Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first U.S. secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795 during the

presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified b ...

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

, the first

president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

. Born out of wedlock in Charlestown, Nevis, Hamilton was orphaned as a child and taken in by a prosperous merchant. He was given a scholarship and pursued his education at King's College (now

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

) in New York City where, despite his young age, he was an anonymous but prolific and widely read

pamphleteer A pamphleteer is a historical term used to describe someone who creates or distributes pamphlets, unbound (therefore inexpensive) booklets intended for wide circulation. Context Pamphlets were used to broadcast the writer's opinions: to articu ...

and advocate for the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

. He then served as an

artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...

officer in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, where he saw military action against the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

in the

New York and New Jersey campaign The New York and New Jersey campaign in 1776 and the winter months of 1777 was a series of American Revolutionary War battles for control of the Port of New York and New Jersey, Port of New York and the state of New Jersey, fought between Kingdom ...

, served for four years as aide-de-camp to

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...

commander in chief

, and fought under Washington's command in the war's climactic battle, the Siege of Yorktown, which secured American victory in the war and with it the independence of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. After the Revolutionary War, Hamilton served as a delegate from New York to the

Congress of the Confederation The Congress of the Confederation, or the Confederation Congress, formally referred to as the United States in Congress Assembled, was the governing body of the United States from March 1, 1781, until March 3, 1789, during the Confederation ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. He resigned to practice law and founded the Bank of New York. In 1786, Hamilton led the Annapolis Convention, which sought to strengthen the power of the loose

confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

of independent states under the limited authorities granted it by the

Articles of Confederation The Articles of Confederation, officially the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, was an agreement and early body of law in the Thirteen Colonies, which served as the nation's first Constitution, frame of government during the Ameri ...

. The following year he was a delegate to the

Philadelphia Convention The Constitutional Convention took place in Philadelphia from May 25 to September 17, 1787. While the convention was initially intended to revise the league of states and devise the first system of federal government under the Articles of Conf ...

, which drafted the U.S. Constitution creating a more centralized federal national government. He then authored 51 of the 85 installments of ''

The Federalist Papers ''The Federalist Papers'' is a collection of 85 articles and essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay under the collective pseudonym "Publius" to promote the ratification of the Constitution of the United States. The ...

'', which proved persuasive in securing its ratification by the states. As a trusted member of President Washington's first cabinet, Hamilton served as the first U.S. secretary of the treasury. He envisioned a central government led by an energetic executive, a strong national defense, and a more diversified economy with significantly expanded industry. He successfully argued that the implied powers of the U.S. Constitution provided the legal basis to create the

First Bank of the United States The President, Directors and Company of the Bank of the United States, commonly known as the First Bank of the United States, was a National bank (United States), national bank, chartered for a term of twenty years, by the United States Congress ...

, and assume the states' war debts, which was funded by a tariff on imports and a whiskey tax. Hamilton opposed American entanglement with the succession of unstable French Revolutionary governments. In 1790, he persuaded the U.S. Congress to establish the U.S. Revenue Cutter service to protect American shipping. In 1793, he advocated in support of the

Jay Treaty The Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and Navigation, Between His Britannic Majesty and the United States of America, commonly known as the Jay Treaty, and also as Jay's Treaty, was a 1794 treaty between the United States and Great Britain that averted ...

under which the U.S. resumed friendly trade relations with the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

. Hamilton's views became the basis for the

Federalist Party The Federalist Party was a conservativeMultiple sources: * * * * * * * * and nationalist American political party and the first political party in the United States. It dominated the national government under Alexander Hamilton from 17 ...

, which was opposed by the

Democratic-Republican Party The Democratic-Republican Party (also referred to by historians as the Republican Party or the Jeffersonian Republican Party), was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early 1790s. It championed li ...

, led by

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

. Hamilton and other Federalists supported the

Haitian Revolution The Haitian Revolution ( or ; ) was a successful insurrection by slave revolt, self-liberated slaves against French colonial rule in Saint-Domingue, now the sovereign state of Haiti. The revolution was the only known Slave rebellion, slave up ...

, and Hamilton helped draft

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

's constitution in 1801. After resigning as the nation's Secretary of the Treasury in 1795, Hamilton resumed his legal and business activities and helped lead the abolition of the

Atlantic slave trade The Atlantic slave trade or transatlantic slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of Slavery in Africa, enslaved African people to the Americas. European slave ships regularly used the triangular trade route and its Middle Pass ...

. In the

Quasi-War The Quasi-War was an undeclared war from 1798 to 1800 between the United States and the French First Republic. It was fought almost entirely at sea, primarily in the Caribbean and off the East Coast of the United States, with minor actions in ...

, fought at sea between 1798 and 1800, Hamilton called for mobilization against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, and President

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before Presidency of John Adams, his presidency, he was a leader of ...

appointed him major general. The U.S. Army, however, did not see combat in the conflict. Outraged by Adams' response to the crisis, Hamilton opposed his 1800 presidential re-election. Jefferson and

Aaron Burr Aaron Burr Jr. (February 6, 1756 – September 14, 1836) was an American politician, businessman, lawyer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third vice president of the United States from 1801 to 1805 d ...

tied for the presidency in the

electoral college An electoral college is a body whose task is to elect a candidate to a particular office. It is mostly used in the political context for a constitutional body that appoints the head of state or government, and sometimes the upper parliament ...

and, despite philosophical differences, Hamilton endorsed Jefferson over Burr, whom he found unprincipled. When Burr ran for Governor of New York in 1804, Hamilton again opposed his candidacy, arguing that he was unfit for the office. Taking offense, Burr challenged Hamilton to a pistol duel, which took place in

Weehawken, New Jersey Weehawken is a township in the northern part of Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located on the Hudson Waterfront and Hudson Palisades overlooking the Hudson River. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's po ...

, on July 11, 1804. Hamilton was mortally wounded and immediately transported back across the

Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...

in a delirious state to the home of William Bayard Jr. in

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...

, New York, for medical attention. The following day, on July 12, 1804, Hamilton succumbed to his wounds. Scholars generally regard Hamilton as an astute and intellectually brilliant administrator, politician, and financier who was sometimes impetuous. His ideas are credited with influencing the founding principles of American finance and

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

. In 1997, historian Paul Johnson wrote that Hamilton was a "genius—the only one of the Founding Fathers fully entitled to that accolade—and he had the elusive, indefinable characteristics of genius."

Early life and education

Hamilton was born on January 11, 1755, or 1757, in Charlestown, the capital of

Nevis Nevis ( ) is an island in the Caribbean Sea that forms part of the inner arc of the Leeward Islands chain of the West Indies. Nevis and the neighbouring island of Saint Kitts constitute the Saint Kitts and Nevis, Federation of Saint Kitts ...

in the

British Leeward Islands The British Leeward Islands was a British colony from 1671 to 1958, consisting of the English overseas possessions, English (later British) overseas possessions in the Leeward Islands. It ceased to exist from 1816 to 1833, during which time it ...

, where he spent his childhood. Hamilton and his older brother, James Jr., were born out of wedlock to Rachel Lavien (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Faucette), a married woman of half-British and half-

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

descent, and James A. Hamilton, a Scotsman and the fourth son of Alexander Hamilton, the

laird Laird () is a Scottish word for minor lord (or landlord) and is a designation that applies to an owner of a large, long-established Scotland, Scottish estate. In the traditional Scottish order of precedence, a laird ranked below a Baronage of ...

of Grange, Ayrshire. Prior to Alexander's birth, in 1745, Rachel Lavien married Johann Lavien in Saint Croix.Chernow
pp. 10–12
Together, they had one son, Peter. However, Rachel Lavien left her husband and first son in 1750, traveling to

Saint Kitts Saint Kitts, officially Saint Christopher, is an island in the West Indies. The west side of the island borders the Caribbean Sea, and the eastern coast faces the Atlantic Ocean. Saint Kitts and the neighbouring island of Nevis constitute one ...

, where she met James Hamilton. Hamilton and Lavien moved together to Nevis, her birthplace, where she had inherited a seaside lot in town from her father. While their mother was living, Alexander and James Jr. received individual tutoring and classes in a private school led by a Jewish headmistress. Alexander supplemented his education with a family library of 34 books.Chernow
p. 24
James Hamilton later abandoned Rachel Lavien and their two sons, ostensibly to "spar era charge of

bigamy In a culture where only monogamous relationships are legally recognized, bigamy is the act of entering into a marriage with one person while still legally married to another. A legal or de facto separation of the couple does not alter their mar ...

...after finding out that her first husband intend dto divorce her under Danish law on grounds of adultery and desertion." Lavien then moved with their two children back to Saint Croix, where she supported them by managing a small store in Christiansted. Both his mother and Hamilton contracted yellow fever. On February 19, 1768, Hamilton's mother died from the disease, leaving him orphaned. His mother's death may have had a severe emotional impact on Hamilton. In

probate court A probate court (sometimes called a surrogate court) is a court that has competence in a jurisdiction to deal with matters of probate and the administration of estates. In some jurisdictions, such courts may be referred to as orphans' courts o ...

, Lavien's "first husband seized her estate" and obtained the few valuables that she had owned, including some household silver. Many items were auctioned off, and a friend purchased the family's books, returning them to Hamilton.Chernow
pp. 25–30
The brothers were briefly taken in by their cousin Peter Lytton. However, Lytton took his own life in July 1769, leaving his property to his mistress and their son, and the propertyless Hamilton brothers were subsequently separated. James Jr. apprenticed with a local carpenter, while Alexander was given a home by Thomas Stevens, a merchant from Nevis. Hamilton became a clerk at Beekman and Cruger, a local import-export firm that traded with the

Province of New York The Province of New York was a British proprietary colony and later a royal colony on the northeast coast of North America from 1664 to 1783. It extended from Long Island on the Atlantic, up the Hudson River and Mohawk River valleys to ...

and

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

. Though still a teenager, Hamilton proved capable enough as a trader to be left in charge of the firm for five months in 1771 while the owner was at sea. Archived from He remained an avid reader, and later developed an interest in writing and a life outside Saint Croix. He wrote a detailed letter to his father regarding a hurricane that devastated Christiansted on August 30, 1772. The

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

Reverend Hugh Knox, a tutor and mentor to Hamilton, submitted the letter for publication in the ''Royal Danish-American Gazette.'' Biographer

Ron Chernow Ronald Chernow (; born March 3, 1949) is an American writer, journalist, and biographer. He has written bestselling historical non-fiction biographies. Chernow won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize, 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Biography and the 2011 American ...

found the letter astounding because "for all its bombastic excesses, it does seem wondrous hat aself-educated clerk could write with such verve and gusto" and that a teenage boy produced an apocalyptic "fire-and-brimstone sermon" viewing the hurricane as a "divine rebuke to human vanity and pomposity."Chernow
p. 37
The essay impressed community leaders, who collected a fund to send Hamilton to the North American colonies for his education. In October 1772, Hamilton arrived by ship in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

and then proceeded to New York City, where he boarded with Hercules Mulligan, the Irish-born brother of a trader known to Hamilton's benefactors. Mulligan assisted Hamilton in selling the cargo that Hamilton was to use to pay for his education and support.Newton (2015)
p. 64
Hamilton sought to fill gaps in his education in preparation for college, and later that year began to attend Elizabethtown Academy, a preparatory school run by Francis Barber in

Elizabeth, New Jersey Elizabeth is a City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Union County, New Jersey, Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.William Livingston, a local leading intellectual and

revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates for, a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective to describe something producing a major and sudden impact on society. Definition The term—bot ...

who influenced him, and he boarded with the Livingstons while studying.Newton (2019), pp. 227–228 "Thus, when Alexander Hamilton arrived in Elizabethtown in October 1772 and moved in with the Livingstons, they lived in this house rented from Jacob De Hart." In fall 1773, Hamilton returned to New York and entered Mulligan's alma mater, King's College (now

). Hamilton began as a private student and boarded again with Mulligan until he matriculated into the college the following year, in May 1774.Newton (2015)
p. 69
His college roommate and lifelong friend Robert Troup spoke glowingly of Hamilton's clarity in concisely explaining Patriot case against the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

during the

in what was Hamilton's first public appearance, on July 6, 1774. As King's College students, Hamilton, Troup, and four other undergraduates formed an unnamed literary society that is regarded as a precursor to what is now the Philolexian Society.Chernow
p. 53
Later in 1774,

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

clergyman

Samuel Seabury Samuel Seabury (November 30, 1729February 25, 1796) was the first American Episcopal bishop, the second Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, and the first Bishop of Connecticut. He was a leading Loyalis ...

in New York published a series of pamphlets promoting the Loyalist cause, seeking to provoke fear in the

Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies were the British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America which broke away from the British Crown in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), and joined to form the United States of America. The Thirteen C ...

