Alexander Hamilton Research Paper

886 Words4 Pages

Alexander Hamilton, one of the most important people in the history of the United States, established many things that helped the country. He also was a senior officer during the revolutionary war, became the first secretary of treasury for the United States, qualified as New York City’s first artillery officer, and aided in many of the elections. Alexander Hamilton was born on the Island of Nevis in the West Indies on January 11, either in 1757 or in 1755. Historians are not sure which year he was born in because Hamilton said that he was born in 1757, but evidence leads to him being born in 1755. He was educated at a young age by his mother and a presbyterian clergyman. Employed at age 12, he was a clerk at a general store, and was found to do very well in his job, just as …show more content…

His hard work paid off, and he qualified as New York’s first artillery officer in 1776. On March 14, 1776, he was commissioned captain of the Provincial company of New York Artillery. Nathanael Greene, one of the people that Hamilton worked with, noticed Hamilton’s skill and intelligence, and is possibly the one who introduced him to George Washington. General George Washington liked what he saw in Alexander, and make him his aide-de-camp in Morristown, New Jersey on March 1, 1777. On the same day, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, a part that could have hardly been achieved by an artillery commander, at the young age of 21. Hamilton became the first Secretary of Treasury in September of 1789, but resigned in 1795, because he decided that he could not live off of a salary of $3,500 dollars, and went off to practice law. While he was there, he was a lawyer that handled mainly cases relating to money and commerce, and had a salary of $12,000. Hamilton knew that he could do this job, and didn’t have to go back to college, because he had already once been in law as a