Alexander Hamilton

Alexander Hamilton

Hamilton was one of the most influential of the Founding Fathers. He was a lawyer, author, financier, military officer, delegate, and statesman. He was also an intellectual man who wrote interpretations of the Constitution.

Alexander Hamilton was born as a British subject on the island of Nevis in the West Indies on January 11, 1755. His father was James Hamilton, a Scottish merchant from St. Christopher. His grandfather was Alexander Hamilton, of Grange, Lanarkshire. Hamilton's mother was Rachael Fawcette Levine, of French Huguenot descent. When she was very young, she married a Danish landowner from St. Croix named John Michael Levine. Ms. Levine left her husband and was later divorced from him on June 25, 1759. Under Danish law, Ms. Levine was forbidden from remarrying. Thus, Hamilton's birth was illegitimate. Alexander Hamilton had one brother, James Hamilton.

Alexander Hamilton had a vision of using federal power to modernize the nation. He had many important contributions that are still around in society today. They include the creation of a national debt, federal collection of state debts, creation of a national bank, and a system of taxes through a tax on imports and a tax on whiskey that would pay for it all.

Hamilton's close friendship with George Washington made him one of the most important influences during the president's term. Hamilton wrote many of the President's papers. He became the first Secretary of the Treasury on September 11, 1789. In 1796 he successfully defended a tax on carriages in the Supreme Court's first ruling on the Constitutionality of a law.

Hamilton created the Federalist party which was the first American political party. Thomas Jefferson was Hamilton's opposite, who didn't like the rival of the Republican party. Hamilton retired from the Treasury in 1795 to practice law but returned to the public