Alexander Hamilton: The Life And Life Of Alexander Hamilton

Founding father Alexander Hamilton was born on January 11th, although the year is unclear, it is suggested that he was born in 1755 or 1757. He was born on the island of Nevis in the British West Indies. Alexander Hamilton’s parents were Rachel Fawcett Lavien and James Hamilton. At the time of Alexander's birth, Rachel was married to John Lavien, a much older man who she had been pressured by her parents to marry when she was just a teenager. They had a son together and his name was Peter. Later on, Hamilton’s mother moved and met another man named James Hamilton. They had a son together who was Alexander’s older brother named after their father, James. After moving back to St. Croix., James Sr. abandoned the family when Alexander was a little

If things weren’t bad enough for Hamilton, in 1768 his mother became ill and died at the age of 38. Later on Hamilton started working as an accounting clerk in an mercantile in St. Croix. Alexander Hamilton was first exposed to international trading (including the importing of slaves) and learned about business. Later on, Hamilton impressed a man named Hugh Knox with a letter he had written describing a hurricane that hit the island in 1772. In 1773, when he was around 16 years old, Hamilton arrived in New York, where he enrolled in King's College. In 1774, he wrote his first political article defending the Patriots against the beliefs of British loyalists. Hamilton saw himself capable of becoming a self-made man. Set on learning through hands-on experience, he left King's College before graduating to side with the Patriots in their protest of British-imposed taxes and commercial business regulations. In 1775, when the Revolutionary War began, Hamilton became part of the New York Provincial Artillery Company and fought in the battles of Long Island, White Plains and Trenton. In 1777, after he fought in the battles of Brandywine Creek, Germantown and Princeton, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel of the Continental