Alexander Hamilton, The Outsider

Alexander Hamilton, The Outsider

Alexander Hamilton was born on an island in the Caribbean to parents who were not formally married and lived in poverty, so he was an outsider in more ways than one. His father abandoned the family and then his mother died in an epidemic, so Alexander was orphaned at the tender age of eleven.         A kind family “adopted” Alexander and, because he loved numbers, he became the clerk for their shipping company. Several kind friends, seeing Alexander's promise, helped to send him to college in America when he was only seventeen. He entered King's College in New York and immediately became involved in politics, although he hadn't yet decided if he was a Whig (Patriot) or a Tory (Loyalist.) One night he even protected the president of King's College, a staunch Tory, by standing up to a mob of Patriots who wanted to tar and feather him!

            After certain aggressions by the British, and due in part to his friend, Hercules Mulligan's, influence Alexander decided to fight for his new “adopted” country. Throughout his career as a soldier, and then as an aide-de-camp to General Washington, Alexander proved his loyalty to his new country by his bravery and dedication to the cause of liberty.

            After the war, Alexander studied law and passed the bar exam. He agreed to be the Secretary of Finance for Robert Morris, the governor of New York. This led to interactions with the state senators, and Alexander was named a delegate to the historic Continental Congress the next year, where he wrote many essays supporting a strong federal government which have come to be known as the Federalist Papers. 

            After the ratification of the Constitution, Alexander went back to his law practice but was convinced to return to politics and serve his new country as its first Secretary of the Treasury, where he was instrumental in starting the first U S Mint in Philadelphia and creating the first coinage. For this reason, his picture is still on the U S Federal Reserve Note for Ten Dollars.

            Of course, the book ends with Alexander Hamilton's infamous duel with Aaron Burr. Shakily based on hearsay insults and a longstanding resentment, Burr shot Hamilton in the stomach and  he died the next day, only three years after his oldest son was also killed in a duel.

            I was familiar with some of Jean Fritz's shorter historical stories like Why Don't You Get a Horse, Sam Adams? and Where Was Patrick Henry on the 29^th of May? but this is the first of her longer biographies I've read, of which there are several. I learned a lot and the information seems to be balanced well. Alexander and the other founding fathers are described as complex individuals who we lump all together in our thinking but who didn't always agree with each other. They were brave, smart,  and fiercely loyal.  But they were sometimes indecisive and sometimes hot-headed, they had grievances against each other, as the infamous duel proves, and they sometimes had distinct lapses in judgment. George Washington is even described as losing his temper once or twice, the first time I've heard that! I must say, I feel better informed, like I have a more well-rounded view of the founders after reading this account.

            This book mentions briefly Alexander's alleged affair with Maria Reynolds, whose husband James blackmailed him afterwards. It is very discreetly phrased as “he went on seeing her” - your younger students won't really even understand what is referred to.

CONTENT CONSIDERATIONS

Language: one use of “Good God!,” one use of “damned”; both well-documented (one in writing)

Violence: reference to using bayonets in a battle, and a vague description of the duel and mortal wound in Alexander's side.