Alexander Hamilton: America's Forgotten Founding Father

"The ten-dollar, founding father without a father got a lot farther, by working a lot harder," is one of the first lines in Lin-Manuel Miranda's Broadway play, Hamilton. This line describes the great Alexander Hamilton perfectly. He helped our country in many ways and was a well-known founding father at the time. He had a difficult childhood, but learned to move past that, start a family of his own, help create America's government, and died a noble death. This essay tells all about America's forgotten founding father and why he is the most inspirational person.

Hamilton had a hard childhood when he was young, yet still strove to be a great person. For instance, when he was 10, his father left his family with no money, and his mom without

an occupation to support Alexander and his brother. His father was Alexander's family's main and only provider, leaving them with only a home and what little money they had saved. In addition to that, his mother got sick two years later, and died. This left Alexander and his brother orphans with no family except for a cousin who was in his teenage years to take care of them. The Hamilton brothers moved in with their cousin, and lived happily. But, with their luck, their cousin committed suicide a year later for unknown reasons. With nowhere else to go, he began saving up for a boat ticket so that he could move to America. All in all, it is inspiring how Hamilton lived through all of that, and managed to make a better life for himself in America.
Hamilton also helped our country grow and advance into something more by becoming a founding father.

In 1782, Hamilton was officially a member of the Continental Congress. Because he was elected to join the Continental Congress, he had a strong say in how our government was run. One way he used this to his advantage was during the Compromise of 1790. Basically he said he would use his influence in congress to get the nation's capital near the south, as long as his financial plan would get passed, according to the dinner-party compromise that resolved a debt crisis, an article by Sarah Winski. This was one of the greatest quid-pro-quo deals known to America, and it made Hamilton quite popular. Along with that, he also wrote 51 out of the 85 Federalist Papers, alongside James Madison and John Jay. The line, "how do you write like you're running out of time?" is used in the musical Hamilton because he wrote so much. In essence, Hamilton worked hard, and was a dedicated

person.
It is also said that Hamilton died an important and noble death.

He died in a duel with Aaron Burr, his first friend, and first enemy. In Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical, during the song Your Obedient Servant, Burr says, "How does Hamilton... Somehow endorse Thomas Jefferson, his enemy. A man he's despised since the beginning, just to keep me from winning?" However, Hamilton did this for a reason. During the Song The Election of 1800, also found in the musical Hamilton, Alexander states that, "Jefferson has beliefs, Burr has none." He had good moral values, and in his political decisions, he looked for the best in people. In addition to that, he aimed his gun at the sky in his final duel with Aaron Burr. This symbolizes the fact that Hamilton had no intention of killing Burr. However, Burr had different ideas, and fatally wounded Hamilton. In conclusion to that, Hamilton had good morals, shown in his campaigns, decisions, and

death.
To summarize, Hamilton was an important founding father. Even though he had a hard youth, he fought to be a good person who had good morals. Though a forgotten founding father, he helped create our country's financial system, and influenced many other ideas. He was so important that he is found on the ten-dollar bill. Hamilton is the most inspiring person to live.