Alexander Hamilton Research Paper

Alexander Hamilton was born in the West Indies on the island Nevis. During his lifetime, Hamilton said he was born in 1757, but recently found legal records suggest that the year of his birth was actually 1755. 1755 has been used has his actual birth year for now a few decades. Hamilton may have misconstrued his birth year in order to be a more favorable college applicant to King’s College, now called Columbia College. Hamilton was born to James Hamilton, a businessman from Scotland, and Rachel Fawcett Lavien of French Huguenot descent. Rachel Lavien was married to another man, but was legally separated from him. Hamilton was always very sensitive to this fact. He had a sad and difficult childhood. By the age of twelve, Hamilton’s mother had …show more content…
Washington showed complete trust in Hamilton with several assignments, and the two became close friends. However, Hamilton had an insatiable taste for military victory and seized a slight reprimand from Washington as reason for abandoning his staff position. However, he secured a field command though Washington and won laurels at Yorktown for leading an infantry regiment that captured Redoubt Number 10, a British fortification in the siege of Yorktown in 1781. Hamilton married a daughter of General Philip Schuyler on December 14th, 1780, three years before the end of the American War for Independence. The Schuylers were one of the most distinguished families in New York, giving Hamilton a place in New York society. In 1782, he was admitted to legal practice in New York. Alexander Hamilton was elected as a member of the Continental Congress in 1782 and was an advocate for the Constitution. He wrote several articles arguing for the adoption of the Constitution, perhaps most notably the Federalist Article #10. Hamilton wrote roughly ¾ of the Federalist …show more content…
Hamilton did not think Aaron Burr a choice individual for the presidency because Hamilton beloved in a strong central government, and he did not think Burr was up to the task. Hence, his poor opinion of Burr. After nasty letters, things escalated, and though mutual friends tried to help, they couldn’t. Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel. The duel was set to occur at dawn on July 11, 1804, three years after the tragic death of Hamilton’s firstborn son in a duel in the exact locale; along the bank of the Hudson River beneath a rocky ledge in Weehawken, New Jersey. His son died defending his father’s honor. Hamilton was shot down by Vice President Aaron Burr. Hamilton wrote the night before that he did not intend to even shoot at all. His intentions are disputed, as his guns were found to have special hair trigger sensitivity