Who was Alexander Hamilton? Study of American history brings to mind his servitude as first secretary of Treasury, support of establishment of a U.S. Bank, his rivalry with Thomas Jefferson and his eventual demise is an illegal gentleman's dual with Aaron Burr. But first, gefore these famous proceedings he was a man, with a past, a personal life and a complex mind filled with countless influences. A "man" is a rather common entity in our world, so it is interesting to trace the path of this particular man from his somewhat huble roots to his current status as an historical celeberty. To find this real man one must examine several independent sources in attempt to separate the true story of Alexander Hamilton from, pomp, romanticism and national propaganda. .
This paper will attempt to relay an objective, somewhat brief, biography and will draw from Forrest McDonald's (F.M.) expertise on the subject, Hamilton's own writings (A.H.), internet sources from Suffolk University's Biography resource center (B.R.C.) and a book entitled Hamilton's Wife (H.W.) by Alice Curtis Desmond. The sources range fdrom those written while Hamilton was still alive to more contemporaryt accounts. All of the texts cited are derived from American sources which is a given concidering the subject matter, but also may prove to be a point of weakness in the pursuit of an unbiased representation.
Alexander Hamilton was born in the West Indies in the Brithish colony of Nevis. The general agreement is that he was born January 11,1757, but, one source, "Gabe Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History"(Gabe Group, 1999 B.R.C.) sets his birth in 1755 at an unspecified month or day. All sources agree, however, that he was the illegitimate son of Rachel Faucett (also spelled Fawcett) Levien and an irresponsible drifter of noble Scottish lineage named James Hamilton.
Rachel was a French Hugenot and daughter of John and Mary (who's own marriage ended in divorce).