, which he hoped would discourage them from uniting against the British. Hamilton countered anonymously with his first published political writings, '' A Full Vindication of the Measures of Congress'' and '' The Farmer Refuted.'' He published two additional pieces attacking the Quebec Act, and may have also authored the 15 anonymous installments of "The Monitor" for Holt's '' New York Journal''.Newton (2015), pp
116117
573. Hamilton supported the revolutionary cause before the war began, but he disapproved of mob violence against the Loyalists. On May 10, 1775, he was credited with saving King College president Myles Cooper, a Loyalist, from an angry mob by speaking to the crowd long enough to allow Cooper to escape. Hamilton was forced to discontinue his studies before graduating when the college closed its doors during the British occupation of New York City and his subsequent military service.Robert Troup "Memoir of General Hamilton", March 22, 1810

Revolutionary War (1775–1782)

Early military career

In 1775, following the outbreak of the Revolutionary War with the

Battles of Lexington and Concord The Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775 were the first major military actions of the American Revolutionary War between the Kingdom of Great Britain and Patriot (American Revolution), Patriot militias from America's Thirteen Co ...

, Hamilton and other King's College students joined a New York volunteer

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

company, the Corsicans, whose name reflected the

Corsican Republic The Corsican Republic () was a short-lived state on the island of Corsica in the Mediterranean Sea. It was proclaimed in July 1755 by Pasquale Paoli, who was seeking independence from the Republic of Genoa. Paoli created the Corsican Constitutio ...

that was suppressed six years earlier and which young American patriots regarded as a political model to be emulated. Hamilton drilled with the company before classes in the graveyard of nearby St. Paul's Chapel, studied military history and tactics on his own, and was soon elected an officer.Newton (2015), pp
127–128
Under fire from HMS ''Asia'', and coordinating with Hercules Mulligan and the Sons of Liberty, he led his newly renamed unit the "Hearts of Oak" on a successful raid for British cannons in the Battery. The seizure of the cannons resulted in the unit being re-designated an artillery company. Through his connections with influential New York patriots, including Alexander McDougall and

John Jay John Jay (, 1745 – May 17, 1829) was an American statesman, diplomat, signatory of the Treaty of Paris (1783), Treaty of Paris, and a Founding Father of the United States. He served from 1789 to 1795 as the first chief justice of the United ...

, Hamilton was commissioned by the revolutionary government to raise the New York Provincial Company of Artillery of 60 men in 1776, and was then appointed

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

.Chernow
p. 72
The company took part in the campaign of 1776 in and around New York City; as rearguard of the Continental Army's retreat up Manhattan, serving at the Battle of Harlem Heights shortly after, and at the Battle of White Plains a month later. At the Battle of Trenton, the company was stationed at the high point of Trenton at the intersection of present-day Warren and Broad streets to keep the Hessians pinned in their Trenton barracks. Hamilton participated in the Battle of Princeton on January 3, 1777. After an initial setback, Washington rallied the Continental Army troops and led them in a successful charge against the British forces. After making a brief stand, the British fell back, some leaving Princeton, and others taking up refuge in

Nassau Hall Nassau Hall, colloquially known as Old Nassau, is the oldest building at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton, Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. In 1783 it served as the United States Capitol building for four months. ...

. Hamilton transported three cannons to the hall, and had them fire upon the building as others rushed the front door and broke it down. The British subsequently put a white flag outside one of the windows; 194 British soldiers walked out of the building and laid down their arms, ending the battle in an American victory.

George Washington's staff

Hamilton was invited to become an aide to

general William Alexander, Lord Stirling, and another general, perhaps

Nathanael Greene Major general (United States), Major General Nathanael Greene (August 7, 1742 – June 19, 1786) was an American military officer and planter who served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War. He emerge ...

or Alexander McDougall.Newton (2015)
pp. 189–190
He declined these invitations, believing his best chance for improving his station in life was glory on the Revolutionary War's battlefields. Hamilton eventually received an invitation he felt he could not refuse: to serve as

's aide with the rank of lieutenant colonel. Washington believed that "Aides de camp are persons in whom entire confidence must be placed and it requires men of abilities to execute the duties with propriety and dispatch." Hamilton served four years as Washington's chief staff aide. He handled letters to the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislature, legislative bodies, with some executive function, for the Thirteen Colonies of British America, Great Britain in North America, and the newly declared United States before, during, and after ...

, state governors, and the most powerful generals of the

. He drafted many of Washington's orders and letters under Washington's direction, and he eventually issued orders on Washington's behalf over his own signature.Chernow
p. 90
Hamilton was involved in a wide variety of high-level duties, including

intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. It can be described as t ...

, diplomacy, and negotiation with senior army officers as Washington's emissary. While stationed at the army's winter headquarters in

Morristown, New Jersey Morristown () is a Town (New Jersey), town in and the county seat of Morris County, New Jersey, Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.

from December 1779 to March 1780, Hamilton met Elizabeth Schuyler, a daughter of General

Philip Schuyler Philip John Schuyler (; November 20, 1733 - November 18, 1804) was an American general in the American Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War and a United States Senate, United States Senator from New York (state), New York. He is usually known as ...

and Catherine Van Rensselaer. They married on December 14, 1780, at the Schuyler Mansion in

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...

.Chernow
pp. 128–129
They had eight children,

Philip Philip, also Phillip, is a male name derived from the Macedonian Old Koine language, Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominen ...

,Chernow
pp. 654–655

Angelica ''Angelica'' is a genus of about 90 species of tall Biennial plant, biennial and Perennial plant, perennial herbaceous, herbs in the family Apiaceae, native to temperate and subarctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere, reaching as far north as ...

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

, James, John,

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

, Eliza, and another Philip. During the Revolutionary War, Hamilton became the close friend of several fellow officers. His letters to the Marquis de Lafayette and to John Laurens, employing the sentimental literary conventions of the late 18th century and alluding to Greek history and mythology, have been read by Jonathan Ned Katz as revelatory of a homosocial or even homosexual relationship. Biographer Gregory D. Massey amongst others, by contrast, dismisses all such speculation as unsubstantiated, describing their friendship as purely platonic camaraderie instead and placing their correspondence in the context of the flowery diction of the time.

Field command

While on Washington's staff, Hamilton long sought command and a return to active combat. As the war drew nearer to an end, he knew that opportunities for military glory were diminishing. On February 15, 1781, Hamilton was reprimanded by Washington after a minor misunderstanding. Although Washington quickly tried to mend their relationship, Hamilton insisted on leaving his staff. He officially left in March, and settled with his new wife Elizabeth Schuyler close to Washington's headquarters. He continued to repeatedly ask Washington and others for a field command. Washington continued to demur, citing the need to appoint men of higher rank. This continued until early July 1781, when Hamilton submitted a letter to Washington with his

commission In-Commission or commissioning may refer to: Business and contracting * Commission (remuneration), a form of payment to an agent for services rendered ** Commission (art), the purchase or the creation of a piece of art most often on behalf of anot ...

enclosed, "thus tacitly threatening to resign if he didn't get his desired command." On July 31, Washington relented and assigned Hamilton as commander of a battalion of light infantry companies of the 1st and 2nd New York Regiments and two provisional companies from Connecticut. In the planning for the assault on Yorktown, Hamilton was given command of three

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

s, which were to fight in conjunction with the allied French troops in taking

Redoubt A redoubt (historically redout) is a Fortification, fort or fort system usually consisting of an enclosed defensive emplacement outside a larger fort, usually relying on Earthworks (engineering), earthworks, although some are constructed of ston ...

s No. 9 and No. 10 of the British fortifications at Yorktown. Hamilton and his battalions took Redoubt No. 10 with

bayonets A bayonet (from Old French , now spelt ) is a knife, dagger, sword, or Spike bayonet, spike-shaped melee weapon designed to be mounted on the end of the gun barrel, barrel of a rifle, carbine, musket or similar long gun, long firearm, allowing t ...

alone so as not to risk accidental gunfire and discovery in a nighttime action, as planned. The French also suffered heavy casualties and took Redoubt No. 9. These actions forced the British surrender of an entire army at Yorktown, marking the ''de facto'' end of the war, although small battles continued for two more years until the signing of the Treaty of Paris and the departure of the last British troops.

Return to civilian life (1782–1789)

Congress of the Confederation

After Yorktown, Hamilton returned to New York City and resigned his commission in March 1782. He passed the bar in July after six months of self-directed education and, in October, was licensed to argue cases before the Supreme Court of New York. He also accepted an offer from Robert Morris to become receiver of continental taxes for the

New York state New York, also called New York State, is a state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and ...

. Hamilton was appointed in July 1782 to the

as a New York representative for the term beginning in November 1782. Before his appointment to Congress in 1782, Hamilton was already sharing his criticisms of Congress. He expressed these criticisms in his letter to James Duane dated September 3, 1780: "The fundamental defect is a want of power in Congress ... the confederation itself is defective and requires to be altered; it is neither fit for war, nor peace." While on Washington's staff, Hamilton had become frustrated with the decentralized nature of the wartime Continental Congress, particularly its dependence upon the states for voluntary financial support that was not often forthcoming. Under the

, Congress had no power to collect taxes or to demand money from the states. This lack of a stable source of funding had made it difficult for the

both to obtain its necessary provisions and to pay its soldiers. During the war, and for some time after, Congress obtained what funds it could from subsidies from the King of France, European loans, and aid requested from the several states, which were often unable or unwilling to contribute. An amendment to the Articles had been proposed by Thomas Burke, in February 1781, to give Congress the power to collect a five percent impost, or duty on all imports, but this required ratification by all states; securing its passage as law proved impossible after it was rejected by Rhode Island in November 1782.

