Description
Few figures in American history have been more hotly debated or more grossly misunderstood than Alexander Hamilton. The political and economic greatness of today’s America is the result of Hamilton’s countless sacrifices to champion ideas that were often wildly disputed during his time. We will recount Hamilton’s turbulent life: an illegitimate, largely self-taught orphan from the Caribbean, he came out of nowhere to take America by storm, rising to become George Washington’s aide-de-camp in the Continental Army, coauthoring The Federalist Papers, founding the Bank of New York, leading the Federalist Party, and becoming the first Treasury Secretary of the United States. Historians have long told the story of America’s birth as the triumph of Jefferson’s democratic ideals over the aristocratic intentions of Hamilton. Hamilton's legendary ambitions were motivated not merely by self-interest but by passionate patriotism and a stubborn will to build the foundations of American prosperity and power. His is a Hamilton far more human than we’ve encountered before—from his shame about his birth to his fiery aspirations, from his intimate relationships with childhood friends to his titanic feuds with Jefferson, Madison, Adams, Monroe, and Burr, and from his highly public affair with Maria Reynolds to his loving marriage to his loyal wife Eliza. This would all end in Hamilton’s famous and mysterious death in a duel with Aaron Burr in July of 1804.
In the first full-length biography of Alexander Hamilton in decades, Ron Chernow tells the riveting story of a man who overcame all odds to shape, inspire, and scandalize the newborn America. According to historian Joseph Ellis, Alexander Hamilton is “a robust full-length portrait, in my view the best ever written, of the most brilliant, charismatic and dangerous founder of them all.
Chernow’s biography is not just a portrait of Hamilton, but the story of America’s birth seen through its most central figure. At a critical time to look back to our roots, Alexander Hamilton will remind readers of the purpose of our institutions and our heritage as Americans.
Weekly Topics
Introduction, birth, childhood, education
Military education, early involvement with Washington, Valley Forge
Washington's staff, meeting Elizabeth Schuyler, early economic thinking, Yorktown
Young lawyer, birth of children, George Clinton,the Constitution
Publius writings, battle over the Constitution, Secretary of the Treasury
Thomas Jefferson, Philadelphia, Bank of the United States
Financial panics, feuds with Jefferson and Madison, rise of political parties, early feud with Aaron Burr
CItizen Genes, Washington's second term, yellow fever epidemic, investigation of the Treasury Department
Troubles with England and France, Whiskey Tax, Jay Treaty
Washington's Farewell address, John Adams, Callender expose
More troubles with France, General Hamilton, Burr feuds with Hamilton
Confrontation with Adams, Federalist defeat in NYC, feud with Adams intensifies
Jefferson and Burr tie for President, involvement in New York governor race, Burr attempts New York comeback
Hamilton and Burr's attempted comeback, a duel is set, the duel, Burr after the duel, Eliza and aftermath
Bibliography
Alexander Hamilton. Ron Chernow. Penguin, 2004.
