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Before 2015, it was common to hear that Alexander Hamilton was, by far, the most undervalued of all the American Founding Fathers. But with the explosive popularity of the Broadway musical Hamilton, that statement is no longer accurate. Hamilton fever swept America, and he became one of the most popular Founding Fathers, as fans of the musical flocked to historic sites and bought out shelves of books associated with him.
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On January 20, 2015, Lin-Manuel Miranda debuted his newest show at the Richard Rogers Theater on Broadway
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entitled Hamilton, an American musical. The play quickly exploded in popularity and made a sensation out of one of America's most undervalued founding fathers
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Today, we're going to take a look at 11 badass facts about Alexander Hamilton
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Alexander Hamilton was definitely born on January 11th
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That much is for sure. But the year he was born in is another matter entirely
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And when it comes to that part of his birth date, historians simply can't be sure. Hamilton claimed to be born in 1757
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He listed that as his birth year when he first came to the colonies, and his subsequent writings usually cited the same year
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However, in 1930, historians discovered a 1768 probate document from St. Croix
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which listed the young Hamilton as being 13 years old at that point
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If you do the math, that would mean he was actually born in 1755
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Today, no one knows which is correct, and arguments can be made on either side
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If he was born in 1755, he may have lied to make himself appear to be closer in age to his schoolmates
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On the other hand, if 1757 is correct, the probate document may simply have contained an error
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In fact, many historians have pointed out that the document contains other errors which, at the very minimum
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must call its overall accuracy into question. Whatever the case, no matter how you figure it
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Hamilton still definitely died before he reached the age of 50. Alexander Hamilton is not only the only founding father
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to have a Lin-Manuel Miranda musical written for him, but he also holds the distinction of being the only founding father
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who wasn't born in the mainland North American colonies. Rather, Alexander was born in Nevis
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a tiny island in the British West Indies. As a Caribbean island, Nevis attracted many young British men
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seeking to find riches in the empire. One such man was James Hamilton
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a younger son of the Scottish Laird of Grange in Ayrshire, who was also named Alexander Hamilton
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James had traveled to Nevis, like many others, to find his fortune
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While there, he met Rachel Fawcett, a woman of half British and half French Huguenot descent
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who was estranged from her husband The two lived and had sons together though they never married It would be an understatement to say that Hamilton childhood in the Caribbean was less than ideal When he was just nine his father abandoned their small family allegedly to spare his wife a charge of bigamy
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The couple learned her legal husband, John Michael Lavian, a merchant who was possibly German or Danish
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planned to divorce her under a charge of adultery. Living with James wouldn't have helped that matter much
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Rachel then took her children and moved to St. Croix, where she supported the family by running
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a small store. Sadly, she would die of yellow fever just a few years later on February 19
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1768. Subsequently, her first husband assumed legal control of her estate and took everything
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that had any value. However, Alexander refused to let himself or his future be defined by his
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circumstances. So he became self-educated and distinguished himself while working in a local
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import-export office. In the 1770s, colonial America had just a handful of options for young
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men to undertake courses of study. That being the case, young Alexander Hamilton had to journey to
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the mainland to get a formal education. However, while he hoped to attend Princeton, that particular
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institution rejected his proposal to undertake an accelerated course of study. So by 1773
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Hamilton was enrolled at Manhattan's King's College, which today is known as Columbia University
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Princeton probably came to regret the decision, as Hamilton turned out to be a highly gifted
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student with an appetite and aptitude for learning. But his interests weren't just academic
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The 20-year-old Hamilton also had an eye on the winds of political change. In fact
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he became so swept up in the idea of revolution that he dropped out of school and formed his own
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militia of 25 men. Though clearly a man of words, Hamilton sought to prove that he was also a man of
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action. If you have ever examined a $10 bill, then you already have a decent idea of what Hamilton
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looked like. And there's a good reason that Alexander Hamilton graces American currency
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even though he was never president. Namely, that he was a brilliant financial mind
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whose fiscal policies helped strengthen a burgeoning young nation. But Hamilton wasn't just interested