James Madison James Madison (June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison was popularly acclaimed as the ...

joined Hamilton in influencing Congress to send a delegation to persuade Rhode Island to change its mind. Their report recommending the delegation argued the national government needed not just some level of financial autonomy, but also the ability to make laws that superseded those of the individual states. Hamilton transmitted a letter arguing that Congress already had the power to tax, since it had the power to fix the sums due from the several states; but Virginia's rescission of its own ratification of this amendment ended the Rhode Island negotiations.Chernow
p. 176

Congress and the army

While Hamilton was in Congress, discontented soldiers began to pose a danger to the young United States. Most of the army was then posted at

Newburgh, New York Newburgh is a City (New York), city in Orange County, New York, United States. With a population of 28,856 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is a principal city of the Kiryas Joel–Poughkeepsie–Newburgh metropolitan area. ...

. Those in the army were funding much of their own supplies, and they had not been paid in eight months. Furthermore, after Valley Forge, the Continental officers had been promised in May 1778 a pension of half their pay when they were discharged. By the early 1780s, due to the structure of the government under the Articles of Confederation, it had no power to tax to either raise revenue or pay its soldiers.Tucker, p. 470. In 1782, after several months without pay, a group of officers organized to send a delegation to lobby Congress, led by Captain Alexander McDougall. The officers had three demands: the army's pay, their own pensions, and commutation of those pensions into a lump-sum payment if Congress were unable to afford the half-salary pensions for life. Congress rejected the proposal. Several congressmen, including Hamilton, Robert Morris, and Gouverneur Morris, attempted to use the so-called

Newburgh Conspiracy The Newburgh Conspiracy was a failed apparent threat by leaders of the Continental Army in March 1783, at the end of the American Revolutionary War. The Army's commander, George Washington, successfully calmed the soldiers and helped secure back ...

as leverage to secure support from the states and in Congress for funding of the national government. They encouraged MacDougall to continue his aggressive approach, implying unknown consequences if their demands were not met, and defeated proposals designed to end the crisis without establishing general taxation: that the states assume the debt to the army, or that an impost be established dedicated to the sole purpose of paying that debt.Kohn; Ellis 2004, pp. 141–144. Hamilton suggested using the Army's claims to prevail upon the states for the proposed national funding system. The Morrises and Hamilton contacted General

Henry Knox Henry Knox (July 25, 1750 – October 25, 1806) was an American military officer, politician, bookseller, and a Founding Father of the United States. Knox, born in Boston, became a senior general of the Continental Army during the Revolutionar ...

to suggest he and the officers defy civil authority, at least by not disbanding if the army were not satisfied. Hamilton wrote Washington to suggest that Hamilton covertly "take direction" of the officers' efforts to secure redress, to secure continental funding but keep the army within the limits of moderation.Chernow
pp. 177–180
Washington wrote Hamilton back, declining to introduce the army. After the crisis had ended, Washington warned of the dangers of using the army as leverage to gain support for the national funding plan. On March 15, Washington defused the Newburgh situation by addressing the officers personally. Congress ordered the Army officially disbanded in April 1783. In the same month, Congress passed a new measure for a 25-year impost—which Hamilton voted against—that again required the consent of all the states; it also approved a commutation of the officers' pensions to five years of full pay. Rhode Island again opposed these provisions, and Hamilton's robust assertions of national prerogatives in his previous letter were widely held to be excessive. In June 1783, a different group of disgruntled soldiers from

Lancaster, Pennsylvania Lancaster ( ) is a city in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 58,039 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, eighth-most populous ci ...

, sent Congress a petition demanding their back pay. When they began to march toward Philadelphia, Congress charged Hamilton and two others with intercepting the mob. Hamilton requested militia from Pennsylvania's Supreme Executive Council, but was turned down. Hamilton instructed Assistant Secretary of War William Jackson to intercept the men. Jackson was unsuccessful. The mob arrived in Philadelphia, and the soldiers proceeded to harangue Congress for their pay. Hamilton argued that Congress ought to adjourn to

Princeton, New Jersey The Municipality of Princeton is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton, New Jersey, Borough of Princeton and Pri ...

. Congress agreed, and relocated there.Chernow
pp. 182–183
Frustrated with the weakness of the national government, Hamilton while in Princeton, drafted a call to revise the Articles of Confederation. This resolution contained many features of the future Constitution of the United States, including a strong federal government with the ability to collect taxes and raise an army. It also included the

separation of powers The separation of powers principle functionally differentiates several types of state (polity), state power (usually Legislature#Legislation, law-making, adjudication, and Executive (government)#Function, execution) and requires these operat ...

into the

legislative A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers ...

, executive, and

judicial The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

branches.

Return to New York

Hamilton resigned from Congress in 1783. When the British left New York in 1783, he practiced there in partnership with Richard Harison. He specialized in defending Tories and British subjects, as in '' Rutgers v. Waddington'', in which he defeated a claim for damages done to a brewery by the Englishmen who held it during the military occupation of New York. He pleaded for the mayor's court to interpret state law consistent with the 1783 Treaty of Paris, which had ended the Revolutionary War.Chernow
pp. 197–199
In 1784, Hamilton founded the Bank of New York. Long dissatisfied with the Articles of Confederation as too weak to be effective, Hamilton played a major leadership role at the 1786 Annapolis Convention. He drafted its resolution for a constitutional convention, and in doing so brought one step closer to reality his longtime desire to have a more effectual, more financially self-sufficient federal government. As a member of the legislature of New York, Hamilton argued forcefully and at length in favor of a bill to recognize the sovereignty of the State of Vermont, against numerous objections to its constitutionality and policy. Consideration of the bill was deferred to a later date. From 1787 to 1789, Hamilton exchanged letters with Nathaniel Chipman, a lawyer representing Vermont. After the Constitution of the United States went into effect, Hamilton said, "One of the first subjects of deliberation with the new Congress will be the independence of Kentucky, for which the southern states will be anxious. The northern will be glad to send a counterpoise in Vermont." Vermont was admitted to the Union in 1791. In 1788, he was awarded a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

degree from his alma mater, the former King's College, now reconstituted as Columbia College. It was during this post-war period that Hamilton served on the college's

board of trustees A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

, playing a part in the reopening of the college and placing it on firm financial footing.

Constitution and ''The Federalist Papers''

In 1787, Hamilton served as assemblyman from New York County in the

New York State Legislature The New York State Legislature consists of the Bicameralism, two houses that act as the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York: the New York State Senate and the New York State Assem ...

and was chosen as a delegate at the Constitutional Convention in

by his father-in-law

. Even though Hamilton had been a leader in calling for a new Constitutional Convention, his direct influence at the Convention itself was quite limited. Governor George Clinton's faction in the New York legislature had chosen New York's other two delegates, John Lansing Jr. and Robert Yates, and both of them opposed Hamilton's goal of a strong national government.Chernow
pp. 227–228
Morton, p. 131. Thus, whenever the other two members of the New York delegation were present, they decided New York's vote, to ensure that there were no major alterations to the Articles of Confederation. Early in the convention, Hamilton made a speech proposing a president-for-life; it had no effect upon the deliberations of the convention. He proposed to have an elected president and elected senators who would serve for life, contingent upon "good behavior" and subject to removal for corruption or abuse; this idea contributed later to the hostile view of Hamilton as a monarchist sympathizer, held by James Madison.Chernow
p. 232
According to Madison's notes, Hamilton said in regards to the executive, "The English model was the only good one on this subject. The hereditary interest of the king was so interwoven with that of the nation, and his personal emoluments so great, that he was placed above the danger of being corrupted from abroad... Let one executive be appointed for life who dares execute his powers." Hamilton argued, "And let me observe that an executive is less dangerous to the liberties of the people when in office during life than for seven years. It may be said this constitutes as an elective monarchy ... But by making the executive subject to

impeachment Impeachment is a process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In Eur ...

, the term 'monarchy' cannot apply ..." In his notes of the convention, Madison interpreted Hamilton's proposal as claiming power for the "rich and well born". Madison's perspective all but isolated Hamilton from his fellow delegates and others who felt they did not reflect the ideas of revolution and liberty. During the convention, Hamilton constructed a draft for the Constitution based on the convention debates, but he never presented it. This draft had most of the features of the actual Constitution. In this draft, the Senate was to be elected in proportion to the population, being two-fifths the size of the House, and the president and senators were to be elected through complex multistage elections, in which chosen electors would elect smaller bodies of electors; they would hold office for life, but were removable for misconduct. The president would have an absolute veto. The

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

was to have immediate jurisdiction over all lawsuits involving the United States, and state governors were to be appointed by the federal government. At the end of the convention, Hamilton was still not content with the final Constitution, but signed it anyway as a vast improvement over the Articles of Confederation, and urged his fellow delegates to do so also. Since the other two members of the New York delegation, Lansing and Yates, had already withdrawn, Hamilton was the only New York signer to the United States Constitution. He then took a highly active part in the successful campaign for the document's ratification in New York in 1788, which was a crucial step in its national ratification. He first used the popularity of the Constitution by the masses to compel George Clinton to sign, but was unsuccessful. The state convention in Poughkeepsie in June 1788 pitted Hamilton, Jay, James Duane, Robert Livingston, and Richard Morris against the Clintonian faction led by Melancton Smith, Lansing, Yates, and Gilbert Livingston.Denboer, p. 196. Clinton's faction wanted to amend the Constitution, while maintaining the state's right to secede if their attempts failed, and members of Hamilton's faction were against any conditional ratification, under the impression that New York would not be accepted into the Union. During the state convention, New Hampshire and Virginia becoming the ninth and tenth states to ratify the Constitution, respectively, had ensured any adjournment would not happen and a compromise would have to be reached.Kaplan, p. 75. Hamilton's arguments used for the ratifications were largely iterations of work from ''The Federalist Papers'', and Smith eventually went for ratification, though it was more out of necessity than Hamilton's rhetoric. The vote in the state convention was ratified 30 to 27, on July 26, 1788.

''The Federalist Papers''

Hamilton recruited John Jay and James Madison to write ''The Federalist Papers'', a series of essays, to defend the proposed Constitution. He made the largest contribution to that effort, writing 51 of the 85 essays published. Hamilton supervised the entire project, enlisted the participants, wrote the majority of the essays, and oversaw the publication. During the project, each person was responsible for their areas of expertise. Jay covered foreign relations. Madison covered the history of republics and confederacies, along with the anatomy of the new government. Hamilton covered the branches of government most pertinent to him: the executive and judicial branches, with some aspects of the Senate, as well as covering military matters and taxation.Chernow
pp. 247–248
The papers first appeared in '' The Independent Journal'' on October 27, 1787. Hamilton wrote the first paper signed as Publius, and all of the subsequent papers were signed under the name. Jay wrote the next four papers to elaborate on the confederation's weakness and the need for unity against foreign aggression and against splitting into rival confederacies, and, except for No. 64, was not further involved.Chernow
pp. 252–257
Hamilton's highlights included discussion that although republics have been culpable for disorders in the past, advances in the "science of politics" had fostered principles that ensured that those abuses could be prevented, such as the division of powers, legislative checks and balances, an independent judiciary, and legislators that were represented by electors (No. 7–9). Hamilton also wrote an extensive defense of the constitution (No. 23–36), and discussed the Senate and executive and judicial branches (No. 65–85). Hamilton and Madison worked to describe the anarchic state of the confederation (No. 15–22), and the two have been described as not being significantly different in thought during this time period—in contrast to their stark opposition later in life. Subtle differences appeared with the two when discussing the necessity of standing armies.

