Information on Alexander Hamilton

1. Facts on Alexander Hamilton
By
Emily Weber

2. Fact #1
• He was an outsider

3. Fact #2
• Was born on the British Island of Nevis,
which is located in the West Indies

4. Fact #3
• He didn’t have an easy childhood

5. Fact #4
• In 1768, a yellow fever epidemic on Saint
Croix took the life of Alexander’s mother

6. Fact #5
• After his mother died, a local family, The
Stevens, took in Alex and his brother

7. Fact #6
• In one letter that Alexander wrote to
Edward Stevens, Alex wrote “I wish there
was a war.”

8. Fact #7
• In August of 1772, a fierce hurricane hit
the West Indies. A local paper published
Alexander’s account of the storm

9. Fact #8
• He earned his Bachelor's degree in only
one year

10. Fact #9
• He worked along side with General George
Washington at the Battles of Trenton and
Princeton

11. Fact #10
• On January 20, 1777 General Washington
asked Hamilton to be his Aide-de-camp

12. Fact #11
• Alexander always believed that slavery
was wrong

13. Fact #12
• During the winter of 1780, the Continental
Army was camped in Morristown, New
Jersey where Alexander fell in love with
Elizabeth Schuyler

14. Fact #13
• On December 14, 1780, 25 year old Alex
married the 23 year old Elizabeth at Eliza’s
estate

15. Fact #14
• Alexander was a hero at the Battle of
Yorktown

16. Fact #15
• Alexander had been studying about law in
his spare time and as admitted to the New
York Bar exam in 1782.

17. Fact #16
• He had 8 kids
– Philip
– Angelica
– Alexander
– James Alexander
– John Church
– William Stephen
– Eliza
– Philip Jr

18. Fact #17
• He had one brother
– James Hamilton

19. Fact #18
• He signed the Declaration of Independence

20. Fact #19
• Married Elizabeth Schuyler on December
13, 1780

21. Fact #20
• Joined the American militia company in
New York called the Corsicans in 1775

22. Fact #21
• He was General Washington’s
right hand man

23. Fact #22
• He wrote 51 out of the 5 essays in
The Federalist Papers

24. Fact #23
• Was the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury

25. Fact #24
• Died at the age of 49

26. Fact #25
• The foremost political figure in American
history who never attained the presidency

27. Fact #26
• He was a proud and sensitive boy

28. Fact #27
• He was mostly self-taught and probably
snatched every spare moment to read

29. Fact #28
• He wrote his way out of poverty

30. Fact #29
• His hurricane letter generated a huge
sensation-even the island’s governor
inquired to find out the young author’s
identity- that a subscription was collected
by local businessmen to send Hamilton up
to North America to be educated

31. Fact #30
• Hamilton boarded a ship in October of
1772 to New York

32. Fact #31
• He might have entered King’s College in
late 1773 or early 1774

33. Fact #32
• In September 1774, he contracted with
Professor Robert Harpur to study math

34. Fact #33
• Alexander at once proved himself a student
of incomparable energy, racing through his
studies with characteristic speed

35. Fact #34
• Alex showed little interest in student
pranks and pratfalls

36. Fact #35
• Alex never had any trouble at making
friends

37. Fact #36
• In his first months at King’s, Alex and
Troup formed a club that gathered weekly
to hone debating, writing, and speaking
skills

38. Fact #37
• On the tiny King’s faculty, it was Miles
Cooper whom likely tutored Alex in Latin,
Greek, theology, and moral philosophy

39. Fact #38
• Alex supported the Tea Party culprits and
faulted the British for punishing the whole
province instead of just the perpetrators.

