Alexander Hamilton Research Paper

According to historians, Alexander Hamilton was born on January 11, 1757. There are still doubts about how accurate this date is. Hamilton was born in St. Kitts to Rachel Fawcett and James Hamilton. He spent most of his youth on the island of St. Croix. His youth education was close to very little. When Hamilton’s mother died in 1768, he took up his first job as a clerk for a merchant named Nicholas Cruger. It was his job to keeps Cruger's business records, organize business deals between the merchant ship captains, government officials, and planters. Cruger and Reverend Hugh Knox persuaded Hamilton to leave St. Croix for New York City.

Alexander left the island in 1772 and never returned. In New York, Hamilton attended several schools in

Hamilton spent four years by Washington's side and fought in the Battle of Yorktown and the Battle of Monmouth. He married Elizabeth “Betsey” Schuyler December 14, 1780 and he left the military shortly their marriage. Eventually, Hamilton became one of New York's most prominent lawyers. In the early 1780’s, Hamilton became a New York representative for the national Congress in Philadelphia. George Washington became the first President of the United States in 1790 and he picked Alexander Hamilton to be his first Secretary of the Treasury. Hamilton served in Washington's cabinet for five years but many historians regard him as the most influential Secretary of the Treasury in U.S. history. Hamilton wrote the five key reports that established the American economic

In his book, Chernow provides the reader with information about Hamilton’s childhood, marriage, and political career. Chernow wrote that Hamilton grew up in a society where slavery was accepted and people had very poor morals. For example, Rachel Faucette, Hamilton’s mother, died two years after his father abandoned his family. Shortly after his mother’s death, Hamilton’s cousin, who was also his guardian, committed suicide. In the same year, his aunt, uncle, and grandmother past away. Hamilton had a very rough youth because he suffered many losses as a young person but no matter what he went through, he rose above it all. A successful merchant took him in and eventually Hamilton became a clerk for a New York mercantile firm. Chernow does a very good job of bringing the story of Alexander Hamilton to life. It is not difficult to picture American times during the American Revolution. Chernow makes it seem as if it was not for the accomplishments of Hamilton, America might not have been half the country it is today. Our political and economic standing might not have been as stable. Ron Chernow also shows the reader that Hamilton had an advantage: military experience. Hamilton’s experience in the military gave him a different way of viewing all things political and philosophical. Founding fathers John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison never served in combat in the