First U.S. secretary of the treasury (1789–1795)

In 1789, Washington—who had become the first president of the United States—appointed Hamilton to be his cabinet's Secretary of the Treasury on the advice of Robert Morris, Washington's initial pick. On September 11, 1789, Hamilton was nominated and confirmed in the Senate and sworn in the same day as the first

United States secretary of the treasury The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...

Report on Public Credit

Before the adjournment of the House in September 1789, they requested Hamilton to make a report on suggestions to improve the public credit by January 1790.Murray, p. 121. Hamilton had written to Morris as early as 1781, that fixing the public credit will win their objective of independence. The sources that Hamilton used ranged from Frenchmen such as Jacques Necker and

Montesquieu Charles Louis de Secondat, baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (18 January 168910 February 1755), generally referred to as simply Montesquieu, was a French judge, man of letters, historian, and political philosopher. He is the principal so ...

to British writers such as Hume,

Hobbes Thomas Hobbes ( ; 5 April 1588 – 4 December 1679) was an English philosopher, best known for his 1651 book ''Leviathan'', in which he expounds an influential formulation of social contract theory. He is considered to be one of the founders ...

, and Malachy Postlethwayt.Chernow
pp. 296–299
While writing the report he also sought out suggestions from contemporaries such as John Witherspoon and Madison. Although they agreed on additional taxes such as distilleries and duties on imported liquors and land taxes, Madison feared that the securities from the government debt would fall into foreign hands.Chernow
p. 121
Hamilton divided the debt into national and state, and further divided the national debt into foreign and domestic debt. While there was agreement on how to handle the foreign debt, especially with France, there was not with regards to the national debt held by domestic creditors. During the Revolutionary War, affluent citizens had invested in bonds, and war veterans had been paid with promissory notes and

IOU An IOU (Abbreviation, abbreviated from the phrase "I owe you") is usually an informal document acknowledging debt. An IOU differs from a promissory note in that an IOU is not a negotiable instrument and does not specify repayment terms such as th ...

s that plummeted in price during the Confederation. In response, the war veterans sold the securities to speculators for as little as fifteen to twenty cents on the dollar. Hamilton felt the money from the bonds should not go to the soldiers who had shown little faith in the country's future, but the speculators that had bought the bonds from the soldiers. The process of attempting to track down the original bondholders along with the government showing discrimination among the classes of holders if the war veterans were to be compensated also weighed in as factors for Hamilton. As for the state debts, Hamilton suggested consolidating them with the national debt and label it as federal debt, for the sake of efficiency on a national scale. In the report, Hamilton felt that the securities should be paid at full value to their legitimate owners, including those who took the financial risk of buying government bonds that most experts thought would never be redeemed. He argued that liberty and property security were inseparable, and that the government should honor the contracts, as they formed the basis of public and private morality. To Hamilton, the proper handling of the government debt would also allow America to borrow at affordable interest rates and would also be a stimulant to the economy. The last portion of the report dealt with eliminating the debt by utilizing a '' sinking fund'' that would retire five percent of the debt annually until it was paid off. Due to the bonds being traded well below their face value, the purchases would benefit the government as the securities rose in price.Chernow
pp. 300–305
When the report was submitted to the House of Representatives, detractors soon began to speak against it. Some of the negative views expressed in the House were that the notion of programs that resembled British practice were wicked, and that the balance of power would be shifted away from the representatives to the executive branch. William Maclay suspected that several congressmen were involved in government securities, seeing Congress in an unholy league with New York speculators. Congressman James Jackson also spoke against New York, with allegations of speculators attempting to swindle those who had not yet heard about Hamilton's report. The involvement of those in Hamilton's circle such as Schuyler, William Duer, James Duane, Gouverneur Morris, and

Rufus King Rufus King (March 24, 1755April 29, 1827) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father, lawyer, politician, and diplomat. He was a delegate from Massachusetts to the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convent ...

as speculators was not favorable to those against the report, either, though Hamilton personally did not own or deal a share in the debt. Madison eventually spoke against it by February 1790. Although he was not against current holders of government debt to profit, he wanted the windfall to go to the original holders. Madison did not feel that the original holders had lost faith in the government but sold their securities out of desperation. The compromise was seen as egregious to both Hamiltonians and their dissidents such as Maclay, and Madison's vote was defeated 36 votes to 13 on February 22. The fight for the national government to assume state debt was a longer issue and lasted over four months. During the period, the resources that Hamilton was to apply to the payment of state debts was requested by Alexander White, and was rejected due to Hamilton's not being able to prepare information by March 3, and was even postponed by his own supporters in spite of configuring a report the next day, which consisted of a series of additional duties to meet the interest on the state debts. Duer resigned as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, and the vote of assumption was voted down 31 votes to 29 on April 12. During this period, Hamilton bypassed the rising issue of

slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

in Congress, after

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

s petitioned for its abolition, returning to the issue the following year.Chernow
p. 307
Another issue in which Hamilton played a role was the temporary location of the capital from New York City. Tench Coxe was sent to speak to Maclay to bargain about the capital being temporarily located to Philadelphia, as a single vote in the Senate was needed and five in the House for the bill to pass. Thomas Jefferson wrote years afterward that Hamilton had a discussion with him, around this time period, about the capital of the United States being relocated to Virginia by means of a "pill" that "would be peculiarly bitter to the Southern States, and that some concomitant measure should be adopted to sweeten it a little to them". The bill passed in the Senate on July 21 and in the House 34 votes to 28 on July 26, 1790.

Report on a National Bank

Hamilton's ''Report on a National Bank'' was a projection from the first ''Report on the Public Credit''. Although Hamilton had been forming ideas of a national bank as early as 1779, he had gathered ideas in various ways over the past eleven years. These included theories from Adam Smith, extensive studies on the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the Kingdom of England, English Government's banker and debt manager, and still one ...

, the blunders of the

Bank of North America The Bank of North America was the first chartered bank in the United States, and served as the country's first ''de facto'' central bank. It was chartered by the Congress of the Confederation on May 26, 1781, and opened in Philadelphia, Pennsy ...

and his experience in establishing the Bank of New York. He also used American records from James Wilson, Pelatiah Webster, Gouverneur Morris, and from his assistant treasury secretary Tench Coxe. He thought that this plan for a National Bank could help in any sort of financial crisis. Hamilton suggested that Congress should charter the national bank with a capitalization of $10 million, one-fifth of which would be handled by the government. Since the government did not have the money, it would borrow the money from the bank itself, and repay the loan in ten even annual installments. The rest was to be available to individual investors. The bank was to be governed by a twenty-five-member board of directors that was to represent a large majority of the private shareholders, which Hamilton considered essential for his being under a private direction. Hamilton's bank model had many similarities to that of the Bank of England, except Hamilton wanted to exclude the government from being involved in public debt, but provide a large, firm, and elastic money supply for the functioning of normal businesses and usual economic development, among other differences. The tax revenue to initiate the bank was the same as he had previously proposed, increases on imported spirits: rum, liquor, and whiskey. The bill passed through the Senate practically without a problem, but objections to the proposal increased by the time it reached the House of Representatives. It was generally held by critics that Hamilton was serving the interests of the Northeast by means of the bank, and those of the agrarian lifestyle would not benefit from it. Among those critics was James Jackson of Georgia, who also attempted to refute the report by quoting from ''The Federalist Papers''. Madison and Jefferson also opposed the bank bill. The potential of the capital not being moved to the Potomac if the bank was to have a firm establishment in Philadelphia was a more significant reason, and actions that Pennsylvania members of Congress took to keep the capital there made both men anxious. ''The Whiskey Rebellion'' also showed how in other financial plans, there was a distance between the classes as the wealthy profited from the taxes. Madison warned the Pennsylvania congress members that he would attack the bill as unconstitutional in the House, and followed up on his threat. Madison argued his case of where the power of a bank could be established within the Constitution, but he failed to sway members of the House, and his authority on the constitution was questioned by a few members. The bill eventually passed in an overwhelming fashion 39 to 20, on February 8, 1791. Washington hesitated to sign the bill, as he received suggestions from Attorney General Edmund Randolph and Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson dismissed the Necessary and Proper Clause as reasoning for the creation of a national bank, stating that the enumerated powers "can all be carried into execution without a bank." Along with Randolph and Jefferson's objections, Washington's involvement in the movement of the capital from Philadelphia is also thought to be a reason for his hesitation. In response to the objection of the clause, Hamilton stated that "Necessary often means no more than needful, requisite, incidental, useful, or conductive to", and the bank was a "convenient species of medium in which axesare to be paid." Washington would eventually sign the bill into law. Hamilton's push for a national bank was not an isolated event but a broader, long-running effort to establish a central banking system in the United States—one that would ultimately result in the

Federal Reserve The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a series of ...

. While Hamilton's vision laid the groundwork for a structured financial system, the concept of centralized banking has remained one of the most polarizing economic debates in American history, garnering both staunch

criticism Criticism is the construction of a judgement about the negative or positive qualities of someone or something. Criticism can range from impromptu comments to a written detailed response. , ''the act of giving your opinion or judgment about the ...

and fervent support from economists and the public alike.

Establishing the mint

In 1791, Hamilton submitted the ''Report on the Establishment of a Mint'' to the House of Representatives. Many of Hamilton's ideas for this report were from European economists, resolutions from the 1785 and 1786 Continental Congress meetings, and people such as Robert Morris, Gouverneur Morris and Thomas Jefferson. Because the most circulated coins in the United States at the time were Spanish currency, Hamilton proposed that minting a

United States dollar The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

weighing almost as much as the Spanish peso would be the simplest way to introduce a national currency. Hamilton differed from European monetary policymakers in his desire to overprice gold relative to silver, on the grounds that the United States would always receive an influx of silver from the West Indies. Despite his own preference for a monometallic

gold standard A gold standard is a backed currency, monetary system in which the standard economics, economic unit of account is based on a fixed quantity of gold. The gold standard was the basis for the international monetary system from the 1870s to the ...

,Studentski; Krooss, p. 62. he ultimately issued a bimetallic currency at a fixed 15:1 ratio of silver to gold. Hamilton proposed that the U.S. dollar should have fractional coins using decimals, rather than eighths like the Spanish coinage. This innovation was originally suggested by Superintendent of Finance Robert Morris, with whom Hamilton corresponded after examining one of Morris's Nova Constellatio coins in 1783. He also desired the minting of small value coins, such as silver ten-cent and copper cent and half-cent pieces, for reducing the cost of living for the poor. Cooke, p. 88. One of his main objectives was for the general public to become accustomed to handling money on a frequent basis. By 1792, Hamilton's principles were adopted by Congress, resulting in the Coinage Act of 1792, and the creation of the mint. There was to be a ten-dollar gold Eagle coin, a silver dollar, and fractional money ranging from one-half to fifty cents. The coining of silver and gold was issued by 1795.