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in the fiscal policies of the American government as a whole. In 1781, the Continental Congress
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chartered the first bank of the US, and Hamilton along with Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin were among its shareholders Then in 1784 Hamilton looked around and noticed that the New York shipping industry was suffering for lack of its own bank
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So, despite not yet being 30 years old, Hamilton founded the Bank of New York
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along with some friends who became shareholders, like, for example, his buddy, Aaron Burr
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The Bank of New York would remain in business until merged with the Mellon Financial Company in 2007
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In 1787, the Constitution of the United States wasn't that popular. But Alexander Hamilton knew that the country needed it
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So he set out to defend it to its critics. However, despite being an experienced soldier and military leader
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he decided to stand up to his political opponents with something much more effective and much less deadly than physical force, a pen
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Not wanting to go it alone, Hamilton invited fellow Constitution supporters John Jay and James Madison
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to join him in the endeavor. When all was said and done, the team
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had produced a grand total of 85 essays under the pseudonym Publius
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Today, those essays are collectively known as the Federalist Papers. Jay would write just five, and Madison
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would contribute a hefty 29. Meanwhile, Hamilton, prodigy that he was, wrote an astonishing 51 of them
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Alexander Hamilton was happily married to Elizabeth Schuyler, a daughter from a prominent New York family. Nonetheless, he strayed from his
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marriage in 1791 when he began an affair with 23-year-old Maria Reynolds. Reynolds was a married
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woman, and her husband quickly turned the affair to his advantage by blackmailing Hamilton. As if
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cheating on his wife wasn't bad enough, Hamilton went on to publicly admit to the affair by
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publishing a full confession, assuring that he was never going to be president. The affair put a
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strain on Hamilton's marriage because, well, you know, adultery. Maria Reynolds sued her husband
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for divorce in 1793 and ironically used his friend and future killer, Aaron Burr, as her lawyer
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In 1800, Hamilton became part of the defense for 24-year-old Levi Weeks, a carpenter from New York
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City. Weeks had been accused of murdering Elma Sands and putting her corpse into a well. The
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defense team won largely because the state's case against Weeks was well weak But Hamilton wasn the only member of Weeks legal defense His old cohort Aaron Burr the man who would ultimately take Hamilton life at an infamous duel at Weehawken was also on the team
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Yeah, that's right. Hamilton and his own murderer ironically worked together to acquit a man accused of murder
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Life can have a sense of humor. Alexander Hamilton grew up in the Caribbean, which was the center of British slavery
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It was there that he probably first witnessed the inhumanity that defined the system
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In 1785, Hamilton joined the New York Manumission Society, an organization dedicated to gradually
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ending slavery. Biographer Ron Chernow, upon whose book the hit musical was based, even characterizes
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Hamilton as a fervent abolitionist. At the same time, however, Hamilton's attitudes towards slavery, like many of the founding
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fathers, were inconsistent. Indeed, the family of Hamilton's wife owned slaves in New York
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While he certainly appeared much more abolitionist on the topic than many of his contemporaries
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he was still very much a product of his time, and things were murky, to say the least
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Though Alexander Hamilton is best known for his engineering of America's financial system
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he was also a prolific writer. So it should be no surprise that he also founded a newspaper
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What may come as a surprise, though, is that the paper he established in 1801 was none other than
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the New York Post, which continues to run to this day. It's also likely that he founded the paper to
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be a publishing machine for his Federalist Party. Hamilton is probably most known in history for the
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fact that he died in a duel at the hands of Vice President Aaron Burr, the guy who, sadly for
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Hamilton was not throwing away his shot. Burr was frustrated with his old friend after Hamilton had
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repeatedly attacked Burr's abilities. Burr demanded satisfaction, and Hamilton was too honorable to
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refuse. Though dueling was a fixture of life at the turn of the 19th century, both in America and
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abroad, it was still a seriously risky business. Hamilton knew this all too well. In 1801, his
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eldest son, Philip, had perished in a duel. But that didn't stop Hamilton from meeting Aaron Burr
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at the dueling ground on the morning of July 11, 1804, in Weehawken, New Jersey
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The duel commenced, and Burr shot Hamilton in the stomach. Hamilton's death was probably agonizing
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He finally passed away 31 long hours after the duel. Well, at least he got a musical out of it