Home › People › The Founders › Alexander Hamilton
Founder · First Secretary of the Treasury · 1755/57–1804
Alexander Hamilton: Architect of the Nation's Finances
An orphan clerk from the Caribbean who became George Washington’s right-hand man, wrote most of the Federalist essays, and built the financial system of the United States from nothing, before dying in the most famous duel in American history.
Alexander Hamilton, painted by John Trumbull, 1806
Quick facts
Alexander Hamilton at a glance
| Born | January 11, 1755 or 1757 (records disagree), in Charlestown, on the island of Nevis in the West Indies | |
| Died | July 12, 1804, in New York City, the day after his duel with Aaron Burr | |
| Education | King's College (now Columbia University), New York | |
| Revolutionary War | Artillery captain, then lieutenant colonel and aide-de-camp to George Washington, 1777–1781 | |
| Constitution | New York delegate to the Constitutional Convention, 1787, and the only one from his state to sign | |
| The Federalist | Wrote 51 of the 85 essays, with James Madison and John Jay | |
| Treasury Secretary | First U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, September 1789 to January 1795 | |
| Wife | Elizabeth Schuyler, married December 14, 1780; they had eight children | |
| Party | Federalist | |
| Buried | Trinity Churchyard, Lower Manhattan |
The big picture in 30 seconds
Why he matters
- He got the new federal government to pay its war debts in full, which gave the United States good credit.
- He created the first Bank of the United States, the U.S. Mint and the Revenue Cutter Service, ancestor of the Coast Guard.
- His essays in The Federalist helped win ratification of the Constitution and are still used to interpret it.
- His vision of a strong national government and a trading, manufacturing economy shaped modern America.
51 of 85
Federalist essays written by Hamilton
1st
Secretary of the Treasury, 1789–1795
8
children with Eliza Schuyler Hamilton
$10
bill that has carried his portrait since 1928
Early years
An orphan in the West Indies
Alexander Hamilton was born on Nevis, a small British island in the Caribbean, to Rachel Faucette and James Hamilton, a Scottish trader. His parents were not married, and his father left the family when Alexander was a boy. His mother died of fever in 1768, leaving him and his brother with almost nothing.
On the island of St. Croix he went to work as a clerk for a trading firm and soon was running it when the owner was away. In 1772 a hurricane struck the island, and Hamilton’s vivid letter describing it was printed in a local newspaper. Impressed, local merchants paid to send him to school in North America.
New York
He arrived in 1772, studied at a school in New Jersey and then at King’s College in New York. Within two years the teenager was writing pamphlets against British policy that readers thought were the work of an experienced lawyer.
The Revolution
Washington's right hand
In 1776 Hamilton became captain of a New York artillery company and fought in the battles around New York and at Trenton and Princeton. In March 1777 George Washington made him an aide-de-camp with the rank of lieutenant colonel. For four years he wrote many of Washington’s letters and orders and became his most trusted staff officer.
Hamilton wanted a battlefield command. At Yorktown in October 1781 he finally got one and led a night bayonet charge that captured a key British position, Redoubt No. 10.
Eliza
In December 1780 he married Elizabeth (“Eliza”) Schuyler, daughter of General Philip Schuyler, one of New York’s richest and most powerful men. The marriage gave the penniless immigrant a place in New York society.
The Constitution
Making the case for a stronger union
After the war Hamilton practiced law in New York and helped found the Bank of New York in 1784. He was convinced the Articles of Confederation were too weak, and he helped call the Annapolis Convention of 1786, which led to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787.
At the convention he gave a six-hour speech proposing a president and senators who would serve for life. The idea went nowhere, but he signed the finished Constitution and then fought hard for it.
The Federalist
To persuade New Yorkers to ratify, Hamilton organized a series of newspaper essays signed “Publius.” He wrote 51 of the 85, Madison wrote 29 and Jay wrote 5. At the New York ratifying convention in 1788 he helped turn a hostile majority into a narrow vote for the Constitution.
.jpg/500px-The_Federalist_(1st_ed,_1788,_vol_I,_title_page).jpg)
At the Treasury, 1789–1795
Building the nation's finances
President Washington named Hamilton the first Secretary of the Treasury in September 1789. The country was deep in debt from the war, its money was nearly worthless, and it had no way to collect taxes. In five years Hamilton built a complete financial system.
January 1790
Report on Public Credit
The federal government would pay its debts in full and take over the war debts of the states. In return for southern votes, Hamilton agreed to put the new capital on the Potomac.
1791
The Bank of the United States
A national bank to hold government money, make loans and issue a stable currency. Jefferson said the Constitution did not allow it; Washington sided with Hamilton.
December 1791
Report on Manufactures
A plan to grow American industry with tariffs and rewards for new factories. Congress did not adopt it, but later leaders, including Henry Clay, built on it.
1792
The U.S. Mint
Hamilton’s plan for a national coinage based on the dollar and decimal coins led to the Mint in Philadelphia.
1790
The Revenue Cutter Service
A fleet of armed boats to stop smugglers and collect customs duties. It later became the U.S. Coast Guard.
1794
The Whiskey Rebellion
When western Pennsylvania farmers rose against his whiskey tax, Hamilton rode with the army of nearly 13,000 militia that ended the revolt.
“Energy in the executive is a leading character in the definition of good government.”
Alexander Hamilton
The Federalist No. 70, 1788
Later years
Scandal, rivalry and a fatal duel
Hamilton’s fights with Jefferson and Madison helped create the first two political parties. In 1797 he publicly confessed to an affair with Maria Reynolds, to prove that money he had paid her husband was blackmail, not corruption. In 1800 he attacked President John Adams, a fellow Federalist, in a pamphlet that helped split the party.
When Jefferson and Aaron Burr tied in the electoral vote in 1800, Hamilton urged Federalists in the House to choose Jefferson, whom he disliked but trusted more than Burr. He also founded the New-York Evening Post in 1801. That same year his oldest son, Philip, was killed in a duel.
Weehawken
In 1804 Burr, then vice president, demanded an apology for insulting remarks Hamilton had made about him. Hamilton would not give one. At dawn on July 11, 1804, the two men met on the dueling ground at Weehawken, New Jersey. Burr’s shot struck Hamilton above the hip, and he died the next afternoon in New York.
His life at a glance
Life timeline
People
Who's who in Hamilton's story
Mentor
Gave Hamilton his start and backed him again and again. Hamilton helped write his Farewell Address.
Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton
Wife
Outlived him by 50 years, raised their children, and co-founded New York’s first private orphanage.
Rival
Opposed the national bank and Hamilton’s whole vision of a commercial nation.
Partner, then foe
His co-author on The Federalist, who turned against Hamilton’s financial plans in 1790.
Aaron Burr
The man who killed him
New York rival and vice president. After the duel he was charged with murder but never tried.
Federalist enemy
Hamilton’s attack on Adams in 1800 helped hand the presidency to Jefferson.
Visit
Hamilton Grange National Memorial
The Grange, the only home Hamilton ever owned, has been moved twice and now stands in St. Nicholas Park in Harlem, run by the National Park Service. His grave is in Trinity Churchyard at Broadway and Wall Street, a few steps from the Treasury and Stock Exchange he helped make possible.
Go deeper
Sources and further reading
- Alexander Hamilton, by Ron Chernow (2004)
- Alexander Hamilton: A Life, by Willard Sterne Randall (2003)
- The Federalist Papers, by Hamilton, Madison and Jay