Revenue Cutter Service

Smuggling off American coasts was an issue before the Revolutionary War, and after the Revolution it was more problematic. Along with smuggling, lack of shipping control, pirating, and a revenue imbalance were also major problems.Gibowicz, p. 256. In response, Hamilton proposed to Congress to enact a naval police force called revenue cutters in order to patrol the waters and assist the custom collectors with confiscating contraband.Chernow
p. 340
This idea was also proposed to assist in tariff controlling, boosting the American economy, and promote the merchant marine. It is thought that his experience obtained during his apprenticeship with Nicholas Kruger was influential in his decision-making.Chernow
p. 32
Concerning some of the details of the System of Cutters, Hamilton wanted the first ten cutters in different areas in the United States, from New England to Georgia. Each of those cutters was to be armed with ten muskets and bayonets, twenty pistols, two chisels, one broad-ax and two lanterns. The fabric of the sails was to be domestically manufactured; and provisions were made for the employees' food supply and etiquette when boarding ships. Congress established the Revenue Cutter Service on August 4, 1790, which is viewed as the birth of the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

Whiskey as tax revenue

One of the principal sources of revenue Hamilton prevailed upon Congress to approve was an

excise tax file:Lincoln Beer Stamp 1871.JPG, upright=1.2, 1871 U.S. Revenue stamp for 1/6 barrel of beer. Brewers would receive the stamp sheets, cut them into individual stamps, cancel them, and paste them over the Bunghole, bung of the beer barrel so when ...

on whiskey. In his first Tariff Bill in January 1790, Hamilton proposed to raise the three million dollars needed to pay for government operating expenses and interest on domestic and foreign debts by means of an increase on duties on imported wines, distilled spirits, tea, coffee, and domestic spirits. It failed, with Congress complying with most recommendations excluding the excise tax on whiskey. The same year, Madison modified Hamilton's tariff to involve only imported duties; it was passed in September. In response of diversifying revenues, as three-fourths of revenue gathered was from commerce with Great Britain, Hamilton attempted once again during his ''Report on Public Credit'' when presenting it in 1790 to implement an excise tax on both imported and domestic spirits.Chernow
pp. 342–343
Murray, p. 141. The taxation rate was graduated in proportion to the whiskey proof, and Hamilton intended to equalize the tax burden on imported spirits with imported and domestic liquor. In lieu of the excise on production citizens could pay 60 cents by the gallon of dispensing capacity, along with an exemption on small stills used exclusively for domestic consumption. He realized the loathing that the tax would receive in rural areas, but thought of the taxing of spirits more reasonable than land taxes. Opposition initially came from Pennsylvania's House of Representatives protesting the tax. William Maclay had noted that not even the Pennsylvanian legislators had been able to enforce excise taxes in the western regions of the state. Hamilton was aware of the potential difficulties and proposed inspectors the ability to search buildings that distillers were designated to store their spirits, and would be able to search suspected illegal storage facilities to confiscate contraband with a warrant.Murray, pp. 141–142. Although the inspectors were not allowed to search houses and warehouses, they were to visit twice a day and file weekly reports in extensive detail. Hamilton cautioned against expedited judicial means, and favored a jury trial with potential offenders. As soon as 1791, locals began to shun or threaten inspectors, as they felt the inspection methods were intrusive. Inspectors were also

tarred and feathered Tarring and feathering is a form of public torture where a victim is stripped naked, or stripped to the waist, while wood tar (sometimes hot) is either poured or painted onto the person. The victim then either has feathers thrown on them or is ...

, blindfolded, and whipped. Hamilton had attempted to appease the opposition with lowered tax rates, but it did not suffice.Chernow
p. 468
Strong opposition to the whiskey tax by cottage producers in remote, rural regions erupted into the '' Whiskey Rebellion'' in 1794; in

Western Pennsylvania Western Pennsylvania is a region in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the Unite ...

and western

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, whiskey was the basic export product and was fundamental to the local economy. In response to the rebellion, believing compliance with the laws was vital to the establishment of federal authority, Hamilton accompanied to the rebellion's site President Washington, General Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee, and more federal troops than Washington had usually commanded during the Revolution. This overwhelming display of force intimidated the leaders of the insurrection, ending the rebellion virtually without bloodshed.

Manufacturing and industry

Hamilton's next report was his ''Report on Manufactures''. Although he was requested by Congress on January 15, 1790, for a report for manufacturing that would expand the United States' independence, the report was not submitted until December 5, 1791. In the report, Hamilton quoted from ''

The Wealth of Nations ''An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations'', usually referred to by its shortened title ''The Wealth of Nations'', is a book by the Scottish people, Scottish economist and moral philosophy, moral philosopher Adam Smith; ...

'' and used the French physiocrats as an example for rejecting

agrarianism Agrarianism is a social philosophy, social and political philosophy that advocates for rural development, a Rural area, rural agricultural lifestyle, family farming, widespread property ownership, and political decentralization. Those who adhere ...

and the physiocratic theory, respectively. Hamilton also refuted Smith's ideas of government noninterference, as it would have been detrimental for trade with other countries. Hamilton also thought that the United States, being a primarily agrarian country, would be at a disadvantage in dealing with Europe. In response to the agrarian detractors, Hamilton stated that the agriculturists' interest would be advanced by manufactures, and that agriculture was just as productive as manufacturing. Hamilton argued for

industrial policy Industrial policy is proactive government-led encouragement and development of specific strategic industries for the growth of all or part of the economy, especially in absence of sufficient private sector investments and participation. Historica ...

to support a modern manufacturing industry in the United States. Among the ways that the government should assist manufacturing, Hamilton argued for government assistance to " infant industries" so they can achieve

economies of scale In microeconomics, economies of scale are the cost advantages that enterprises obtain due to their scale of operation, and are typically measured by the amount of Productivity, output produced per unit of cost (production cost). A decrease in ...

, by levying protective duties on imported foreign goods that were also manufactured in the United States,Cooke, p. 101. for withdrawing duties levied on raw materials needed for domestic manufacturing, and pecuniary boundaries. He also encouraged immigration as a way to improve the American work force. Congress shelved the report without much debate, except for Madison's objection to Hamilton's formulation of the general welfare clause, which Hamilton construed liberally as a legal basis for his extensive programs. In 1791, Hamilton, along with Coxe and several entrepreneurs from New York City and Philadelphia formed the '' Society for the Establishment of Useful Manufactures'', a private industrial corporation. In May 1792, the directors decided to examine the Great Falls of the

Passaic River The Passaic River ( or ) is a river, approximately long, in North Jersey, northern New Jersey. The river in its upper course flows in a highly circuitous route, meandering through the swamp lowlands between the ridge hills of rural and suburb ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

as a possible location for a manufacturing center. On July 4, 1792, the society directors met

Abraham Godwin Abraham Godwin (July 16, 1763 – October 5, 1835) was a representative in the New Jersey General Assembly, former fife major in the American Revolutionary War, and brigadier general during the War of 1812. Personal life Abraham Godwin was b ...

's hotel on the Passaic River, where they led a tour prospecting the area for the national manufactory. It was originally suggested that they dig mile-long trenches and build the factories away from the falls, but Hamilton argued that it would be too costly and laborious. The location at Great Falls of the Passaic River in New Jersey was selected due to access to raw materials, it being densely inhabited, and having access to water power from the falls of the Passaic. The factory town was named ''Paterson'' after New Jersey's Governor William Paterson, who signed the charter.Cooke, p. 103. The profits were to derive from specific corporates rather than the benefits to be conferred to the nation and the citizens, which was unlike the report.Cooke, p. 102. Hamilton also suggested the first stock to be offered at $500,000 and to eventually increase to $1 million, and welcomed state and federal government subscriptions alike. The company was never successful, with numerous shareholders reneged on stock payments and some going bankrupt. William Duer, the governor of the program, was sent to debtors' prison, where he died. In spite of Hamilton's efforts to mend the disaster, the company folded.

Jay Treaty

When France and Britain went to war in early 1793, all four members of the Cabinet were consulted on what to do. They and Washington unanimously agreed to remain neutral, and to have the French ambassador who was raising privateers and mercenaries on American soil, Edmond-Charles Genêt, recalled. However, in 1794, policy toward Britain became a major point of contention between the two parties. Hamilton and the Federalists wished for more trade with Britain, the largest trading partner of the newly formed United States. The Republicans saw monarchist Britain as the main threat to republicanism and proposed instead to start a trade war. To avoid war, Washington sent Chief Justice John Jay to negotiate with the British, with Hamilton largely writing Jay's instructions. The result was a treaty denounced by the Republicans, but Hamilton mobilized support throughout the land. The Jay Treaty passed the Senate in 1795 by exactly the required two-thirds majority. The treaty resolved issues remaining from the Revolution, averted war, and made possible ten years of peaceful trade between the United States and Britain. Historian George Herring notes the "remarkable and fortuitous economic and diplomatic gains" produced by the Treaty. Several European states had formed the Second League of Armed Neutrality against incursions on their neutral rights; the cabinet was also consulted on whether the United States should join the alliance and decided not to. It kept that decision secret, but Hamilton revealed it in private to George Hammond, the British minister to the United States, without telling Jay or anyone else. His act remained unknown until Hammond's dispatches were read in the 1920s. This revelation may have had limited effect on the negotiations; Jay did threaten to join the League at one point, but the British had other reasons not to view the alliance as a serious threat.

Resignation from public office

Hamilton's wife suffered a miscarriage while he was absent during his armed repression of the Whiskey Rebellion.Chernow
p. 478
In the wake of this, Hamilton tendered his resignation from office on December 1, 1794, giving Washington two months' notice, Before leaving his post on January 31, 1795, Hamilton submitted the '' Report on a Plan for the Further Support of Public Credit'' to Congress to curb the debt problem. Hamilton grew dissatisfied with what he viewed as a lack of a comprehensive plan to fix the public debt. He wished to have new taxes passed with older ones made permanent and stated that any surplus from the excise tax on liquor would be pledged to lower public debt. His proposals were included in a bill by Congress within slightly over a month after his departure as treasury secretary.Chernow
p. 480
Some months later, Hamilton resumed his law practice in New York to remain closer to his family.

Emergence of political parties

T Jefferson by Charles Willson Peale 1791 2

Hamilton's vision was challenged by Virginia agrarians

and James Madison, who formed the

. They favored strong state governments based in rural America and protected by state militias as opposed to a strong national government supported by a national army and navy. They denounced Hamilton as insufficiently devoted to republicanism, too friendly toward corrupt Britain and the monarchy in general, and too oriented toward cities, industry and banking. The two-party system began to emerge as political parties coalesced around competing interests. A congressional caucus, led by Madison, Jefferson, and

William Branch Giles William Branch Giles (August 12, 1762December 4, 1830) was an American statesman, long-term United States Senate, Senator from Virginia, and the List of governors of Virginia, 24th Governor of Virginia. He served in the United States House of R ...

