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Alexander Hamilton, January 11, 1757 - July 12, 1804 Alexander Hamilton was born on January 11, 1757 on the West Indian Island of Nevis. He was the illegitimate son of Scottish trader, James Hamilton and Rachel Faucett Lavien. His mother died in 1769, around the same time his father went bankrupt. Hamilton joined a countinghouse owned by David Bachman and Nicholas Cruger in St. Croix where he excelled at accounting. In 1772, until 1774, Hamilton attended a grammar school in Elizabethtown, New Jersey, and went on to study at King's College. Hamilton entered the Revolutionary movement in 1774 at a public gathering in New York City with a speech urging the calling of a general meeting of the…  More colonies. That same year, he anonymously wrote two pamphlets entitled, "A Full Vindication of the Measures of Congress from the Calumnies of Their Enemies" and "The Farmer Refuted." When the Revolutionary War began, Hamilton joined the army and became a Captain of artillery, where he served with distinction in the battles of Long Island, White PLains, Trenton and Princeton. He was introduced to George Washington by General Nathaniel Greene with a reccomendation for advancement. Washington made Hamilton his aide-de-camp and personal secretary. He resigned in 1781 after a dispute with the General, but remained in the army and commanded a New York regiment of light infantry in the Battle of Yorktown. Hamilton left the army at the end of the war, and began studying law in Albany, NY. He served in the Continental Congress in 1782-83, before returning to practice law, becoming one of the most prominent lawyers in New York City. In 1786, hamilton participated in the Annapolis Convention and drafted the resolution that led to assembling the Constitutional Convention in 1787. He then helped to secure the ratification of the Constitution of New York with the help of John Jay and James Madison, who together wrote the collection of 85 essays which would become known as "The Federalist." Hamilton wrote at least 51 of the essays. In 1789, Washington appointed him the first Secretary of the Treasury, a position at which he excelled at and gained a vast influence in domestic and foreign issues, having convinced Washington to adopt a neutral policy when war broke out in Europe in 1793. In 1794, Hamilton wrote the instructions for a diplomatic mission which would lead to the signing of Jay's Treaty. He returned to his law practice in 1795. President John Adams appointed Hamilton Inspector General of the Army at the urging of Washington. He was very much involved with the politics of the country though, and focused his attentions on the presidential race of 1800. Hamilton did not like Aaron Burr and went out of his way to make sure that he did not attain a nomination. Similarly, when Burr ran for mayor of New York, Hamilton set about to ruin his chances for that position as well. Burr provoked an argument with Hamilton to force him to duel. Hamilton accepted and the two met on July 11, 1804 at Weehawken, New Jersey. Hamilton was shot and mortally wounded and died on July 12, 1804.  Less

Joanne B. Freeman is assistant professor of history at Yale University. She recently appeared in the PBS American Experience documentary "The Duel", exploring the fatal 1804 clash between Burr and Hamilton.