Alexander Hamilton is another of the Founding Fathers who never became President. That, however, did not deter his contributions to the new democracy. As one of the authors of the Federalist Papers, Hamilton was a firm supporter of the Constitution and was a key figure in its ratification.
Hamilton had been a banker and, as such, was appointed by President George Washington as the first United States Secretary of the Treasury. He was responsible for the being the leader in the financial philosophy of the new country. He established a National Bank in 1791 and the United State Mint in 1792.
At the time, most coins in circulation were Spanish coins. Hamilton set the wheels in motion for the minting of a United States coin about the size and weight of the Spanish dubloon. It was also Hamilton who designed a U.S. money system based on a the decimal, place-value system we still used today rather than the more confusing Spanish and British coinage. That U.S. money was already in a decimal-based system, when the nation moved toward the metric system in the 21st Century, our money was already in a metric system is due to the financial wisdom of Alexander Hamilton
One of the things he did was to allow the national government to assume the state's debts following the war. He also interpreted the implied powers of the Constitution to include the right of the national government to to incur debt when necessary
Hamilton was adopted by a staunch Presbyterian family in the Caribbeans where he was born. As such, he was a believer in Jesus Christ and considered himself to be a Christian. His adopted family saw to it that he received a fine education. He became a wealthy man as a result. He, too, came under the influence of the Diest philosophy of his day. As an adult, he was a nominal Episcopalian who attended services on a sporadic basis.
He is probably best remembered by most people for his famous duel with Aaron Burr. Hamilton opposed Burr in his run for governor in 1804. He was very vocal in his opposition which Burr took as a libelous insult. When Burr lost the election, he blamed it on Hamilton and challenged him to a duel.
Hamilton was torn between what he felt was his obligation as a gentleman to agree to the duel (which was an accepted practice for settling disputes in that day) and his Christian convictions against taking another life. He told friends that he would accept the duel reluctantly, but that he planned to throw away his shot - in other words, he would not aim to kill.
Burr, on the other hand was still so enraged that he did shoot to kill. The fatally wounded Hamilton was taken to his home where he died the following afternoon. Would he have gone on to the presidency had he lived, we will never know. He did go on to be remembered as a good and influential man while Aaron Burr was forever ruined in politics. His behavior in the duel did more to ruin his life than anything Hamilton could have said! Some historians believe that Burr shot first and early (not at the final count) and that Hamilton fired as he was falling to the ground. His bullet was found lodged in a tree branch over Burr's head. Whether that was due to shooting while firing is debatable since Hamilton had declared that he would throw his shot away. He did.
As he was dying, he sent for the Episcopal priest, asking for communion. At first the priest refused since Hamilton had willing taken part in the duel, but after sewearing repented of his part in the duel, the priest grave him communion. He died at peace, although most painfully, with his God.
It is fitting that Hamilton's face is on our $10 bill.
These days, his face is also on Broadway!
©Gebara Education, December 28, 2017
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