, began as an opposition group to Hamilton's financial programs. Hamilton and his allies began to call themselves the Federalists.See also Smith (2004), p. 832. Hamilton assembled a nationwide coalition to garner support for the administration, including the expansive financial programs Hamilton had made administration policy and especially the president's policy of neutrality in the European war between Britain and France. Hamilton publicly denounced French minister Genêt, who commissioned American

privateer A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign o ...

s and recruited Americans for private militias to attack British ships and colonial possessions of British allies. Eventually, even Jefferson joined Hamilton in seeking Genêt's recall. If Hamilton's administrative republic was to succeed, Americans had to see themselves first as citizens of a nation and experience an administration that proved firm and demonstrated the concepts found within the Constitution. The Federalists did impose some internal direct taxes, but they departed from most implications of Hamilton's administrative republic as risky. The Republicans opposed banks and cities and favored the series of unstable revolutionary governments in France. They built their own national coalition to oppose the Federalists. Both sides gained the support of local political factions, and each side developed its own partisan newspapers. Noah Webster, John Fenno, and William Cobbett were energetic editors for the Federalists, while Benjamin Franklin Bache and Philip Freneau were fiery Republican editors. All of their newspapers were characterized by intense personal attacks, major exaggerations, and invented claims. In 1801, Hamilton established a daily newspaper, the '' New York Evening Post'', and brought in William Coleman as its editor.Allan Nevins, ''The Evening Post: A Century of Journalism'' (1922
ch. 1 online
/ref> Hamilton's and Jefferson's incompatibility was heightened by the unavowed wish of each to be Washington's principal and most trusted advisor. An additional partisan irritant to Hamilton was the 1791 United States Senate election in New York, which resulted in the election of Democratic-Republican candidate

over Federalist candidate Philip Schuyler, the incumbent and Hamilton's father-in-law. Hamilton blamed Burr personally for this outcome, and negative characterizations of Burr began to appear in his correspondence thereafter. The two men did work together from time to time thereafter on various projects, including Hamilton's army of 1798 and the Manhattan Water Company.

1796 presidential election

Hamilton's resignation as secretary of the treasury in 1795 did not remove him from public life. With the resumption of his law practice, he remained close to Washington as an advisor and friend. Hamilton influenced Washington in the composition of his farewell address by writing drafts for Washington to compare with the latter's draft, although when Washington contemplated retirement in 1792, he had consulted Madison for a draft that was used in a similar manner to Hamilton's. In the election of 1796, under the Constitution as it stood then, each of the presidential electors had two votes, which they were to cast for different men from different states. The one who received the most votes would become president, the second-most, vice president. This system was not designed with the operation of parties in mind, as they had been thought disreputable and factious. The Federalists planned to deal with this by having all their electors vote for

, then vice president, and all but a few for Thomas Pinckney.Chernow
p. 117
Adams resented Hamilton's influence with Washington and considered him overambitious and scandalous in his private life; Hamilton compared Adams unfavorably with Washington and thought him too emotionally unstable to be president.Chernow
p. 510
Hamilton took the election as an opportunity: he urged all the northern electors to vote for Adams and Pinckney, lest Jefferson get in; but he cooperated with Edward Rutledge to have South Carolina's electors vote for Jefferson and Pinckney. If all this worked, Pinckney would have more votes than Adams, Pinckney would become president, and Adams would remain vice president, but it did not work. The Federalists found out about it and northern Federalists voted for Adams but not for Pinckney, in sufficient numbers that Pinckney came in third and Jefferson became vice president. Adams resented the intrigue since he felt his service to the nation was much more extensive than Pinckney's.

Reynolds affair

In summer 1797, Hamilton became the first major American politician publicly involved in a sex scandal. Six years earlier, in summer 1791, 34-year-old Hamilton became involved in an affair with 23-year-old Maria Reynolds. According to Hamilton, Maria approached him at his house in

, claiming that her husband James Reynolds was abusive and had abandoned her, and she wished to return to her relatives in New York but lacked the means. Hamilton recorded her address and subsequently delivered $30 personally to her boarding house, where she led him into her bedroom and "Some conversation ensued from which it was quickly apparent that other than pecuniary consolation would be acceptable". The two began an intermittent illicit affair that lasted approximately until June 1792. James Reynolds was aware of his wife's infidelity, and likely orchestrated it from the beginning. He continually supported their relationship to extort blackmail money regularly from Hamilton. The common practice of the day for men of equal social standing was for the wronged husband to seek retribution in a duel. But Reynolds, of a lower social status and realizing how much Hamilton had to lose if his activity was made public, resorted to extortion. After an initial request of $1,000, with which Hamilton complied, Reynolds invited Hamilton to renew his visits to his wife "as a friend" only to extort forced "loans" after each visit that, most likely in collusion, Maria solicited with her letters. In the end, the blackmail payments totaled over $1,300 including the initial extortion. Hamilton at this point may have been aware of both spouses being involved in the blackmail, and he welcomed and strictly complied with James Reynolds' eventual request to end the affair. In November 1792, James Reynolds and his associate Jacob Clingman were arrested for counterfeiting and speculating in Revolutionary War veterans' unpaid back wages. Clingman was released on bail and relayed information to Democratic-Republican congressman

James Monroe James Monroe ( ; April 28, 1758July 4, 1831) was an American Founding Father of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. He was the last Founding Father to serve as presiden ...

that Reynolds had evidence incriminating Hamilton in illicit activity as Treasury Secretary. Monroe consulted with congressmen Muhlenberg and Venable on what actions to take and the congressmen confronted Hamilton on December 15, 1792. Hamilton refuted the suspicions of financial speculation by exposing his affair with Maria and producing as evidence the letters by both of the Reynolds, proving that his payments to James Reynolds related to blackmail over his adultery, and not to treasury misconduct. The trio agreed on their honor to keep the documents privately with the utmost confidence. Five years later however, in the summer of 1797, the "notoriously scurrilous" journalist James T. Callender published ''A History of the United States for the Year 1796''. The pamphlet contained accusations based on documents from the confrontation of December 15, 1792, taken out of context, that James Reynolds had been an agent of Hamilton. On July 5, 1797, Hamilton wrote to Monroe, Muhlenberg, and Venable, asking them to confirm that there was nothing that would damage the perception of his integrity while Secretary of Treasury. All but Monroe complied with Hamilton's request. This led to Hamilton and Monroe engaging in an argument that almost culminated in a duel, before the conflict was averted by Aaron Burr. Hamilton then published a 100-page booklet, later usually referred to as the '' Reynolds Pamphlet'', and discussed the affair in indelicate detail for the time. Hamilton's wife Elizabeth eventually forgave him, but never forgave Monroe. Although Hamilton faced ridicule from the Democratic-Republican faction, he maintained his availability for public service.

Quasi-War

During the military build-up preceding the

with France, and with the strong endorsement of Washington, Adams reluctantly appointed Hamilton a major general of the army. At Washington's insistence, Hamilton was made the senior major general prompting Henry Knox, who had served as

United States Secretary of War The secretary of war was a member of the President of the United States, U.S. president's United States Cabinet, Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's Presidency of George Washington, administration. A similar position, called either "Sec ...

and years earlier in wartime as a Continental Army major general, to decline the appointment to serve as Hamilton's junior believing it would be degrading to rank beneath him.Chernow
pp. 558–560
Hamilton served as inspector general of the United States Army from July 18, 1798, to June 15, 1800. Because Washington was unwilling to leave Mount Vernon unless it were to command an army in the field, Hamilton was the ''de facto'' head of the army, to Adams's considerable displeasure. If full-scale war broke out with France, Hamilton argued that the army should conquer the North American colonies of France's ally, Spain, bordering the United States. Hamilton was prepared to march the army through the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is List of regions of the United States, census regions defined by the United States Cens ...

if necessary. To fund the army, Hamilton wrote regularly to Oliver Wolcott Jr., his successor at the treasury, Representative William Loughton Smith, and U.S. senator Theodore Sedgwick. He urged them to pass a direct tax to fund the war. Smith resigned in July 1797, as Hamilton complained to him for slowness, and urged Wolcott to tax houses instead of land. The eventual program included taxes on land, houses, and slaves, calculated at different rates in different states and requiring assessment of houses, and a stamp act like that of the British before the Revolution, though this time Americans were taxing themselves through their own representatives. This provoked resistance in southeastern Pennsylvania nevertheless, led primarily by men such as John Fries who had marched with Washington against the Whiskey Rebellion. Hamilton aided in all areas of the army's development, and after Washington's death he was by default the senior officer of the United States Army from December 14, 1799, to June 15, 1800. The army was to guard against invasion from France. Adams, however, derailed all plans for war by opening negotiations with France that led to peace. There was no longer a direct threat for the army Hamilton was commanding to respond to. Adams discovered that key members of his cabinet, namely Secretary of State Timothy Pickering and Secretary of War James McHenry, were more loyal to Hamilton than himself; Adams fired them in May 1800.

1800 presidential election

In November 1799, the

Alien and Sedition Acts The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 were a set of four United States statutes that sought, on national security grounds, to restrict immigration and limit 1st Amendment protections for freedom of speech. They were endorsed by the Federalist Par ...

had left one Democratic-Republican newspaper functioning in New York City. When the last newspaper, the ''New Daily Advertiser'', reprinted an article saying that Hamilton had attempted to purchase the '' Philadelphia Aurora'' to close it down, and said the purchase could have been funded by "British secret service money". Hamilton urged the New York Attorney General to prosecute the publisher for seditious libel, and the prosecution compelled the owner to close the paper. In the 1800 presidential election, Hamilton worked to defeat both the Democratic-Republicans and also his party's own nominee, John Adams. Aaron Burr had won New York for Jefferson in May via the New York City legislative elections, as the legislature was to choose New York's electors; now Hamilton proposed a direct election, with carefully drawn districts where each district's voters would choose an elector—such that the Federalists would split the electoral vote of New York. Jay, who had resigned from the Supreme Court to become Governor of New York, wrote on the back of a letter, "Proposing a measure for party purposes which it would not become me to adopt," and declined to reply. Adams was running this time with Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, the elder brother of former vice presidential candidate Thomas. Hamilton toured New England, again urging northern electors to hold firm for Pinckney in the renewed hope of making Pinckney president; and he again intrigued in South Carolina. Hamilton's ideas involved coaxing middle-state Federalists to assert their non-support for Adams if there was no support for Pinckney and writing to more of the modest supports of Adams concerning his supposed misconduct while president. Hamilton expected to see southern states such as the Carolinas cast their votes for Pinckney and Jefferson, and would result in the former being ahead of both Adams and Jefferson. In accordance with these plans, and a recent personal rift with Adams, Hamilton wrote a pamphlet called ''Letter from Alexander Hamilton, Concerning the Public Conduct and Character of John Adams, Esq. President of the United States'' that was highly critical of him, though it closed with a tepid endorsement. Jefferson defeated Adams. But both he and Aaron Burr received 73 votes in the Electoral College. With Jefferson and Burr tied, the U.S. House of Representatives, under electoral laws of the time, had to choose between the two candidates. Several Federalists who opposed Jefferson supported Burr, and for the first 35 ballots, Jefferson was denied a majority. Before the 36th ballot, Hamilton threw his weight behind Jefferson, supporting the arrangement reached by James A. Bayard of Delaware, in which five Federalist representatives from Maryland and Vermont abstained from voting, allowing those states' delegations to go for Jefferson, ending the impasse and electing Jefferson president rather than Burr. Even though Hamilton disliked Jefferson and disagreed with him on many issues, he viewed Jefferson as the lesser of two evils. Hamilton spoke of Jefferson as being "by far not so a dangerous man" and of Burr as a "mischievous enemy" to the principal measure of the past administration. It was for that reason, along with the fact that Burr was a northerner and not a Virginian, that many Federalist representatives voted for him. Hamilton wrote many letters to friends in Congress to convince the members to see otherwise. In the end, Burr would become vice president after losing to Jefferson. However, according to several historians, the Federalists had rejected Hamilton's diatribe as reasons to not vote for Burr. In his book ''American Machiavelli: Alexander Hamilton and the Origins of US Foreign Policy'', historian John Lamberton Harper stated Hamilton could have "perhaps" contributed "to a degree" in Burr's defeat. Ron Chernow, alternatively, claimed that Hamilton "squelched" Burr's chance at becoming president.Chernow, p. 638. When it became clear that Jefferson had developed his own concerns about Burr and would not support his return to the vice presidency, Burr sought the New York governorship in 1804 with Federalist support, against the Jeffersonian Morgan Lewis, but was defeated by forces including Hamilton.

