Alexander Hamilton was an American statesman, politician, legal scholar, military commander, lawyer, banker, and economist. He 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 George Washington's administration. He took the lead in the Federal government's funding of the states' debts, as well as establishing the nation's first two de facto central banks, 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, national banks, support for manufacturing, and a strong military.
Born: | January 11, 1755 or 1757, Charlestown, Nevis, British Leeward Islands |
Died: | July 12, 1804 (aged 47 or 49), Greenwich Village, New York |
Cause of death: | Gunshot wound |
Political party: | Federalist |
Children: | Philip, Angelica, Alexander, James Alexander, John Church, William, Eliza, Philip |
Parents: | James A. Hamilton, Rachel Faucette |
Education: | King's College (renamed Columbia) |
President: | George Washington |
Preceded by: | Office established |
Succeeded by: | Oliver Wolcott Jr. |
About Alexander Hamilton
First Secretary of the Treasury and aide to George Washington who was famously killed in a duel to the death by Vice President Aaron Burr. He was an active participant in the Philadelphia Convention, which produced the U.S. Constitution, and he wrote 51 of the 85 installments of the Federalist Papers, which supported the Constitution.
Before Fame
He was effectively orphaned after his father left the family and his mother died of fever.
Achievement
He resigned from being the Secretary of the Treasury after an extra-marital affair from his past became public. The award winning Broadway musical about his life began in 2015.
Family Life
He married Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton in December 1780. He had eight children.
Associations
He was appointed by John Adams as Senior Officer of the Army.
Information related to Alexander Hamilton
- Alexander Hamilton Category
- Compromise of 1790 - The Compromise of 1790 was a compromise between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson with James Madison wherein Hamilton won the decision for the national government to take over and pay the state debts, and Jefferson and Madison obtained the national capital for the South.
- History of central banking in the United States - This history of central banking in the United States encompasses various bank regulations, from early "wildcat" practices through the present Federal Reserve System.
- Panic of 1792 - The Panic of 1792 was a financial credit crisis that occurred during the months of March and April 1792, precipitated by the expansion of credit by the newly formed Bank of the United States as well as by rampant speculation on the part of William Duer, Alexander Macomb, and other prominent bankers.
- Washington administration cabinet members
- American politicians killed in duels
- Bank of New York
- The Federalist Papers
- Inspectors General of the United States Army
- Signers of the United States Constitution
- American slave traders
- United States Secretaries of the Treasury
- Burials at Trinity Church Cemetery
- New York Post people
- Hall of Fame for Great Americans inductees
- Age controversies
- American political philosophers
- 19th-century American lawyers
- Members of the American Philosophical Society
- 18th-century American politicians