After reading the most recent biography of Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow, I was impressed by Hamilton’s brilliance and creativity. He not only built several systems for the newly founded country but did much of it on his own. He fearlessly took on new projects and faithfully served the Constitution, maintaining the unity of the country.
Although I knew a little of Hamilton’s history—he was orphaned as a child, had a passion for writing, contributed to the Federalist Papers, collaborated with James Madison and John Jay and died in a duel—his productivity, ingenuity and development of systems that formed the economic framework of the country were impressive.
The monumental tasks he took on and the criticisms and attacks he incurred are worth reviewing.
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Graphic: Book Cover Screenshot
Upon leaving St. Croix he was able to enlist the financial assistance of family members to help him make his way in this country. Their help was modest but critical to laying the groundwork for his future success. His brilliance assisted him in his legal studies at a young age:
Hamilton raced through his legal studies with quicksilver speed. By July, just six months after starting his self-education, he passed the bar exam and was licensed as an attorney who could prepare cases before the New York State Supreme Court.
He was one of the writers of the Federalist Papers, which helped to establish the foundation of our government:
In the final tally, The Federalist Papers ran to eighty-five essays, with fifty-one attributed to Hamilton, twenty-nine to Madison, and only five to Jay.
He was often criticized for favoring many aspects of British systems, and was even accused of favoring monarchy, which couldn’t have been farther from the truth:
In fact, everything that Hamilton planned to create to transform America into a powerful, modern nation-state—a central bank, a funded debt, a mint, a customs service, manufacturing subsidies, and so on—was to strike critics as a slavish imitation of the British model.
During the Revolutionary War, he became an irreplaceable aide to General George Washington, who relied on him to complete work well above his station. He wrote orders, correspondence and other documents on the General’s behalf.
But early in Washington’s presidency, Hamilton was a target of Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson’s criticism. Hamilton was a Federalist, which Jefferson mischaracterized as supportive of monarchy and delegating power to the states. Jefferson supported the Republicans who believed in a strong central government. Jefferson was so vehement in his opposition to Hamilton (who became Secretary of the Treasury) that Hamilton was obsessed with protecting his honor against Jefferson’s lies and misrepresentations:
Far from heeding Washington’s call to desist from attacking Jefferson, Hamilton stepped up his efforts. Increasingly bitter, he was incapable of the forbearance Washington requested. [snip]
The furious exchanges between Hamilton and Jefferson had hardened into a mutual vendetta that Washington was powerless to stop. Since he [Hamilton] saw both his personal honor and the republic’s future at stake, he fought with his full arsenal of verbal weapons. Again and again in his career, Hamilton committed the same political error: he never knew when to stop, and the resulting excesses led him into irremediable indiscretions.
Jefferson proved to be a duplicitous and hateful man. Until Hamilton’s death, Jefferson and his colleague Madison continued to attack Hamilton:
Even as Jefferson mouthed sedative pledges of peace, he and Madison were secretly orchestrating the first concerted effort in American history to expel a cabinet member for official misconduct. They had come to regard Hamilton as a grave threat to republican government, a monarchist bent on destroying the republic—all without any proof. [snip]
One Jefferson resolution exposed the true intent behind his vendetta: ‘Resolved, That the Secretary of the Treasury has been guilty of maladministration in the duties of his office and should, in the opinion of Congress, be removed from his office by the President of the United States.’ Despite Madison’s support, the House roundly voted down these resolutions.
Hamilton did not get along with President John Adams either, although both men were Federalists. Hamilton’s secret communications with Adams’ cabinet, (which had actually been Washington’s cabinet first) didn’t help matters.
But then came the infamous duel. As attorneys, Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton were professional rivals but mostly got along with each other–until they didn’t. Their dispute led to a duel, and the factors that led up to the duel were so convoluted they make little sense to the modern world. There were ways to avoid a duel, but Hamilton, in spite of his growing disapproval of dueling, was determined:
Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton had moved from frosty words to a mutual and irreversible commitment to a duel. Burr was deliberately making impossible demands, asking Hamilton to deny that he had ever maligned Burr, at any time or place, in his public or private character. Hamilton could not sign such a document, which would have been untrue and which Burr might have brandished in future elections as an endorsement. [snip]
In contemplating the duel, Hamilton may have miscalculated, may have been egregiously foolish, may have talked himself into the mad and elliptical logic of dueling, but he definitely was not in a suicidal state of mind.
As for the duel with Hamilton, Burr almost never showed any remorse.
Chernow shares many more stories about Alexander Hamilton and his service to this country as well as his personal life: his service during the Revolutionary War was outstanding. Despite an illicit affair, his devotion to his wife and family was much admired. His friends were devoted to him and he to them and he was generous to those in need.
After Hamilton was killed by Burr, Hamilton’s wife, Eliza, found herself nearly penniless. Friends and family reached out to help her, and her dedication to the poor remained intact:
On March 16, 1806, less than two years after the duel, Eliza and other evangelical women cofounded the New York Orphan Asylum Society, the first private orphanage in New York. Perhaps nothing expressed her affection for Hamilton more tenderly than her efforts on behalf of orphans.
Hamilton’s overwrought disposition and poor personal decisions are frustrating, but his many accomplishments are admirable. Chernow sums up Hamilton’s contributions:
Under the tutelage of Washington, Adams, and Hamilton, the Federalists had bequeathed to American history a sound federal government with a central bank, a funded debt, a high credit rating, a tax system, a customs service, a coast guard, a navy, and many other institutions that would guarantee the strength to preserve liberty. They activated critical constitutional doctrines that gave the American charter flexibility, forged the bonds of nationhood, and lent an energetic tone to the executive branch in foreign and domestic policy.
There are many reasons to thank Alexander Hamilton for his dedication to America. Chernow’s book is an outstanding addition to understanding our nation’s founding.
This article was originally published at www.americanthinker.com
