Alexander Hamilton 2 Essay Research Paper Through

Alexander Hamilton 2 Essay, Research Paper

Through American history, few people have made the significant impact that Alexander Hamilton made for himself through his influential and moving use of journalism. Alexander Hamilton was born as the illegitimate son to James Hamilton and Rachel Faucett Lavien in Nevis (a Caribbean island) circa January 11, 1757. Eventually his father would abandon him as well as his brother and mother after moving them to the island of Saint Croix. This turn of events would play a catalystic role in the start of Hamilton’s later thinking. While in Saint Croix, Hamilton observed how slavery drove the economy there as well as how it resulted in the deaths of whites. His first known job was that of a clerk at the trading post of Nicholas Cruger and David Beckman at age eleven. While there, he learned to comprehend the fundamentals of commerce and accounting. Later in 1772, a hurricane hit Saint Croix which resulted in a then seventeen year old Hamilton writing a letter which described the storm, while at the same time questioned human nature and the wrath of God. Because of the letter, which was eventually printed in the local paper, friends began taking up a collection to fund a college education for Hamilton. Hamilton was later accepted into grammar school in Elizabethtown, New Jersey in 1772, and then later into King’s College (now Columbia University). The year 1774 marked the year when Hamilton delivered his first well known public speech in Fields park of New York City (now City Hall Park). The speech defended the Boston Tea Party and brought up the point of democratically chosen delegates to the First Continental Congress. Later that year, he wrote two pamphlets, A Full Vindication of the Measures of Congress from the Calumnies of Their Enemies and The Farmer Refuted, in response to the Loyalist propaganda signed “Westchester Farmer”. Circa 1775, Hamilton joined the New York militia and later became captain of the New York Artillery Company. His status and results later had him noticed by General Nathanael Greene, which later introduced Hamilton to George Washington. Later in 1777, Washington appointed Hamilton as his aide-de-camp and personal secretary. In 1780, Hamilton married Elizabeth Schuyler, daughter of General Philip John Schuyler. With the end of the revolution nearing, Hamilton left the army to study law in Albany, New York. In 1787, Hamilton took part in the Constitutional Convention of Philadelphia where after being outvoted on every measure, sought the help of John Jay and James Madison for writing the essay known as The Federalist. In 1789, President Washington appointed Hamilton as the first secretary of the treasury, but eventually left to practice law in New York City in 1795. Later in 1798, President John Adams appointed Hamilton inspector general of the army when war between France and America seemed imminent.Eventually in the 1800 presidential election, which had resulted in a tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, Hamilton was forced to choose between the two. Regarding Burr as a dangerous man, Hamilton voted in favor of Jefferson. Four years later, this similar action would prove fatal for Alexander Hamilton. In 1804, Burr was running for governor of New York and Hamilton again used his persuasive techniques to have people vote against him. Later an angry Burr provoked an argument with Hamilton, which led to Hamilton agreeing to a duel with Burr to settle the argument. The duel took place in Weehawken, New Jersey on July 11, 1804 and proved fatal for Hamilton who died the next day due to a fatal wound. Why Hamilton accepted the duel will probably never be known, and since his intellect was rather high and well refined, he took part in a rather foolish and risky situation, which could have been resolved by clear and rational thinking. A rather ironic tragedy which ended the life of one of history’s most provocative minds.