Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow is a biography detailing the life of the controversial founding father. Chernow provides in-depth information about every part of Hamilton’s life, from his childhood to his untimely death. The biography starts off in the West Indies, where Hamilton born to Rachel Faucette Levien and James Hamilton. There is some speculation as to when Hamilton was born, but Chernow believes he was born in the year 1755. His birth, however, was quite contentious since his parents were not married, making him a bastard. Alexander Hamilton's early life was filled with grief. His father left the family and his mother died of disease soon, leaving Hamilton an orphan. In his teenage years, Hamilton clerked on the island until a …show more content…
Chernow always writes Hamilton as a victim in times of conflict, which, at times, doesn’t make sense. Hamilton was a very aggressive man who had an incessant need to defend his honor. He would often challenge other men to duels and write scuttlebutt about his political rivals in newspapers using pseudonyms. Chernow makes these activities sound acceptable when Hamilton did them, but if one of his rivals committed the same acts, Chernow makes them sound immoral. This bias can be very distracting from the biography. For example, when Hamilton has an affair with Maria Reynolds, it is leaked by James Monroe. Chernow makes Hamilton sound like an innocent victim, despite the fact that Hamilton put himself in the situation. Also, when Eliza forgives his adultery, Chernow makes it sound as if Hamilton deserved to be forgiven. After the Reynolds Affair, Chernow seems to attempt to write Hamilton as a family man, which is strange because he really didn’t seem to care about his family until after his sex scandal. It is possible that Hamilton’s guilt led him to care for his family more, but, based on the obvious bias in this biography, it is also possible that Chernow uses this as a strategy to coax the reader into forgiving Hamilton. All in all, Chernow’s bias is just distracting and it seems to weaken the biography as
Did you know that Alexander Hamilton is on the 10 dollar bill? The american revolution started when the english redcoats fired into a crowd of unarmed innocent people. The news spread around america quicker than it got to the king. This was a very big point in history. Alexander Hamilton grew up on the island of Nevis, British West Indies on January 1755 or 1747. During the revolution Hamilton was appointed first secretary of the treasury where he helped a lot with the debt that the revolution caused. In 1777 hamilton became George Washington's assistant. Hamilton was also promoted to Lieutenant Colonel of the Continental Army. When he was washington's assistant he wrote a lot of washington's letters and wrote reports on
Alexander Hamilton was born on Nevis in the British West Indies. He was born on January 11 1755 or 1757. Rachel Fawcett and James Hamilton were his parents. His father left him and his mother when he was only ten. He had to get a job at 11 to support his family. When he was twelve his mom got sick and died. Alexander then moved in with his cousin, but sadly the cousin committed suicide. After the cousins death,
Alexander Hamilton was born on January 11, 1755 in Nevis, British West Indies and Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743, Shadwell, VA. They both grew up on plantations and had families and siblings. However, Jefferson had nine siblings while Hamilton only had his younger brother James A. Hamilton. The two men had a great adoration for reading and were brilliant. They were phenomenal writers and had many famous works. They were both founding fathers and were part of Washington’s first cabinet. Even though the two had quite a few similarities, the two could not be more contrasting. Once in Washington’s cabinet, the tension began and only escalated as time went on. Alexander Hamilton and Thomas
The discourse of America, a nation built upon the foundations written by men, Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton contributed a great ordeal of their lives into the creation of it. From similar childhoods to conflicting perceptions of government, Jefferson and Hamilton paved the way for the future of the nation. Through the comparison of Jefferson and Hamilton, by using factors of character, politics, and legacy, it is beyond question that Hamilton’s ambitious personality, politically involved nature, and estate truly resonates with history on a higher account compared to Jefferson.
Alexander’s family history along with his life story is almost as rich as the country’s who he helped to build. "[Alexander's] maternal grandfather, one John Faucette, ...emigrated from France to the West Indies sometime before 1700, ...moved to Nevis, became a planter and took a wife- Mary, [with whom he had children]. Confusion reigns as to whether there were one or two Mary Faucettes or two Faucette couples" (Emery 52). There was a "deed of gift"(Emery 54) between John Faucette and Mary Faucette in 1714 and another record of marriage between John Faucette and Mary Uppington of Nevis on August 21, 1718, leading to the possible conclusions either John had multiple lovers of the same first name at or around the same time, or it is uncertain beyond this point in history as to what is truly known about Alexander Hamilton’s past. Either way, Mary Faucette (Alexander’s grandmother) has been thought to have been plagued with poor luck, so much so that it is even referred to as an "extraordinarily stormy passage" (Emery 54) of a life. Though she appeared to have weathered well- "John Church Hamilton, Alexander's fourth son and first biographer, leaves this record of Rachel's impact on her son: 'He spoke of her as vividly impressed upon his memory' as a woman of intelligence, culture and elegance of form..." (Emery 55)...
