History Makers: Alexander Hamilton

When he was about 16 years old, Alexander Hamilton wrote a letter that would change his life.

It was 1772. Hamilton lived on a Caribbean island off the coast of North America. He was poor. His mother had died a few years earlier, making him an orphan. Hamilton couldn’t go to school because he had to work. But he read any book he could get his hands on.

The letter Hamilton wrote was about a hurricane. He used words like “crash of the falling houses” and “ear-piercing shrieks.” His neighbors were impressed by it. They collected money to send Hamilton to college in America. It was Hamilton’s chance to prove himself.

When Hamilton arrived in America as an immigrant, there were no states yet. There were 13 colonies still ruled by Great Britain. He and many others thought the colonies should break free.

In 1775, Americans began fighting the Revolutionary War to win their freedom. Hamilton soon became a soldier and an aide to General George Washington. In 1783, America won the war—and its freedom.

The war was over, but the new nation and its states still had work to do.

In 1787, Hamilton and 54 men from different states arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They talked and argued for four months about how our country should work. They finally finished a document called the U.S. Constitution. It described a plan for our national government.

All of the states had to approve the plan. But there was a lot of disagreement. It seemed doomed to fail.

Hamilton refused to let that happen. He helped to write the Federalist Papers, essays praising the Constitution. Once again, his words worked. The states approved the Constitution. It became the law of the land in 1788.

Hamilton later became a trusted adviser to President Washington. And he created the first U.S. national bank and our currency.

“As a kid, he imagined he could have an impact on the world,” says Adrienne Whaley, an educator at the Museum of the American Revolution. “And with a mixture of determination, luck, and learning, he did!”

1. In what ways did Alexander Hamilton’s writing help him?

2. What was America like when Hamilton arrived as an immigrant?

3. What is the purpose of the sidebar “Danger at Every Turn”?