's sister, Angelica Church. Some historians say that they might have had an affair.
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This was one of his first steps on his path to becoming America's first financial expert. This was the beginning of the plan he had to make America a more powerful country, starting with its own banks. Eventually, he would make America have its own currency, and many more things...
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It was Hamilton's idea to, at this convention, blot out the existing form of government and create an entirely new one: the Constitution came about because of this idea.
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Hamilton and his friends John Jay and James Madison sought to help the common citizens understand the constitution so that they could ratify it: these papers are the result of their thinking. The Federalist Papers were extremely influential in the creation of this nation.
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The last of the Congresses, this series of meetings that Hamilton attended as a representative from New York met at the Federal Hall in New York City. They discussed various plans, and eventually ended up with the decision to form the 1st United States Congress, a new form of Government.
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This was one of Hamilton's greatest accomplishments. While in office, he founded the U.S. Mint and made reports on the budget. Hamilton made sure that the U.S. could become a great country without going over a certain budget. Also, he created ways in which the United States could earn money to support itself.
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Maria Reynolds married Hamilton, claiming that her husband James Reynolds abandoned her: she took some money from Hamilton to transport herself to New York, and Hamilton continually gave James Reynolds money to keep the affair secret: eventually, the scandal was found out and led to Alexander Hamilton's resigning from his office as the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States of America.
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This event was one of Hamilton's greatest accomplishments, paving the way for what would become the most widely-known currency in the entire world.
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This newspaper, the oldest daily newspaper in America, would ultimately become known as the New York Post.
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Hamilton's low opinion of Burr caused Burr to invite Hamilton to a duel. Although Hamilton disliked dueling and would not fire, he came to the duel, thinking that Burr would reflect on his decision. However, Burr had no qualms firing a bullet through Hamilton's abdomen...
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After Hamilton's duel, he is rushed back to New York. His friends and family visit, and he dies 31 hours after his duel. He is buried at Trinity Churchyard Cemetery.
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The Great Depression hurt the public's opinion of Alexander Hamilton: they thought of him as a man who only cared about the rich, and this event, creating masses of poor, brought hatred upon him. Combine this with the fact that he has thought to have been involved in numerous sex scandals, and that adds up to one pretty bad image that the people have of Alexander Hamilton.
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As Hamilton fades out of the public eye, a rather disenheartened attempt to celebrate the 200th anniversary of his birth occurs. Nothing majorly exciting happens, because at this point in history, it's common knowledge NOT to know anything about Alexander Hamilton. In fact, his accomplishments have become so minor at this time that most cannot recognize his face.
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Although many have seen and can recognize the face on a ten-dollar bill, Hamilton has faded into so much obsurity by this time that many would, if asked who's face was on the bill, answer that they do not know.
