Alexander Hamilton

Alexander Hamilton was considered a hero of the American Revolution. He was also considered an architect of the country’s financial system. He was the only Founding Father that was an orphan, an immigrant and college dropout. Hamilton supported a strong central government and an economy based not upon plantations and farming, but upon commerce and manufacturing ideas, which was considered radical by most Americans of the time. He opposed slavery and promoted the idea of a country based on meritocracy.

He envisioned a world where talented men like himself could succeed. These views collided dramatically with Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson’s vision for America.

Hamilton was born in 1755 on Nevis, a tiny tropical island in the Caribbean. He had numerous enemies. Unlike Thomas Jefferson, Hamilton was opinionated and narcissistic. He had a rough start to from birth. Hamilton was of illegitimate birth. His mother was divorced and not legally married to Hamilton’s father. As a result, he was prohibited from attending a Christian school and had no rights of inheritance. This put him at the bottom of the social order. Many consider this to be the reason why Hamilton had a lifelong obsession with honor. At the age of fourteen (14) he worked as a clerk for an American trading company and became a master of international currencies. Hamilton would later take over this company as a result of his employer becoming ill. Hamilton also was writing articles for the island’s newspaper, as well as publishing poetry and sermons. His writing talent impressed influential people whom established a fund for him to go to the American colonies to become educated. This provided Hamilton with a chance to reinvent himself and start a new life in a new country. At the time of his arrival in the U.S., the British government was attempting to take control of the American colonies. Hamilton could empathize with the Americans and supported their revolutionary cause. He encourages...