who was alexander hamilton
Who was Alexander Hamilton? ... To find this real man one must examine several independent sources in attempt to separate the true story of Alexander Hamilton from, pomp, romanticism and national propaganda. ... ) expertise on the subject, Hamilton’s own writings (A. ... ) and a book entitled Hamilton’s Wife (H. ... The sources range fdrom those written while Hamilton was still alive to more contemporaryt accounts. ... Alexander Hamilton was born in the West Indies in the Brithish colony of Nevis. ... All sources agree, however, that he was the illegitimate son of Rachel Faucett (also spelled Fawcett) Levien and an irresponsible drifter of noble Scottish lineage named James Hamilton. ... There she met James Hamilton and, since her previous marriage was still not legally terminated, she did not marry, but lived an man and wife, bearing him two sons: James and Alexander. Although she dies when Alexander was between eleven and thirteen years old she installed in her son a value for education and taught him to speak fluent French. When James left she became a tenant merchant and Alexander got a job working for the West Indies branch of a New York mercantile farm. ... Alexander essentially became a pre-teen orphan despite the fact that his father was still alive. Fate would have it that two of Hamilton’s maternal aunts took him in and, so impressed by his vast intelligence, sent his to preparatory school in New Jersey and later to King’s College in New York (now Colombia University). At school Hamilton was a sharp, bright pupil and during his time in college he wrote three notable pamphlets. Insight into his college years can be found in The Papers of Alexander Hamilton I: 1768-1778 (A. ... This compilation provides personal detail lending the reader Hamilton’s notes on Homer’s Iliad and the Book of Genesis to name a few (A. ... The collection also supplies a “list of Books” Hamilton used at King’s College giving a look into the brilliant mind of the young scholar.