Alexander Hamilton
Born on the isle of Nevis in the Caribbean in 1855, Alexander Hamilton rose to become a founding father and one of the greatest economists in American history. Hamilton began his life humbly, an illegitimate child of merchant James Hamilton and Rachael Lavien. As a young man, he worked for a trading firm and his talent as a merchant quickly became evident. His talents were so great that his employers sent him off to college, where he attended King�s College in New York, now Columbia University. His education and brilliance quickly moved him up in society. He became a forerunner of the Constitution, a member of Washington�s cabinet, and in his later years a powerful lobbyist.
After college, Hamilton became a captain in the American Continental Army and a secretary under General George Washington. Towards the end of the Revolution, Hamilton married above himself in society, to the wealthy Elizabeth Schuyler. In 1782, Hamilton began to practice law and became on of the most prominent citizens of New York. Selected as a delegate to the weak Congress of the Confederation, Hamilton began to advocate a stronger central government. Hamilton wrote The Continentalist, a series of six essays in which he called for a congress to revise the Articles of Confederation (O�Brien 33). The Articles gave congress virtually no power, and many politicians, including Hamilton and powerful Virginian James Madison were calling for revision. Madison called for a meeting of the states in Annapolis, Maryland, with the goal to give Congress the power to regulate trade. Very few delegates attended and the convention was a failure. But out of this failure sprung a relationship between Hamilton and Madison, two influential men bent on strengthening the central government, this relationship would lead to the Constitutional Convention and a dramatic and much needed change for American government.
Hamilton, who had attended the failed conference at Annapolis, began to convince other politicians of the need for a revision of the Articles. With help from James Madison and increased destabilization of the nation caused by Shay�s Rebellion, a convention was held in Philadelphia in 1787. Hamilton was chosen as a delegate from New York, though he and then Governor George Clinton disagreed on the power of the central government. Hamilton�s plan for the new government included a bicameral legislature, consisting of an Upper House in which members were chosen for life by electors chosen by property holders and lower house elected by all voters. He also called for the creation of a powerful national executive who would be selected for life by electors chosen by voters (O�Brien 42). The executive would have the power to veto laws and select state governors. This plan modeled after England�s government was seen as much too conservative by many of the American people. Though Hamilton�s ideas were modified greatly in the Constitution, the proposed document did call for a strengthened national government and a bicameral legislature. Hamilton strongly supported the Constitution, and with the help of James Madison and John Jay, wrote the Federalist, a series of essays that advocated the adoption of the Constitution. These essays gave logical reasons to why the Constitution is necessary and are still known as the premier explanation of the original intentions of the American system of government. Hamilton�s work paid off and the Constitution was ratified. George Washington became president and appointed Hamilton as Secretary of Treasury, thus beginning a new challenge in Hamilton�s life.
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