The Bridgeville Area Historical Society welcomed back Jack Puglisi for its March program meeting. His presentation featured Alexander Hamilton, whom he credits with being second only to George Washington among that remarkable group of statesmen we have immortalized as the “Founding Fathers”. Jack prefaced his talk with a caveat: his information was based solely on history; he has not seen the recent Broadway show based on Hamilton’s remarkable life.
Alexander Hamilton was born on January 11, either in 1755 or 1757, on the island of Nevis in the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean. He was born out of wedlock, abandoned by his father, moved to St. Croix, and was orphaned in 1768 when his mother died. Fortunately, Thomas Stevens, a merchant, took Alexander in, and he was able to find employment with an import-export firm as a clerk. Because of his illegitimate status he was denied a formal education, a deficiency for which he made up by extensive reading. Somehow he found a way to come up with enough money to go to North America for an education.
In New York, in the Fall of 1774, he enrolled at Kings College (now Columbia University). There he quickly became an advocate of the Revolutionary Cause. When news of Lexington and Concord reached Kings College, Hamilton and his friends organized a volunteer militia company. After a successful raid on a British battery yielded artillery pieces, they became an artillery company with Hamilton as captain.
They then participated successfully in a number of battles where he distinguished himself sufficiently to become a member of Washington’s personal staff. Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Hamilton eventually became Washington’s chief staff aide, a role he held for four years. In 1781 Washington acceded to Hamilton’s request for an active command, just in time for him to further distinguish himself by capturing Redoubt No. 10 at Yorktown, a major factor in that victory.
Hamilton resigned from the army early in 1782, read law for six months, was admitted to the Bar, and was appointed to the Congress of the Confederation as a representative of New York. In the latter assignment he became acquainted with James Madison. Hamilton resigned in 1783 to focus on his law practice. In 1784 he was involved in the founding of the Bank of New York, the third bank to be established in the new nation. He participated in the 1786 Annapolis Convention, where he drafted its resolution for a constitutional convention.
In 1787 Hamilton, a New York State Assemblyman, was chosen as one of three delegates to the Constitutional Convention. Because of his experience in the army, he was convinced of the necessity for a strong federal government, in direct contrast with the other two delegates, strong “states-rights” advocates. The Constitution that was finally accepted was a compromise between both extremes; Hamilton supported it enthusiastically nonetheless. He then joined with John Jay and James Madison to write the Federalist Papers, a series of eighty-one essays promoting passage of the Constitution.
Following Washington’s election, Hamilton was selected to be the first Secretary of the Treasury. During the next six years his influence on the nation’s economic life was so great that it is still obvious today. The establishment of federal taxes and import duties, the strengthening of public credit, the assumption of state Revolutionary War debts by the Federal government, and the incorporation of a national bank all were hard sells to those founding fathers favoring strong individual states, eventually resulting in a schism that gave birth to political parties – the Federalists (Adams and Hamilton) and the Democratic-Republicans (Jefferson and Madison).
The speaker skipped over the Whiskey Rebellion, much to the dismay of members of the audience who consider themselves experts on that topic. The imposition of a significant excise tax on the manufacture of whiskey was particularly onerous on Western Pennsylvania farmers for whom Monongahela Rye Whiskey was their cash crop. Enforcement of the tax led to escalating unrest, culminating with the burning of John Neville’s mansion, Bower Hill, by protestors. Hamilton’s powerful federal government demonstrated its authority by sending an army 13,000 men strong here and placing the whole area under martial law. Hamilton himself led the army and supervised the notorious “Terrible Night” when suspected rebels were routed out of their beds and marched into jails.
Hamilton resigned from the Treasury in 1794, but remained close to Washington. He unsuccessfully attempted to manipulate the election of 1796 in an effort to keep John Adams out of the Presidency. When tensions with France initiated the Quasi-War in 1798, Washington was called out of retirement to serve as commander-in-chief of the Army; he had Hamilton promoted to major general in full command of the troops. Fortunately, the conflict was restricted to naval encounters.
The election of 1800 was conducted under Constitutional rules that failed to anticipate political parties. Each elector had two votes. The candidate with the most votes became President; second most, Vice President. This election ended with the two Democratic-Republican candidates (Jefferson and Aaron Burr) tied with 73 electoral votes apiece. Jefferson was the intended Presidential candidate, but Burr somehow managed to upset his plans. This threw the election into the House of Representatives where, after thirty-five votes failed to break the tie, Hamilton convinced the New York electors to support his old enemy, Thomas Jefferson, whom he disliked less than he did Burr. This dislike eventually led to the famous duel in 1804 in which Aaron Burr ended the meteoric career of this highly influential Founding Father.
Like so many other politician/statesmen who followed him, Alexander Hamilton had numerous qualities that threatened his categorization of greatness. Overall however, his accomplishments in thirty short years certainly warrant a place in our Pantheon of all-time Greatest Americans.
The Society’s next program meeting is scheduled for 7:30 pm, Tuesday, April 25, 2023, in the Chartiers Room of the Bridgeville Volunteer Fire Department. Carlene Young’s subject will be “Discovering a Family History”.