Alexander Hamilton is most recognized for his picture on the ten dollar bill. He is one of two non-presidents pictured on the bills printed in the U.S. today. He went from humble beginnings on a small island in the Caribbean and became the first Secretary of Treasury . He had many conflicts with people along the way which led to his famous and fatal duel with Aaron Burr. Despite his troubles he is widely recognized as the secretary of treasury the U.S. ever had which secured his place on the ten dollar bill and some say he was the best.
Alexander Hamilton was born in Nevis,a small island in the Caribbean, on January 11, 1757. His mother had run away from a previous husband and had two children with James Hamilton. Even though his mother and father lived together, they weren't married. The family moved around alot and were in St. Croix when Hamilton’s father moved again to St. Kitts and his family stayed behind. He had left when Hamilton was very young and his mother opened a general store on the island. Hamilton and his mother got sick with yellow fever in 1767 and he got better but his mother died. He was hired as a clerk at an export trading firm at 12 years old in St. Croix. He was smart, read several books, and was good at his job. The people on St. Croix saw this and several of the wealthier individuals raised money and paid to get him to America because he was so smart. He got to America and started at King's College in 1772 and studied law. He befriended several people and started a group that trained fighting skills after classes. When the revolution came, he and his group were ready to fight.
When the war started, he joined it in 1776. He became captain of the New York artillery when he stole British cannons in Boston. Several generals saw how brave and smart Hamilton was and tried to hire him. He accepted George Washington's offer and worked as an aide-de-camp. Because Hamilton was on Washington's staff, Washington tried keeping him out of the fight. Hamilton didn't like this and wanted to be in the action. In the middle of the war, he married Elizabeth Schuyler on December 14, 1780. During the war, he quit working for Washington because he wouldn’t let him fight. He moved his family to the east side of the Hudson river. Soon Washington got Hamilton back and let him lead a small unit of men. His wife Eliza returned to Albany when this happened because she was expecting their first child. In October of 1781, Hamilton met up with Washington, and on the fourteenth he led his men against the British and the Continental Army won. The war went on two more years, but this battle is seen as a turning point. Hamilton became a hero and a father! Eliza had a son named Philip on the 22nd of January, 1782.
After the war, Hamilton went back to practicing law and regular life. Hamilton and several others wrote a constitution and each of the states accepted it. This new nation needed a president and George Washington won the vote by a landslide. Washington got to choose a group of people to help him lead and this group was the Cabinet. Hamilton stopped his law practice when Washington chose him for a seat in the cabinet as the first Secretary of Treasury. He did very well as Secretary of Treasury and founded the first Treasury Department and the first bank. Many people today say he was the best Secretary of Treasury in America’s history. When John Adams became president, he chose a new cabinet so Hamilton was no longer Secretary of Treasury. He returned to his practice of law and became a lawyer.
During his career, he had many political disputes as well. Thomas Jefferson and Hamilton had very separate ideas on how the government should be run, which led them to argue. Hamilton also didn't get along with Aaron Burr. In the presidential elections of 1800, Burr and Jefferson had the same amount of votes. The House of Representatives had to decide who would be president. Hamilton urged the federalists to vote for Jefferson instead of Burr, and Jefferson became president, with Burr vice-president. When Burr lost the elections for governor of New York in 1804, he blamed Hamilton partly because he had urged others to vote for Morgan Lewis, causing Burr to lose. Later at a dinner party, Hamilton criticized Burr, saying he “was a dangerous man, one who ought not to be trusted with the reins of government.” A guest at the dinner party wrote this in a letter that got into the hands of a newspaper. The paper printed the letter and when Burr read it he was angry and so challenged Hamilton to a duel.
Hamilton and Burr met for their fatal duel on July 11, 1804 in Weehawken, New Jersey, after friends failed to resolve the conflict. When Hamilton fired, he hit a tree intentionally, but when Burr fired, he hit Hamilton. Burr hurried away and Hamilton was rushed to a doctor. Hamilton died the next day at 2:00 pm. All business in New York was closed for his funeral. Hamilton was buried at Trinity Church. Eliza didn't attend the funeral though, because she was so sad. Many people wanted Burr punished for killing Hamilton. He was, but in more ways than one. First, he was indicted for murder in New York and New Jersey. After giving a farewell speech to Congress, he fled. A few years later he was tried for treason for trying to lead an invasion into Spanish Louisiana. Once Burr was acquitted he moved to Europe.
Hamilton was a very successful founding father, going from orphan to Secretary of Treasury. His portrait is on the ten dollar bill because of his role as Secretary of Treasury. We continue to rely on his banking system, and the bank he founded is the Bank of New York and it still stands.His framework for how government is run in the U.S. is still used today and quoted by the Supreme Court Justices. Jefferson had a bust of Hamilton made and put it across from a bust of himself in homage to his former adversary in his home in Monticello. He is remembered not only by the ten dollar bill but also in books and even a recently made musical.