Alexander Hamilton was born on the island of Nevis of the British West Indies January eleventh in 1757. He lived with his brother and a single mother. In 1772, Hamilton moved to the United states. He entered the Continental Army in 1776 as the captain of artillery while in New York where he also studied law at King’s College. He was married to Elizabeth Schuyler in 1780. Elizabeth was from a wealthy land holding family, this helped Alexander hold ties to rich and powerful leaders in New York. Alexander Hamilton died in 1804 on July 12. Aaron Burr was the man who killed him in a duel because Mr. Hamilton help Thomas Jefferson win the election for becoming the 3rd president of the United States.
Of the many figures in American History, Alexander Hamilton has proven himself one of the most versatile and influential. His policies and ideals have helped the United States blossom into a prosperous world power. Through his power as secretary of Treasury and his convincing intellectual efforts, he was able to dominate the nations early political environment. Hamilton’s patriotic endeavors have proven themselves to be durable and in the best interests of the United States.
Hamilton cared truly about America and worked diligently to make it a better place financially. Burr on the other hand, seems to me like an opportunist who rose to power but did not seem to care about anything but that power. I believe Hamilton was right when he spoke of Burr as a man who did not care about one thing or another, except profit. Burr saw politics as a game and Hamilton saw it as leading a nation and cared who did it and how it was done. I believe the duel itself also illustrates that Hamilton had more honor in his life. All the way up to the point of the gunfight, Hamilton tried to diffuse the flames, albeit without truly apologizing because of his own stubbornness. I believe his anger at how Burr was with politics made it too difficult for Hamilton to apologize to a man who did not seem to care about anything but profit and having a good
Alexander Hamilton on the other hand grew up on an island of the West Indies. He was born in 1775. Hamilton had some tough skin, as he grew into a young man. When he was a child his family faced bankruptcy. As a child, he had very few opportunities to peruse his education career. However, things turned around as the y...
Alexander Hamilton was born an illegitimate child in 1755 in the West Indies to a financially struggling family (Alexander Hamilton, n.d., para. 2). He did not receive his formal education until he was sponsored by family friends who were impressed by his ambition. He chose a military career and served as George Washington’s secretary and aid. After the revolutionary war, he became a lawyer, served Congress, and founded the Bank of New York. He was also the first secretary of the Treasury. Hamilton had no faith in common people and wanted to control them, “In the general course of human nature, a power over a man's subsistence amounts to a power over his will” (brainquote.com, 2011, p.1).
Alexander Hamilton was born a bastard child in the West Indies and demonstrated great intellectual potential at an early age. He was sent to New York City for schooling and studied at King’s College, now Columbia University. His vision of America took a more capitalistic tone and “he was determined to transform an economically weak and fractious cluster of states into a powerful global force” (Tindall & Shi, 2010). Hamilton advocated a strong central government. He was bold and persuasive and his philosophies quite extraordinary for his time.
Alexander Hamilton was a bastard son, orphan, immigrant, political scientist, soldier, and the first Secretary of the Treasury of the United States of America who transformed not only the country’s banking system but also left a rich legacy that changed America forever. A forgotten founding father, he wrote his way out of poverty at fourteen and later became George Washington’s aide-de-camp and a respected soldier before becoming apart of the first cabinet of the United States. Hamilton not only had a notorious political career, but also personal life, which captivated Americans and heavily influenced his career. Alexander Hamilton’s early life, revolutionary years, years in public service and the cabinet as well as his scandal and devastating
Alexander Hamilton was born as an illegitimate child on the Island of Nevis on January 11, 1757. Alexander Hamilton was educated at what is now Columbia University. Hamilton served as a soldier and Washington’s personal secretary during the Revolutionary War. After the Revolutionary War, he studied law in New York and served in the Continental Congress from 1782-1783(Onager CD-ROM). In 1787 Hamilton...
First of all, let take a look at Alexander Hamilton. In January 11th, 1757, Hamilton was born on the Caribbean island of Nevis. When he was about 12 years old, Hamilton faced many hardships as all of his relatives passed away. This event gave him the resilience to overcome
Alexander Hamilton was born as a British subject on the island of Nevis in the West Indies on the 11th of January 1755. His father, James Hamilton -- Scottish merchant of St. Christopher – was the younger son of a minor Scottish noble. His mother, Rachel Fawcett Levine was married a Danish proprietor of St. Croix named John Michael Levine. Ms. Levine left her husband John and was later divorced from him on June 25, 1759, two years after Alexander was born. His parents soon separated. However, Alexander grew up with his mother and his brother James, living on the ragged edge of poverty. He had no further contact with his father, and when his mother died in 1768, he became an orphan at the age of 11 (Hamilton).