Alexander Hamilton

By: Zach

Alexander Hamilton was born on January 11, 1755 or 1757, the exact date is unknown. Alexander was a great student at King's College, a high class college in New York. When Hamilton was applying to join the military, he most likely lied about his age to join. It took at least 200 years to finally establish a proper monument for Alexander Hamilton. Now you will embrace his early life, his military experiences, his political life, and last you will learn about his death. 

Hamilton left for New York City in 1772. When he arrived in America, he went to Kortright to pick up his “allowance” that his parents left for him. He’s an orphan. He made a friend in Hercules Mulligan, a spirited, outgoing Irishman. For the next year, he lived in the upstairs of Hercules’ tailor shop. Then the next year when he was 18 years old, he applied for King's College.

After only two years of college, he began his military experience. “In 1775, discounting his education, he founded a volunteer military company”(1). Next he joined the U.S. military. After a couple of years in the U.S. military, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and was made General Washington's Aide-de-Camp. This means to be “a military officer who assists another high-ranking officer”(8). He received this position because Washington was impressed by Hamilton's writing skills. After a year, he was sent to spend the winter of 1777-1778 with General Washington and the Continental Army at Valley Forge. He was also in the battle of Yorktown. He had gathered the French to be a wall with their navy which helped make the battle a success.

Equally important is his time in politics and with his family. On December 14, 1780, Alexander Hamilton married Elizabeth (Eliza) Schuyler, who came from a VERY wealthy and prominent New York family. He was the Secretary of Treasury for the U.S. One of his accomplishments was starting the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia, where it stayed even after the capital moved to Washington D.C. Since he was the first Secretary of Treasury, his image was put on the ten dollar bill. He had eight children; Philip, John Church, William S., James Alexander, Eliza, Alexander Jr., Phillip, and Angelica.

Finally, Hamilton lost a duel that ended his life. The people asked Hamilton who he would vote for to be President and he answered by telling the people that he would vote for Thomas Jefferson and not Aaron Burr. That made Aaron Burr mad because he thought that he and Hamilton were close friends. At dawn on July 11, 1804, Hamilton was shot right above his right hip by Aaron Burr. When he was falling he fired his shot and it sailed above Burr’s head and wedged itself in a tree behind Burr. Three years early, Hamilton’s oldest son Philip had died on the same island, Weehawken in New Jersey, while dueling like his father.

 

In conclusion, I think that Alexander Hamilton was an incredible person. I’m very glad that he fought in the Revolutionary War. He was the FIRST Secretary of Treasury, that’s just awesome. Hamilton was one of our very important founding fathers. That is just a slim, very slim part about Hamilton's life.

Sources:
Fritz, Jean, and Ian Schoenherr. Alexander Hamilton: The Outsider. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2011. Print.
Maranzani, Barbara. "5 Things You Didn’t Know About Alexander Hamilton."History.com. A&E Television Networks, 11 Jan. 2012. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.
"Alexander Hamilton." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.
DeConde, Alexander. "Alexander Hamilton." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.
"Hamilton – Official Broadway Site - Get Tickets." Hamilton. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.
"EasyBib: The Free Automatic Bibliography Composer." EasyBib. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.
"Aide-de-camp." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 01 May 2016.

Pictures.
"Odd Things About King's College, Cambridge." The Tab Cambridge. N.p., 20 Nov. 2013. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.
"Alexander Hamilton Archives - The Imaginative Conservative." The Imaginative Conservative. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.
Sarudy, Barbra Wells. "18C American Women." 18C American Women. Blogger, 2009. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.
"Hamilton-burr-duel." WeLearnToday. N.p., 10 Aug. 2012. Web. 29 Apr. 2016.

_____________________
Presentation Notes:

"Hello! I just helped G. Washington count and round up all of the British siolders from the battle. I was born on January 11, 1776, I should of been born in a castle, but my dad left to find his own way."