Biography of Alexander Hamilton

Biography of Alexander Hamilton Summary

Alexander Hamilton was most likely born on January 11, 1757, although the exact year of his birth is unknown. Hamilton was born on the Caribbean island of Nevis or St. Kitts to Rachel Fawcett and James Hamilton, but he spent the majority of his youth on the island of St. Croix. His formal education as a child was minimal. When his mother died in 1768, Hamilton took his first job as a clerk in the offices of merchant Nicholas Cruger, keeping Cruger's business records, and coordinating business efforts between the merchant ship captains, government officials, and planters. Cruger and a local Presbyterian minister, Reverend Hugh Knox, recognized Hamilton's genius and persuaded him to leave St. Croix for New York City. Alexander left the island in 1772, never to return again.

In New York, Hamilton attended several preparatory academies and schools to prepare himself for college. He interviewed with John Witherspoon of the College of New Jersey, which is now known as Princeton, but eventually enrolled in King's College, which is now known as Columbia. In 1776, Hamilton withdrew from King's College and joined a local New York militia to fight in the American Revolution against the British. During his first year of service, Hamilton served as an artill...

... middle of paper ...

...entirely out of the political world after his resignation, but his involvement in politics after the late 1790s did his cause more harm than good. In the election of 1800, for example, Hamilton inadvertently split the Federalist Party to allow his rival, Thomas Jefferson, to become President of the United States.

In 1804, Hamilton wrote a series of essays against another rival, Aaron Burr that was partly responsible for Burr's loss in that year's New York gubernatorial race. Burr blamed Hamilton for his loss and challenged Hamilton to a duel in which he shot Hamilton. Hamilton died the next day on July 11, 1804, at the age of forty-seven.