40. Fact #39
• Alex, never one to fumble an opportunity,
embarked on a comprehensive military
education. With his absorbent mind, he mastered
infantry drills, pored over volumes on military
tactics, and learned the rudiments of gunnery and
pyrotechnics from a veteran bombardier

41. Fact #40
• On August 23, 1775, Alex got his first
unforgettable taste of British military might

42. Fact #41
• Hamilton, joined by fifteen other King’s
College volunteers, signed up for a
hazardous operation to drag some heavy
artillery to safety under the liberty pole on
the Common

43. Fact #42
• Alex assumed an almost paternal
responsibility for the sixty-eight men who
eventually came under his command

44. Fact #43
• Alex, the twenty-one year old captain,
became a popular leader known for sharing
hardships with his gunners and
bombardiers

45. Fact #44
• Before joining General Washington’s
military family, Alex ordered the arrest of a
sergeant, two corporals and a private for
‘mutiny’.

46. Fact #45
• In his waning days as an artillery captain,
Alex confirmed his reputation for
persistence despite recurring health
problems

47. Fact #46
• On January 20, 1777, more than two weeks
after fighting at Princeton, Washington
penned a note to Alex, personally inviting
Alex to join Washington’s staff as an aide-
de-camp.

48. Fact #47
• Washington was extremely fond of Alex,
preferring Alex to Washington’s other
aides.

49. Fact #48
• His motto was “ALL FOR LOVE”

50. Fact #49
• He was adored by French Officers

51. Fact #50
• Alex, twenty-five, was instantly smitten
with Eliza, twenty-two

52. Fact #51
• When he was 10 years old, his
family moved to the island of
St.Croix

53. Fact #52
• Has always been good with
numbers

54. Fact #53
• He never gave up on poetry

55. Fact #54
• When he was a 21-year-old captain, he
became a popular leader known for sharing
hardships with his gunners and
bombardiers

56. Fact #55
• He commanded a post on Bunker
Hill

57. Fact #56
• According to one of his son’s, it
was Harlem Heights that
Washington first recognized
Hamilton’s unique organizational
gifts

58. Fact #57
• When a vacancy opened on
Washington’s staff, Hamilton was
ideally suited to fill it

59. Fact #58
• He was discovered by four
generals:
– Alexander McDougall
– Nathanael Greene
– Lord Stirling
– Washington himself.

60. Fact #59
• On January 20, 1777, slightly more than two weeks after
the fighting at Princeton, Washington penned a note to
Hamilton, personally inviting him to join Washington’s
staff as an aide-de-camp.

61. Fact #60
• Washington was extremely fond of Hamilton, preferring
Hamilton to Washington’s other aides, but he did not
express his affection openly.
• Hamilton always addressed Washington as “Your
Excellency,” and it irked him that he could not penetrate
the general’s reserve

62. Fact #61
• Hamilton was the youngest member of
Washington’s military family

63. Fact #62
• Other aides treated Hamilton affectionately
and nicknamed Hamilton “Ham” or
“Hammie”

64. Fact #63
• He won admirers for his sprightly
personality as well as intelligence

65. Fact #64
• Robert H. Harrison nicknamed Alex “the
little lion”

66. Fact #65
• One thing grew very clear at Morristown:
– Hamilton was girl crazy

67. Fact #66
• Elizabeth Hamilton confirmed that
“Lafayette loved Alex as a brother; their
love was mutual”

68. Fact #67
• During his visit to the Schuyler
mansion, Alex met for the first time
General Philip Schuyler’s second
daughter, 20-year-old Eliza, a
relationship that was to resume
more than two years later

69. Fact #68
• Alex yearned for a command in the
field, but Washington could not
afford to sacrifice his most valuable
aide

70. Fact #69
• From Alex’s days as an artillery
captain, he had kept a pay book
with blank pages in the back; while
on Washington’s staff, he filled 112
pages with notes from his
extracurricular reading

71. Fact #70
• In April of 1779, Alex wrote a long letter to
John Laurens, outlining Alex’s
requirements for a wife

72. Fact #71
• Called Eliza:
– Betsy
– His saucy little charmer
– Little nut brown maid
– His charmer
– His pretty damsel
– My Angel
– Dearest girl
– His happiness
– Counsel

73. Fact #72
• When Alex rode off to Albany in
late November 1780 for his
wedding, it was his first vacation
he had taken in five years of
warfare

74. Fact #73
• Was born a British subject

75. Fact #74
• When he was twelve, he was put out to
work as a clerk