How Much Do You Know About Alexander Hamilton?

To combat the debt incurred by individual states during the Revolutionary War, Hamilton proposed that the federal government take over the debt, and raise funds by placing a tax on spirits known as the “whiskey tax.” The tax was unpopular, as small farms were taxed at a higher rate than large producers, and it ultimately led to the Whiskey Rebellion in 1791.

After battles between the American and British troops at Lexington and Concord, a group of King’s College students that included Alexander Hamilton joined a New York volunteer militia group called the Corsicans. The Corsicans wore short green coats and leather hats that displayed the words “Liberty or Death.” Hamilton’s work with the group led to him being noticed by George Washington.

In 1788, Alexander Hamilton banned the importation of enslaved people into New York, and his work led to slavery being abolished in the state by 1827. While defending Jay’s Treaty, Hamilton called slavery “as odious and immoral a thing as can be conceived.”

After a devastating hurricane hit his home island of St. Croix in 1772, Alexander Hamilton wrote a letter to his father that changed the course of his life. The quality of the letter written by the then-15-year-old Hamilton was so striking, it was published in the “Royal Danish American Gazette,” and a group of St. Croix businessmen pooled together money to send the talented young man to the United States for formal education.

Alexander Hamilton originally applied to and was accepted at Princeton, but they wouldn't let him pursue the accelerated course of study he wanted, so he ended up at King’s College. He was instrumental in turning King’s College into Columbia University after the war and served as a trustee until his death in 1804.

In addition to originating the role of Alexander Hamilton on Broadway in 2015, Lin-Manuel Miranda created and wrote the smash hit musical, which won 11 Tony awards and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Miranda first read Ron Chernow’s biography of Hamilton on vacation in Mexico, and was inspired to bring the Founding Father to life through rap verses and melodies.

While Alexander Hamilton became a lawyer after resigning from his military commission, he didn’t do it by going to formal law school. He was self-taught, and studied with a few future Supreme Court justices, including William Paterson and John Jay. After less than a year of study, Hamilton passed the legal exam that allowed him to practice law.

“The New York Post” was founded by Alexander Hamilton in 1801 as “The New York Evening Post.” Hamilton started the paper with a circulation of 600 and largely used it to go on political crusades. “The New York Post” in its current form is best known for its punny front page headlines, conservative point of view and “Page Six,” a gossip hub.

In a letter to his friend the Marquis de Lafayette, Hamilton described studying law as “studying the art of fleecing my neighbors.” He was admitted to the bar in 1782, after just six months of self-study. Theatrical in court, Hamilton handled everything from contract rights to constitutional law. He also defended a man in the first murder trial in U.S. history. His co-counsel was none other than Aaron Burr.

Promoting Alexander Hamilton’s ideal of a strong national government, the Federalist Party was the first organized political party in the United States, formed in 1789. In 1792, Hamilton’s political opponents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison created a second party called the Democratic-Republicans to organize against the Federalists. The only Federalist President was John Adams, and the party dissipated by 1816.

Beginning in 1774, representatives from each of the Colonies convened at Carpenters’ Hall in Philadelphia to discuss various issues and grievances. Delegates of the Continental Congress included John Adams, George Washington, and Alexander Hamilton. In 1776, the group approved the Declaration of Independence, and in 1777, they drafted the Articles of Confederation, which served as an early version of the Constitution.

Alexander Hamilton joined forces with future President James Madison and future Chief Justice John Jay to write the Federalist Papers, a series of 87 essays defending the new United States Constitution. As immortalized in the song “Non-Stop” from the celebrated musical “Hamilton,” Jay wrote five essays before getting ill, James Madison contributed 29 essays, and Hamilton wrote the other 51.

Founded in 1784, the Bank of New York was instrumental in securing the first loan for the United States. After a series of mergers, the Bank of New York still exists today under the name BNY Mellon. The bank’s New York City headquarters currently features a 10-foot-tall mahogany clock that Hamilton gave to the organization as a gift in 1797.

Upon President George Washington’s inauguration in 1789, Alexander Hamilton was appointed the first U.S. Treasury Secretary, and became the architect of the nation’s economic development. The financial system he conceived depended on revenues and excise taxes, and he also started the First Bank in 1791.

James Hamilton was a Scottish merchant who went to the Caribbean to seek his fortune. There, he fathered Alexander and his brother, James Hamilton, out of wedlock with Rachel Faucette. He left the family when Alexander was a boy, and they never saw him again. Hamilton called his house in New York City “The Grange,” after his father’s boyhood home in Scotland.

When Alexander Hamilton’s affair with Maria Reynolds went public, it became the first political sex scandal in America. Hamilton published the “Reynolds Pamphlet” to show evidence that payments he made to Reynolds’ husband were his own and not government funds. When Reynolds filed for divorce, her attorney was Aaron Burr.

Although Hamilton served an important role as aide-de-camp (a type of assistant) to General George Washington, he was reportedly eager to see battle. At Yorktown (in Virginia), he finally got his chance when he led an assault on British forces and helped to force their surrender.

On July 11, 1804, Vice President Aaron Burr fatally shot Alexander Hamilton in Weehawken, New Jersey. Hamilton regarded Burr as a dangerous opportunist and Burr grew tired of Hamilton’s vocal opposition, finally challenging him to a duel. At the end of Burr’s life, he was divorced by the wealthy Eliza Jumel and left penniless. The lawyer who represented Jumel? Alexander Hamilton Jr.

In 1790, Alexander Hamilton proposed the formation of a seagoing military organization to enforce customs and navigation laws. At the time he called it the Revenue Marine, but it eventually became the U.S. Coast Guard. As with so many of Hamilton’s ideas, the idea for the Coast Guard was financially motivated, largely intended to combat smugglers and collect tariffs.

Elizabeth (Eliza) Schuyler was born to a prominent New York family. She married Alexander Hamilton in 1780, and throughout the marriage she helped him draft policies and speeches — including George Washington’s Farewell Address. After her husband’s death, she founded New York City’s first private orphanage, helped raise funds for the Washington Monument, and worked to preserve her husband’s legacy.

On January 11 in either 1755 or 1757, Alexander Hamilton was born on the Caribbean island of Nevis, which was a British territory at the time. Nevis later joined with St. Kitts to form the modern-day country of St. Kitts and Nevis.