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Alexander Hamilton was born January 11, 1755 or 1757 on the island of Nevis, British West Indies.
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In 1773, when he was around 16 years old, Hamilton arrived in New York, where he enrolled in King's College.
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Alexander Hamilton became George Washington's assistant in 1777
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On December 14, 1780, Hamilton married Elizabeth "Eliza" Schuyler, the daughter of Revolutionary War general Philip Schuyler. By all accounts, they enjoyed a strong Relationship through their marriage and would have eight children together.
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Growing restless in his desk job, in 1781, Hamilton convinced Washington to let him taste some action on the battlefield. With Washington's permission, Hamilton led a victorious charge against the British in the Battle of Yorktown.
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In 1784, Hamilton took on the Rutgers v. Waddington case, which involved the rights of Loyalists. It was a landmark case for the American justice system, as it led to the creation of the judicial review system.
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He accomplished another history-making feat in 1784, when he assisted in founding the Bank of New York. In defending the Loyalists, Hamilton instituted new principles of due process.
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In 1787, while serving as a New York delegate, he met in Philadelphia with other delegates to discuss how to fix the Articles of Confederation, which were so weak that they could not persist in keeping the Union intact. During the meeting, Hamilton expressed his view that a reliable ongoing source of revenue would be crucial to developing a more powerful and resilient central government.
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In 1788, Alexander convinced New Yorkers to agree to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
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Alexander served as the nation's first secretary of the treasury starting in 1789.
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Hamilton stepped down from his position as secretary of the treasury in 1795, leaving behind a far more secure U.S. economy to back a strengthened federal government.
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In a letter to his wife dated July 4, 1804, just days before his duel with Burr, Hamilton wrote, “Fly to the bosom of your God and be comforted. With my last idea; I shall cherish the sweet hope of meeting you in a better world."
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On July 12, 1804, in New York, Hamilton died of a gunshot wound that he sustained during a duel with Aaron Burr.
