Alexander hamilton biography summary example
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Where Was Alexander Hamilton Born?
Hamilton was born on the Caribbean island of Nevis in either or His father, the Scottish trader James Hamilton, and mother, Rachel Faucette Lavien, weren’t married. Rachel was still married to another man at the time of Hamilton’s birth, but had left her husband after he spent much of her family fortune and had her imprisoned for adultery.
Hamilton’s father abandoned the family in and his mother died two years later. Hired as a clerk in a trading company on St. Croix when he was just 11, Hamilton gained wider attention after he published an eloquent letter describing a hurricane that had hit the island in Locals helped raise money to send him to America to study, and he arrived in New York in late , just as the colonies were gearing up for a war for independence from Great Britain.
Rise from Obscurity
While studying at King’s College in New York (now Columbia University), Hamilton got involved in the colonial cause, writing pamphlet
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Who Served Here?
Portrait of Alexander Hamilton
John Trumbull,
Alexander Hamilton was born in Charlestown, Nevis, in the West Indies on January 11, (or ), to James Hamilton, a Scottish merchant of St. Christopher, and Rachel Fawcett. Rachel's father was a Huguenot physician and planter. While very young, she had been married to and divorced from a Danish proprietor on St. Croix. After her divorce, the court prohibited her remarriage. The marriage to James Hamilton was acceptable socially in the West Indies, but not elsewhere. The union resulted in the birth of two sons, but they were living apart less than 10 years later. Rachel and her boys lived on St. Croix, dependent on her relatives. She passed away in His father survived until — but the boys were virtually orphans before they were even teenagers.
At the age of 12, Hamilton began work as a clerk in a general store, but the boy had a keen intellect and ambitious goals. He was an excellent writer, in French as well
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Alexander Hamilton
Post-War Accomplishments ()
After his military service, Hamilton returned to New York where he passed the bar exam to practice lag. Defending a British loyalist in , he helped establish the principle that courts have the right and responsibility to interpret law. Judicial review remains a cornerstone of the American legal system today.
Hamilton also helped found the Bank of New York to reenergize the war-torn economy. In , he helped to establish the Bank of New York. In , the Bank of North America was the first bank established in the United States in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. To assist New York commerce, Hamilton wrote the bank’s constitution. This document inspired other banks to follow a similar model.
In , Hamilton was appointed to the Congress of the Confederation as a representative from New York and later served as an assemblyman in the New York State Legislator. In , as a member of Congress, Hamilton attended the Constitutional Convention at Indepe