Facts about Alexander Hamilton
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Twenty-year-old Hamilton served as George Washington's aide-de-camp during the Revolutionary War, earning the general's trust and mentorship that would shape his entire political career.
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Hamilton's illegitimate birth and immigrant status made him ineligible to serve as President under the Constitution's natural-born citizen requirement, a barrier that shaped his political ambitions toward the Treasury Department instead.
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Alexander Hamilton's Report on Manufactures, published in 1791, proposed protective tariffs and government subsidies to develop American industry, establishing economic principles still debated by policymakers today.
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George Washington appointed Hamilton as the first Secretary of the Treasury in 1789, a position he held for over five years while shaping early American fiscal policy.
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During his time as Secretary of the Treasury, Hamilton established the U.S. Mint in 1792 and personally designed the nation's first coins and currency system.
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Approximately 10,000 letters and documents written by Alexander Hamilton survive today, making him one of the most extensively documented Founding Fathers in American history.
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Hamilton wrote 51 of the 85 Federalist Papers published between 1787 and 1788 to advocate for ratification of the U.S. Constitution.
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At age 14, Hamilton became a clerk at a trading company in St. Croix, demonstrating precocious business acumen that launched his ascent from poverty.
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Born in 1757 on the Caribbean island of Nevis, Alexander Hamilton was the only Founding Father not born on the American mainland.
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Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton established the first national bank of the United States in 1791, creating a financial foundation for the young nation.
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In 1804, Alexander Hamilton died from injuries sustained in a duel with Vice President Aaron Burr in Weehawken, New Jersey.