Alexander Hamilton Essay

Did you know that the only non-presidents on US paper currency are Benjamin Franklin and Alexander Hamilton? However, Alexander Hamilton has more to do with American political history than you may realize. He changed the way the American government works and how it continues to work to this day. Hamilton lived an influential life, he had a rough childhood but was able to overcome it and rise to great things. Alexander Hamilton is an important historical figure.

Alexander Hamilton had a difficult childhood. He was born on the island of Nevis, British West Indies around January 11, 1755 or 1757 (Biography.com 1). His mother was Rachel Fawcett Lavien, and his father was James Hamilton, although his mother lived with James when Alexander was born,

It was at this time that Hamilton wrote an essay publicly defending the Boston Tea Party, and left Kings College to join in the protest against British taxes. When the Revolutionary War began, in 1775, Hamilton joined the New York Provincial Artillery Company and fought for America’s freedom, the next year with help from friends in the New York legislature, he was appointed a captain and at the Battle of Trenton, he organized his own company who kept the British from crossing the Raritan River and attacking George Washington’s main army (Biography.com 8). Washington believed that this showed a great amount of bravery from Hamilton and invited him to be his assistant, and trusted adviser a few years later, with the new rank of lieutenant colonel. Wanting to get away from his desk job Hamilton left Washington’s staff, and was married, but was later given command of a battalion with which he led into the Battle of Yorktown in 1781(DeConde 5). The American success at Battle of Yorktown lead to the signing of many treaties and agreements of peace that officially marked the end of the Revolutionary

This led to many different conflicts especially during his political career. He had many disagreements with other politicians when they thought differently than himself, including Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Aaron Burr, but one conflict that he had that did not include politics was his affair with Maria Reynolds. This affair was thought to be one of the first major scandals in the country’s history (Biography.com 30). As for the political conflicts, they mostly consisted of letters being published about the other person to humiliate them or to cause them to lose their political influence, but some ended with a duel. In the case of Thomas Jefferson, he and Hamilton had opposing views and both spent a lot of time trying to discredit the other, in the case of John Adams, Hamilton was afraid that he did not share his political views and did not want someone like that as president so he tried to sway the voting so that Adams would be vice president instead (Britannica 15). As previously stated, some conflicts would lead to a duel which is exactly what happened with Hamilton and Aaron