Duel with Burr and death

Duel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton

Soon after Lewis' gubernatorial victory, the ''Albany Register'' published Charles D. Cooper's letters, citing Hamilton's opposition to Burr and alleging that Hamilton had expressed "a still more despicable opinion" of the vice president at an

Upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region of New York (state), New York that lies north and northwest of the New York metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area of downstate New York. Upstate includes the middle and upper Hudson Valley, ...

dinner party. Cooper claimed that the letter was intercepted after relaying the information, but stated he was "unusually cautious" in recollecting the information from the dinner.Chernow
pp. 680–681
Sensing an attack on his honor, and recovering from his defeat, Burr demanded an apology in the form of a letter. Hamilton wrote a letter in response and ultimately refused because he could not recall the instance of insulting Burr. Hamilton was also accused of recanting Cooper's letter out of cowardice. After a series of attempts to reconcile differences between the two failed, a duel was arranged through liaisons on June 27, 1804. The concept of honor was fundamental to Hamilton's vision of himself and of the nation. As evidence of the importance that honor held in Hamilton's value system, historians observe that Hamilton previously was a party to seven "affairs of honor" as a principal, and to three as an advisor or second. Such affairs of honor were often concluded prior to reaching the final stage of a duel. Before the duel, Hamilton wrote an explanation of his decision to participate while at the same time intending to " throw away" his shot. His desire to be available for future political matters also played a factor. A week before the duel, Hamilton and Burr both attended an annual

Independence Day An independence day is an annual event memorialization, commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or Sovereign state, statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or after the end of a milit ...

dinner held by the

Society of the Cincinnati The Society of the Cincinnati is a lineage society, fraternal, hereditary society founded in 1783 to commemorate the American Revolutionary War that saw the creation of the United States. Membership is largely restricted to descendants of milita ...

. Separate accounts confirm that Hamilton was uncharacteristically effusive while Burr was, by contrast, uncharacteristically withdrawn. Accounts also agree that Burr became roused when Hamilton, again uncharacteristically, sang a favorite song, which recent scholarship indicates was " How Stands the Glass Around", an anthem sung by military troops about fighting and dying in war. The duel began at dawn on July 11, 1804, along the west bank of the

on a rocky ledge in

. Both opponents were rowed over from

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

separately from different locations, since the location of the duel was not accessible from the west due to the steepness of the adjoining cliffs. Coincidentally, the duel took place relatively close to the location of the duel that had ended the life of Hamilton's eldest son, Philip Hamilton, three years earlier. Lots were cast for the choice of position and which second should start the duel. Both were won by Hamilton's second, who chose the upper edge of the ledge for Hamilton facing the city and the rising sun to the east. After the seconds measured the paces, Hamilton, according to both William P. Van Ness and Burr, raised his pistol "as if to try the light" and had to wear his glasses to prevent his vision from being obscured. Hamilton also refused the more sensitive hairspring setting for the dueling pistols offered by Nathaniel Pendleton, and Burr was unaware of the option. Burr shot Hamilton, delivering what proved to be a fatal wound, while Hamilton apparently " deloped", as he had indicated was his intention in his letter beforehand; and his shot went well above Burr's head, breaking a tree branch. The seconds, Pendleton and Van Ness, disagreed on which man fired first in the duel. Soon after, they measured and triangulated the shooting, but could not determine from which angle Hamilton had fired. Biographer

contends that, after taking deliberate aim, Burr fired second.Chernow
p. 704
Biographer James Earnest Cooke, however, believes that Burr took careful aim and shot first, and Hamilton fired while falling after being struck by Burr's bullet. The shot hit Hamilton in the lower abdomen above his right hip. The ball ricocheted off Hamilton's second or third false rib, fracturing it and causing considerable damage to his internal organs, particularly his liver and diaphragm, before becoming lodged in his first or second lumbar vertebra. The paralyzed Hamilton was immediately attended by the same surgeon who tended to Hamilton's son Philip. Hamilton was ferried to

and the boarding house of his friend William Bayard Jr., who was waiting on the dock.Chernow
pp. 705–708
On his deathbed, Hamilton asked the Episcopal Bishop of New York, Benjamin Moore, to give him holy communion. Moore initially declined to do so on the grounds that participating in a duel was a mortal sin and that Hamilton, although undoubtedly sincere in his faith, was not a member of the Episcopalian denomination. After leaving, Moore was persuaded to return that afternoon by the urgent pleas of Hamilton's friends. After hearing Hamilton's solemn assurance that he repented his role in the duel, Moore gave him communion. After final visits from his family, friends, and considerable suffering for at least 31 hours, Hamilton died at two o'clock the following afternoon, July 12, 1804, at Bayard's home just below present-day Gansevoort Street in Greenwich Village, New York City. Cited in The city fathers halted all business at noon two days later for Hamilton's funeral. The procession route of about two miles organized by the

had so many participants of every class of citizen that it took hours to complete and was widely reported nationwide by newspapers. Moore conducted Hamilton's funeral service at Trinity Church at present-day 89 Broadway in

. Gouverneur Morris gave the eulogy and secretly established a fund to support his widow and children.Chernow, pp
712–713725
Hamilton was buried in the church's cemetery.

Religion

Religious faith

As a youth in the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

, Hamilton was an Orthodox and conventional

of the New Lights; he was mentored there by a former student of John Witherspoon, a moderate of the New School. He wrote two or three

hymns A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' ...

, which were published in the local newspaper.Chernow
p. 38
Robert Troup, his college roommate, noted that Hamilton was "in the habit of praying on his knees night and morning". During the

, however, Hamilton became less religious and instead became "a conventional liberal with theistic inclinations who was an irregular churchgoer at best," according to

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

historian Gordon S. Wood. In his final years of life, though, Hamilton returned to his

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

faith, and was Episcopalian. Historian

wrote: When the Constitutional Convention opened in

in May 1787, stories circulated that Hamilton made two quips about God at the convention. Asked by a Presbyterian minister why God was not referenced in the Constitution, Hamilton responded "Indeed, Doctor, we forgot it." When

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

asked that each session of the Constitutional Convention be opened with prayer, Hamilton is reported to have replied that there was no need for "foreign aid". During the French Revolution, Hamilton displayed a utilitarian approach to using religion for political ends, including maligning

as "the atheist", and insisting that

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

and

Jeffersonian democracy Jeffersonian democracy, named after its advocate Thomas Jefferson, was one of two dominant political outlooks and movements in the United States from the 1790s to the 1820s. The Jeffersonians were deeply committed to American republicanism, wh ...

were incompatible. After 1801, Hamilton expressed his belief in Christianity, proposing a Christian Constitutional Society in 1802 to take hold of "some strong feeling of the mind" to elect "fit men" to office, and advocating "Christian welfare societies" for the poor. After being shot in his duel with

on July 11, 1804, Hamilton spoke of his belief in God's mercy. On his deathbed, Hamilton asked the Episcopal Bishop of New York, Benjamin Moore, to give him holy communion. Moore initially declined to do so, on two grounds: that to participate in a duel was a mortal sin, and that Hamilton, although undoubtedly sincere in his faith, was not a member of the Episcopalian denomination. After leaving, Moore was persuaded to return that afternoon following urgent pleas of Hamilton's friends. After receiving Hamilton's solemn assurance that he never intended to shoot Burr and repented for his part in the duel, Moore gave him communion. Bishop Moore returned the next morning, stayed with Hamilton for several hours until his death, and conducted his subsequent funeral service at Trinity Church.

Relationship with Jews and Judaism

Hamilton's birthplace had a large Jewish community, comprising roughly a quarter of Charlestown's white population by the 1720s. He came into contact with Jews on a regular basis; as a small boy, he was tutored by a Jewish schoolmistress, and had learned to recite the

Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (), or the Decalogue (from Latin , from Ancient Greek , ), are religious and ethical directives, structured as a covenant document, that, according to the Hebrew Bible, were given by YHWH to Moses. The text of the Ten ...

in the original

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

. Hamilton exhibited a respect for Jews, which was described as "a life-long reverence."Chernow
p. 18
He believed that Jewish achievement was a result of

divine providence In theology, divine providence, or simply providence, is God's intervention in the universe. The term ''Divine Providence'' (usually capitalized) is also used as a names of God, title of God. A distinction is usually made between "general prov ...

: Based primarily on the phonetic similarity of Lavien to a common Jewish surname, it has been suggested that Johann Lavien, the first husband of Hamilton's mother, was Jewish or of Jewish descent.Chernow, pp
1026
On this contested foundation, it was rumored that Hamilton himself was born Jewish, a claim that gained some popularity early in the 20th centuryNewton (2015), p. 34 and which was given serious consideration by one present-day historian. The belief that Lavien was Jewish was popularized by Gertrude Atherton in her 1902 novel ''The Conqueror'', a fictionalized biography of Hamilton which made the earliest known written assertion that Hamilton was Jewish. The consensus of mainstream scholars and historians, however, is that Hamilton was not Jewish.Chernow, pp. 10–12 26

Legacy

Constitution

Hamilton's interpretations of the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

, which are set forth in ''

'', remain highly influential, and continue to be cited in scholarly studies and court decisions. Although the Constitution was ambiguous as to the exact balance of power between national and state governments, Hamilton consistently took the side of greater federal power at the expense of the states, which placed him at odds with

and other Founding Fathers. Jefferson especially opposed Hamilton's support of a ''de facto'' central bank, which Hamilton believed was permissible under

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

's constitutional authority to issue currency, regulate interstate commerce, and do anything else that would be "necessary and proper" to enact the provisions of the Constitution. Jefferson, however, took a differing view. Parsing text carefully, Jefferson argued that no specific authorization for the establishment of a national bank existed. The controversy between the two was addressed in '' McCulloch v. Maryland'', which largely adopted Hamilton's view, granting the

federal government A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

broad freedom to select the best means to execute its constitutionally enumerated powers and confirmed the doctrine of implied powers. The

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

and the

Progressive Era The Progressive Era (1890s–1920s) was a period in the United States characterized by multiple social and political reform efforts. Reformers during this era, known as progressivism in the United States, Progressives, sought to address iss ...

, Hamilton's defenders argue, demonstrated the sorts of crises and politics that Hamilton's administrative republic sought to avoid. Hamilton's policies have proven greatly influential on the development of the U.S. government. His constitutional interpretation, particularly of the Necessary and Proper Clause, set precedents for federal authority that are still cited by courts and are considered an authority on constitutional interpretation. French diplomat Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, who spent 1794 in the United States, wrote, "I consider

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

, Fox, and Hamilton the three greatest men of our epoch, and if I were forced to decide between the three, I would give without hesitation the first place to Hamilton," adding that Hamilton understood the problems of European conservatives trying to adapt to a liberalizing world. Both

and Jefferson, however, viewed Hamilton as unprincipled and dangerously aristocratic. Hamilton's reputation was mostly negative in the

and

Jacksonian democracy Jacksonian democracy, also known as Jacksonianism, was a 19th-century political ideology in the United States that restructured a number of federal institutions. Originating with the seventh U.S. president, Andrew Jackson and his supporters, i ...

eras. During the Jeffersonian era, Hamilton was criticized as a centralizer, sometimes to the point of accusing him of being a proponent of

monarchy A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, reigns as head of state for the rest of their life, or until abdication. The extent of the authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutio ...

