Alexander Hamilton

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Alexander Hamilton

Portrait by John Trumbull, 1806

1st United States Secretary of the Treasury

In office

September 11, 1789 – January 31, 1795

President George Washington

Preceded by Office established

Succeeded by Oliver Wolcott Jr.

Senior Officer of the United States Army

In office

December 14, 1799 – June 15, 1800

President John Adams

Succeeded by James Wilkinson

Delegate to the
Congress of the Confederation
from New York

In office

November 3, 1788 – March 2, 1789

Preceded by Egbert Benson

Succeeded by Seat abolished

In office

November 4, 1782 – June 21, 1783

Preceded by Seat established

Succeeded by Seat abolished

Personal details

Born January 11, 1755 or 1757[1]

Charlestown, Nevis, British Leeward Islands

(now St. Kitts and Nevis)

Died July 12, 1804 (aged 47 or 49)

New York City, New York, U.S.

Cause of death Gunshot wound

Resting place Trinity Church Cemetery

Political party Federalist

(m. 1780)

Philip
Children
Angelica

Alexander

James Alexander

John Church

William

Eliza

Philip

Parent(s) James A. Hamilton

Rachel Faucette

Relatives Hamilton family

Education King's College (now Columbia University)

Signature

Military service

Allegiance  New York (1775-1777)

 United States (1777–1800)

Branch/service  New York Provincial Company of Artillery

 Continental Army

 United States Army

Years of service 1775–1776 (Militia)

1776–1782

1798–1800

Rank  Major general

Commands U.S. Army Senior Officer

Battles/wars American Revolutionary War

o Battle of Trenton

o Battle of Princeton

o Battle of Brandywine

o Battle of Germantown

o Battle of Monmouth

o Siege of Yorktown

Quasi-War

Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757 – July 12, 1804) was an American
statesman, who was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He was an
influential interpreter and promoter of the U.S. Constitution, as well as the founder of the
nation's financial system, the Federalist Party, the United States Coast Guard, and
the New York Post newspaper. As the first secretary of the treasury, Hamilton was the
main author of the economic policies of the administration of President George
Washington. He took the lead in the federal government's funding of the
states' American Revolutionary War debts, as well as establishing the nation's first
two de facto central banks (i.e. the Bank of North America and the First Bank of the
United States), a system of tariffs, and friendly trade relations with Britain. His vision
included a strong central government led by a vigorous executive branch, a strong
commercial economy, support for manufacturing, and a strong national defense.
Hamilton was born out of wedlock in Charlestown, Nevis. He was orphaned as a child
and taken in by a prosperous merchant. When he reached his teens, he was sent to
New York to pursue his education. While a student, his opinion pieces supporting
the Continental Congress were published under a nom de plume, and he also
addressed crowds on the subject. He took an early role in the militia as the American
Revolutionary War began. As an artillery officer in the new Continental Army he saw
action in the New York and New Jersey campaign. In 1777, he became a
senior aide to Commander in Chief General George Washington, but returned to field
command in time for a pivotal action securing victory at the Siege of Yorktown,
effectively ending hostilities.
After the war, he was elected as a representative from New York to the Congress of the
Confederation. He resigned to practice law and founded the Bank of New York before
entering politics. Hamilton was a leader in seeking to replace the
weak confederal government under the Articles of Confederation; he led the Annapolis
Convention of 1786, which spurred Congress to call a Constitutional
Convention in Philadelphia. He helped ratify the Constitution by writing 51 of the 85
installments of The Federalist Papers, which are still used as one of the most important
references for Constitutional interpretation.
Hamilton led the Treasury Department as a trusted member of President Washington's
first Cabinet. Hamilton successfully argued that the implied powers of the Constitution
provided the legal authority to fund the national debt, to assume states' debts, and to
create the government-backed Bank of the United States (the First Bank of the United
States). These programs were funded primarily by a tariff on imports, and later by a
controversial whiskey tax. He opposed administration entanglement with the series of
unstable French revolutionary governments. Hamilton's views became the basis for the
Federalist Party, which was opposed by the Democratic-Republican Party led
by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. To this day he has remained the youngest
U.S. cabinet member to take office since the beginning of the Republic.
In 1795, he returned to the practice of law in New York. He called for mobilization under
President John Adams in 1798–99 against French First Republic military aggression,
and became Commanding General of the U.S. Army, which he reconstituted,
modernized, and readied for war. The army did not see combat in the Quasi-War, and
Hamilton was outraged by Adams' diplomatic approach to the crisis with France. His
opposition to Adams' re-election helped cause the Federalist Party defeat in 1800.
Jefferson and Aaron Burr tied for the presidency in the electoral college, and Hamilton
helped to defeat Burr, whom he found unprincipled, and to elect Jefferson despite
philosophical differences.
Hamilton continued his legal and business activities in New York City, and was active in
ending the legality of the international slave trade. Vice President Burr ran for governor
of New York State in 1804, and Hamilton campaigned against him as unworthy. Taking
offense, Burr challenged him to a duel on July 11, 1804, in which Burr shot and mortally
wounded Hamilton, who died the following day.
Hamilton is generally regarded as an astute and intellectually brilliant administrator,
politician and financier, if ofte