Early+Life+Hamilton+p7



Alexander Hamilton was born in 1755...probably. Historians aren't exactly sure when he was born, however, they do know that he was born the illegitimate son of Rachel Lavien and James Hamilton on the British Carribean Island of Nevis. Both of his parents' families did business in the West Indian Trading company. In 1772 he sailed to New York to attend college at Princeton, but was denied. He was later accepted at King's College, which is now referred to as Columbia University. After 3 years of college he enrolled in the continental army, and served under the command of George Washington. Hamilton had a large influence over Washington during the time he served. Born outside the colonies, Hamilton didn't feels strongly for patriotism or loyalty, and because of this he developed an insensitivity to "American's concerns for liberty and fears of centralized authority" (The Enduring Vision, 235). Hamilton feared war with Britain and Spain, and the economic instability that came with it. On February 16th, 1781 Hamilton respectfully resigns from underneath Washington, after showing him disrespect.

Several years later, in October 1787 through August of 1788, in New York he wrote dozens of essays published in news papers called "The Federalist Papers." The main purpose of these essays were to defend and explain the constitution to those wishing against ratification. The state mostly aimed at was New York, as the publications were in New York. The state would eventually ratify the Constitution in July of 1788. Hamilton enlisted the help of many other federalists including John Jay and James Madison. In "Federalists 84" Hamilton disputed the Bill of Rights. The constitution only stated the powers of the central government, and left out the rights of the common man, which would be determined by the individual states. He feared that once individual rights were written down, they would be seen as the //only// rights that the people posess.