.Chernow
pp. 397–398
Conversely, during the later

, such figures as Herbert Croly, Henry Cabot Lodge, and

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

praised Hamilton's leadership as a proponent of a strong national government. In the 19th and 20th centuries several Republicans wrote laudatory biographies on Hamilton prior to entering politics. According to

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

historian Sean Wilentz, Hamilton and has been generally viewed favorably among contemporary scholars, who portray him as a visionary architect of a modern liberal capitalist economy and of a dynamic federal government headed by an energetic executive. Conversely, these modern scholars favoring Hamilton portray Jefferson and his allies as relatively naïve and dreamy idealists.

Slavery

Hamilton is not known to have ever owned slaves, although members of his family did. At the time of her death, Hamilton's mother owned two slaves and wrote a will leaving them to her sons. Due to their illegitimacy, however, Hamilton and his brother were held ineligible to inherit her property and never took ownership of the slaves. As a youth in Saint Croix, Hamilton later worked for a company that traded slaves as well as sugar and other staples of the Transatlantic economy. Historians have discussed whether Hamilton personally owned slaves later in life.

, in his 2004 biography of Hamilton, argued that, while there is "no definite proof" that Hamilton personally owned slaves, "oblique hints" in Hamilton's papers suggest "he and Eliza may have owned one or two household slaves."Chernow, p
210
Hamilton handled slave transactions as the legal representative of his own family members, and his grandson, Allan McLane Hamilton, interpreted some of these journal entries as being purchases for himself. In 1840, however, his son John maintained that his father "never owned a slave; but on the contrary, having learned that a domestic whom he had hired was about to be sold by her master, he immediately purchased her freedom." Hamilton expressed support for limited emancipation during the

, when he endorsed a plan to recruit enslaved men to serve in the

. As a necessary inducement, Hamilton wrote, the Black soldiers should be promised their freedom upon enlistment. He dismissed objections that enslaved men were "too stupid" to fight well, arguing that their "want of cultivation" and "habit of subordination" made them ideal soldiers. Whereas officers should be "men of sense and sentiment," good enlisted men were unthinking "machines," a role to which white men, unaccustomed to a "life of servitude," were comparatively less suited than Blacks. In 1785, he joined his close associate

and more than 30 fellow New Yorkers in founding the New York Manumission Society. The Society lobbied successfully for legislation to gradually abolish slavery in New York. Rather than legally emancipate all enslaved people in the state, the 1799 act declared all children born after July 4, 1799 free pending a period of apprenticeship lasting 28 years for men and 25 years for women. Enslaved people born prior to that date were not emancipated, and the final end of slavery in New York did not occur until 1827. In his letter recommending the enlistment of Black soldiers in the Continental Army, Hamilton rejected the racial

essentialism Essentialism is the view that objects have a set of attributes that are necessary to their Identity (philosophy), identity. In early Western thought, Platonic idealism held that all things have such an "essence"—an Theory of forms, "idea" or "f ...

found in the contemporaneous writings of Jefferson and other leading white intellectuals, asserting "their natural faculties are as good as ours." He never advocated for the

colonization 475px, Map of the year each country achieved List of sovereign states by date of formation, independence. Colonization (British English: colonisation) is a process of establishing occupation of or control over foreign territories or peoples f ...

of free people of color outside the United States, which many contemporaries considered essential to any plan for emancipation. In the 1790s, Hamilton's political agenda sometimes came into conflict with proslavery interests. When the enslaved population of

Saint-Domingue Saint-Domingue () was a French colonization of the Americas, French colony in the western portion of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, in the area of modern-day Haiti, from 1659 to 1803. The name derives from the Spanish main city on the isl ...

rose up against their French enslavers, Hamilton and other Federalists supported the revolutionaries and urged closer economic and diplomatic ties with new nation of Haiti. His suggestions shaped the Haitian constitution, promulgated the year after his death. At other times, political expediency led Hamilton to form close relationships with slaveholders like William Loughton Smith whose support was critical to the strength of the Federalist Party in South Carolina.

Economics

Hamilton has been portrayed as the patron saint of the American School economic philosophy that, according to historian Michael Lind, later dominated American economic policy after 1861.Lind, Michael, ''Hamilton's Republic'', 1997, pp. xiv–xv, 229–230. Hamilton's ideas and work influenced 19th century German economist Friedrich List and Henry Charles Carey, who served as

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

's chief economic advisor during the Lincoln administration. In fall 1781, Hamilton firmly supported government intervention in favor of business after the manner of Jean-Baptiste Colbert.Chernow
p. 170
In contrast to the British policy of international

mercantilism Mercantilism is a economic nationalism, nationalist economic policy that is designed to maximize the exports and minimize the imports of an economy. It seeks to maximize the accumulation of resources within the country and use those resources ...

, which he believed skewed benefits to colonial and imperial powers, Hamilton was a pioneering advocate of

protectionism Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulations ...

. He is credited with the idea that

industrialization Industrialisation (British English, UK) American and British English spelling differences, or industrialization (American English, US) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an i ...

was only possible with

tariff A tariff or import tax is a duty (tax), duty imposed by a national Government, government, customs territory, or supranational union on imports of goods and is paid by the importer. Exceptionally, an export tax may be levied on exports of goods ...

s that protected the " infant industries" of an emerging nation.

Public administration

Political theorists credit Hamilton with the creation of the modern administrative state, citing his arguments in favor of a strong executive, linked to the electoral support of the people, as the linchpin of an administrative republic. The dominance of executive leadership in the formulation and carrying out of policy was, in Hamilton's view, essential to resist the deterioration of a republican government. As evidence of Hamilton's global influence, some scholars have compared Hamilton's recommendations to the development of Meiji Japan.

In popular culture

Hamilton has appeared as a significant figure in popular works of historical fiction, including many that focused on other American political figures of his time. In comparison to other Founding Fathers, however, Hamilton attracted relatively little attention in American popular culture in the 20th century.Hamilton was not mentioned in standard reference guides to popular culture. See, e.g., In 2015, he gained significant mainstream attention with the debut of the Broadway musical ''

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

'', which is based on a biography by

. Lin-Manuel Miranda plays Hamilton in the musical, which was described by ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'' in February 2015 as "an achievement of historical and cultural reimagining. In Miranda's telling, the headlong rise of one self-made immigrant becomes the story of America." The

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

production of ''Hamilton'' won the 2015

Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical is an annual award presented by Drama Desk in recognition of achievements in theatre across collective Broadway, off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions in New York City. Winners and nominees ...

and seven other

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Awards are among the most esteemed honors in New York theater, recognizing outstanding achievements across Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway productions within the same categories. The awards are considered a signific ...

s. In 2016, ''Hamilton'' received the

Pulitzer Prize for Drama The Pulitzer Prize for Drama is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It is one of the original Pulitzers, for the program was inaugurated in 1917 with seven prizes, four of which were a ...

, and set a record for

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

nominations with 16, winning 11, including Best Musical. During the Obama administration, a plan to replace Hamilton on the ten-dollar bill was shelved due partly to the musical's popularity. On July 3, 2020,

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

released the movie ''

'', an authorized film of the Broadway stage production performed by the original cast.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Studies

* * * * Balogh, Brian. 2009. ''A Government out of Sight: The Mystery of National Authority in Nineteenth Century American''. New York: Cambridge University Press. * Bordewich, Fergus M. ''The First Congress: How James Madison, George Washington, and a Group of Extraordinary Men Invented the Government'' (2016) on 1789–91. * A one-volume recasting of Brant's six-volume life. * * * * * Detailed political history of the 1790s
online free
* * * * * . Four volumes, with various subtitles, cited as "Flexner, ''Washington''". Vol. IV. . * * Gaspar, Vitor. "The making of a continental financial system: Lessons for Europe from early American history." ''Journal of European Integration'' 37.7 (2015): 847–859, summarizes Hamilton's achievements in Atlantic perspective. * * * Reviewed in

Reason Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing valid conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, religion, scien ...

, July 2024, https://reason.com/2024/06/16/the-dark-side-of-alexander-hamilton/ * * * * * * Knott, Stephen F. "The Four Faces of Alexander Hamilton: Jefferson's Hamilton, Hollywood's Hamilton, Miranda's Hamilton, and the Real Hamilton." ''American Political Thought'' 7.4 (2018): 543–564. * * A review of the evidence on Newburgh; despite the title, Kohn is doubtful that a ''coup d'état'' was ever seriously attempted. * * * * * First volume of two, contains Hamilton's lifetime. * * Summarizes speculations of William Duer and others in the context of the national economy. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Survey of politics in the 1790s. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * An undergraduate paper, which concludes that Hamilton was ambivalent about slavery. * * Coverage of how the Treasury and other departments were created and operated. * * The most recent synthesis of the era. * * *

Sources

* Cooke, Jacob E., ed. ''Alexander Hamilton: A Profile''. 1967. (Short excerpts from Hamilton and his critics.) * Cunningham, Noble E. ''Jefferson vs. Hamilton: Confrontations that Shaped a Nation''. 2000. (Short collection of primary sources, with commentary.) * (All of Hamilton's major writings and many of his letters.) * Freeman, Joanne B., ed., ''The Essential Hamilton: Letters & Other Writings'' (abridged ed.) (Library of America, 2017) * Frisch, Morton J., ed. ''Selected Writings and Speeches of Alexander Hamilton.'' 1985. * Goebel, Julius Jr., and Joseph H. Smith, eds. ''The Law Practice of Alexander Hamilton''. 5 vols. Columbia University Press, 1964–80. (Comprehensive edition of Hamilton's legal papers.) * Hamilton, Alexander. '' Report on Manufactures''. (Economic program for the United States.) * Hamilton, Alexander. '' Report on Public Credit''. (Financial program for the United States.) * Hamilton, Alexander; Hamilton, John Church. ''The Works of Alexander Hamilton: Miscellanies, 1789–1795: France; Duties on imports; National bank; Manufactures; Revenue circulars; Reports on claims''. 1850. John F. Trow, printer.
free online e-book edition
) * Hamilton, Alexander; Madison, James; Jay, John. ''

''. (Published under the shared pseudonym "Publius".) * * Morris, Richard, ed. ''Alexander Hamilton and the Founding of the Nation''. 1957. (Excerpts from Hamilton's writings.) * National Archives
Founders Online
– searchable edition * Sylla, Richard and David J. Cowen, eds. ''Alexander Hamilton on Finance, Credit, and Debt'' (Columbia UP, 2018) 346 pp. (partly abridged version of key documents
online review
) * Syrett, Harold C., Jacob E. Cooke, and Barbara Chernow, eds. ''The Papers of Alexander Hamilton''. 27 vols. Columbia University Press, 1961–87. (Includes all letters and writings by Hamilton, and all important letters written to him; the definitive edition of Hamilton's works, intensively annotated.) * Taylor, George Rogers, ed. ''Hamilton and the National Debt''. 1950. (Excerpts from 1790s writings representing all sides.)

External links

Alexander Hamilton: A Resource Guide
from the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

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