A Summary Of Alexander Hamilton's War

Hamilton’s war and office days were a major part of how he is able to change this country for the better. When Hamilton enlisted into the war, he made a very close friend, George Washington. Alexander had the sort of fight in him that George had been looking for. Hamilton was appointed as Washington’s aide-de-camp or right hand man. Even though they were close, Washington didn’t want to give Hamilton the command he wanted. But, during that time he was a charmer with the ladies as well. He ends up meeting his future wife, Elizabeth Schuyler, who he falls in love with almost immediately. On December 14, 1780, he and Eliza get married. Unfortunately, George Washington would still not give him the command he wanted so Hamilton resigns. But desperate

times, call for desperate measures. Before the last major battle that ends the war, Washington calls Hamilton to command an infantry battalion. Finally Hamilton could help fight and lead a group of men into battle!! They join a group of 16,000 troops that defeat General Cornwallis’s troops in Yorktown, Virginia. After they captured the final British fortification, the war was won.

After the war, Alexander Hamilton comes back to New York, where he goes back to studying law. He also has his first son Philip. Hamilton doesn’t stay in the shadows too long, because after the war, they had one massive issue… debt. Hamilton and some other delegates call for a meeting with other delegates to the thing we call now, the Constitutional Convention. At that meeting, he was the only delegate there from New York. Because the Articles of Confederation were too weak to live off of, Hamilton and other people wanted a new constitution that would strengthen the government. Alexander Hamilton and other federalists wanted a stronger government and weak state power, while anti-federalists like Thomas Jefferson wanted as much state power as possible and a weak government. Unfortunately, they wouldn’t be able to acquire enough votes to ratify the constitution. So John Jay, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton work together to create The Federalist Papers, which helped persuade the people to ratify the constitution. In 1789, Washington is appointed president and had Hamilton as Secretary of Treasury. As Secretary, Hamilton comes up with the debt plan that helps save all the states from

debt. His plan made the assumption of state debt because he believed that every state was responsible for a portion of the war debt no matter how involved in the war you were. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t gain enough votes to get his plan through. So he has to persuade the southerners somehow. This was the time for Madison and Jefferson to attain what they wanted. They were getting tired of having to come north for everything so they hold a meeting with Hamilton to discuss a deal. The deal was that if the southerners could get the capital in the south, Madison would stop opposing the financial plan. They end up agreeing. Lots of southerners complain about this because they already paid their war debt and now they would have to pay more, but the plan gets past. Also, as Secretary, he sets up the first national bank where he makes the first national currency. Before this, people had a different type of currency called Continentals, which were worth basically nothing. People didn’t take the currency, but with the new currency, it had more financial power. Hamilton’s plans and ideas have really shaped how our country is today.