Every Day Is Special: September 11 - First Secretary of the Treasury: Hamilton!

September 11 - First Secretary of the Treasury: Hamilton!

Posted on September 11, 2020

When a nation first forms, there are of course a lot of "firsts" that we can celebrate. One of them is the first Secretary of the Treasury of the United States of America. On this date in 1789, President George Washington appointed Alexander Hamilton to the position.

Hamilton is so so famous in U.S. history classes. He helped "sell" the Constitution, so that states ratified it, by writing the bulk of the "Federalist Papers." He led the Treasury Department as the nation's government scrambled to succeed - something that wasn't a given, especially since the earlier version of an independent America, under the Articles of Confederation, had not lasted very long at all. His ideas became the basis for one of the nation's first political parties, the Federalists.

And of course, Hamilton was honored for his spot among the Founding Fathers by having his face on the 10-dollar bill!

So, yeah, I knew some stuff about Alexander Hamilton. But he seemed yawn-ish and SO white bread, and I had a picture of him being born rich to a powerful New York family.

The only really interesting thing about Hamilton, I thought, was that he was killed in a duel!

When the popular musical Hamilton burst onto the scene in 2015, I wondered how anything about Hamilton could be interesting enough to fill more than two and a half hours! - not to mention how anything about this stuffed-shirt of a Founding Father could fit in with hip hop and R&B!

It turns out that my history classes had left out almost ALL of the interesting stuff about this man!

Nevis, birthplace of Hamilton

Like: Hamilton was born and raised in the Caribbean, on islands in what we term the "West Indies." He was actually born on Nevis and moved with his mom and brother to St. Croix (now part of the U.S. Virgin Islands) after his father had abandoned them. His mother ran a small store in the town of Christiansted - but tragically died of yellow fever when Hamilton was either 11 or 13 years old. (We are not sure which of two birth years are correct, 1755 or 1757.)

There are rumors that Hamilton's mother was mixed race - which was a bigger deal in some places and times than it is now! - but there doesn't seem to be much evidence of that. Another "rumor" is true - Hamilton's parents were never married. Again, that was a way, way bigger deal back then.

Such a big deal that Hamilton and his brother were not able to inherit their mother's property, even though she wrote a will and tried to leave her property to them!

And such a big deal that the Church of England denied membership to Hamilton and his brother! That meant that they didn't get to go to the local school, which was run by the church. Instead they got individual tutoring and classes in a private school run by a Jewish woman. But those tutoring sessions and private school classes were probably spotty, because many people consider Hamilton to be largely self-taught.

Christiansted in Hamilton's time (above)
and now (below)

So...in 1772, close to the time of the American Revolution, one of the Founding Fathers was an illegitimate, relatively uneducated orphan living in the Caribbean. How-oh-how did he come to be a Founding Father in the newly established United States of America?

First, although Hamilton didn't have much - and his small family didn't have much even before his mother died - a family friend did buy the family's 34 books when their things were auctioned off, and then returned them to Hamilton. What a kind thing to do!

Second, Hamilton got a chance to learn about trade and finance. Here's how: although the homeless, newly orphaned Hamilton brothers were taken in by a relative, an older cousin, shortly afterward that cousin committed suicide. Once again the Hamiltons were homeless. This time they were separated: James became an apprentice to a local carpenter, and Alexander was given a home by a merchant. He got a job working as a clerk at Beekman and Cruger, which was an import-export firm. And that's where he learned about the importance of trade and about the financial world.

Third, Hamilton became interested in writing. When he wrote a detailed story about a hurricane that hit St. Croix, some adults were so impressed by his writing that they collected money to send Hamilton off to the American colonies, where he could get a better education.

And that's how Alexander Hamilton came to Boston in October 1772. He traveled to and settled in New York City, where he lodged with a trader he had connections with from his former job, and where he attended an academy and college.

Before there was Hamilton, the musical,
there was The American Cape, a statue
of Alexander Hamilton with a long cape
that blows up and behind and becomes
the American flag. (2004)

After having only been in the colonies less than two years, Hamilton was already writing anonymous essays on why the colonies should become independent. A year after that, the Revolutionary War began, and Hamilton joined up with the New York volunteer militia. His fellow students did the same - but Hamilton, who had such humble beginnings, perhaps felt more driven to seek "glory" on the battlefield.

Because of Hamilton's intelligence and writing ability, I'm guessing, he was invited to become an aide to three different Revolutionary generals. However, he turned all of those offers down. Remember: he wanted glory, he wanted to raise himself up from obscurity.

General George Washington and
his chief staff aide, Alexander Hamilton

But when General George Washington invited him to become HIS aide - well, Hamilton agreed! And surely that is exactly why he later helped form the first government: Washington learned to rely on Hamilton. As a matter of fact, Hamilton was Washington's chief staff aide for four years. He handled letters to Congress, to state governors, and to other generals, he drafted orders, and he worked with senior army officers in analyzing intelligence (info discovered by spies), in negotiating, and in other areas of diplomacy.

Another thing I never read in a school textbook: Alexander Hamilton was anti-slavery...for his time, at least. He helped to found an anti-slavery organization that helped abolish international slave trade and end slavery in the state of New York. And he argued against the idea that black people weren't as intelligent as white people.

I'm still not super rah-rah about many of Hamilton's ideas - he really did seem to favor the wealthy and diss the "masses," despite his own humble beginnings - but I admire him more than I used to, and I find him a lot more interesting.

Lin-Manuel Miranda, in the role of
Alexander Hamilton

Thank you to Lin-Manuel Miranda, who helped me and I'm betting LOADS of other Americans to learn more - and also to care more - about Alexander Hamilton!!