Read Alexander Hamilton Online
Authors: Ron Chernow
The Library of Congress contains the largest haul of Hamilton papers, including many of the letters printed in his collected papers. I would like to thank the staff of the Manuscript Division, especially Jeffrey M. Flannery. Ditto for Nicholas Graham and the staff of the Massachusetts Historical Society, another source of original papers. I am further indebted to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and to Rob Cox and Roy Goodman of the American Philosophical Society. At the Christ Church Preservation Trust, I had an illuminating chat about Hamilton’s religion with Neil Ronk. At Yale University, Ellen Cohn, chief editor of the Benjamin Franklin Papers, was kind enough to survey Franklin’s still-unpublished papers for any stray references to Hamilton. In England, Valerie Cromwell of the History of Parliament Trust sketched in background information about John Barker Church. David Hildebrand of the Colonial Music Institute provided lyrics and learned commentary on the songs that Hamilton might have sung right before the duel.
Fellow historians were generous in responding to my queries. My special thanks to David McCullough, who graciously encouraged me to undertake this project. Two knowledgeable Hamilton hands, Joanne Freeman of Yale and Carol Berkin of Baruch College and the CUNY Graduate Center, responded to miscellaneous questions with alacrity. James F. Gaines of Mary Washington College regaled me with a wonderful disquisition on Molière’s nurse. Others who provided support, suggestions, or research materials include Joseph McCarthy, who has made a documentary film about Lord Stirling; Leon Friedman, a First Amendment expert and an aficionado of
The Federalist Papers;
Schuyler Chapin, a direct descendant of General Philip Schuyler; Walter Russell Mead, who has analyzed Hamiltonian foreign policy at the Council on Foreign Relations; Roxana Robinson, who showed me an unpublished Hamilton document; Scott P. Lindsay, president of the Alexander Hamilton Historical Society; and two people who offered help with Hamilton family genealogy: Alexander Hamilton (no direct descendant of the treasury secretary) and Louis Auchincloss. My thanks as well to Hamilton descendants John Rhinelander, Mary Rhinelander McCarl, and Tony Rhinelander.
It was my longtime agent, Melanie Jackson, who saw, with a touch of clairvoyance, that Hamilton should be my next biographical subject and that I should give a breather to the tycoons of the Gilded Age. She has been an indispensable figure in my career, a matchless business manager, literary adviser, and trusted friend, all rolled into one. Her assistant, Andrea Schaefer, ably fielded many questions these past few years.
My editor, Ann Godoff, performed an astonishing feat of acrobatics as she kept this project moving along smoothly despite her departure from Random House and her creation of The Penguin Press. Never once did I feel adrift: the good ship
Hamilton
continued to sail along, protected by Ann from the smallest ripples. Her editorial comments, as usual, were invaluable and her dedication to the book exemplary. During this busy start-up period, I benefited from the good-natured support of her assistant, Meredith Blum. I feel lucky to have again secured the copyediting services of the meticulous Timothy Mennel, assisted by senior production editor Bruce Giffords, and to have Lynn Goldberg, Mark Fortier, Tracy Locke, and Rachel Rokicki aboard for publicity. Gabriele Wilson created a beautiful cover that captures the mood of the book with uncanny precision. Sandra J. Markham provided knowing assistance with the picture section, as did Amanda Dewey, and Michelle McMillian created the interior design. I thank Sigrid Estrada for the excellent jacket photo.
It will come as no surprise to readers of my previous books that at this point I will pause and genuflect to my selfless wife, Valerie. She has shared all of my exhilaration and despair, trooped along on research trips, suffered tropical heat and inedible food, listened to me read aloud every line of the book, and functioned as a perceptive surrogate editor. Whatever her own private woes, she refused to let them interfere with the completion of this book. For a comparable case of love and loyalty, one would have to turn to Eliza Hamilton.
De Witt Clinton Papers
CU-FFP Columbia University, Fish Family Papers CU-HFP Columbia University, Hamilton Family
Papers
CU-HPPP Columbia University, Hamilton Papers
Publication Project
CU-JCHP Columbia University, John Church
Hamilton Papers
LC-AHP Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.,
Alexander Hamilton Papers
LC-WPP Library of Congress, William Plumer
Papers
LPAH The Law Practice of Alexander Hamilton.
Ed.
Julius Goebel, Jr., et al. 5 vols. New York: Columbia University Press, 1964–1981.
MHi-TPP Massachusetts Historical Society,
Boston, Timothy Pickering Papers
NYHS-DGFP New-York Historical Society, New
York, N.Y., De Groot Family Papers
NYHS-MM New-York Historical Society, Miscellaneous Microfilms
NYHS-NPP New-York Historical Society,
Nathaniel Pendleton Papers
NYHS-NYCMS New-York Historical Society, New
York City Manumission Society Papers
NYHS-RTP New-York Historical Society, Robert
Troup Papers
NYHS-WVNP New-York Historical Society,
William Van Ness Papers
NYPL-AYP New York Public Library, Abraham
Yates, Jr., Papers
NYPL-JAHP New York Public Library, James A.
Hamilton Papers
NYPL-KVB New York Public Library, Pamphlet
Collection for New York election, spring 1804 NYPL-PSP New York Public Library, Philip
Schuyler Papers
NYSL New York State Library, Albany, N.Y.
PAH The Papers of Alexander Hamilton.
Ed. Harold
C. Syrett et al. 27 vols. New York: Columbia
University Press, 1961–1987. (Unless otherwise
stated, all letters cited are written either to or from
Alexander Hamilton. Documents written neither
by nor to Hamilton are cited only by volume and
page number.)
Prologue: The Oldest Revolutionary War Widow
1.
Atlantic Monthly,
August 1896.
2. CU-HFP, box 3, letter from Elizabeth Hamil-
ton Holly to John C. Hamilton, February 27, 1855.
3. Cooke,
Alexander Hamilton,
p. vii.
4. Malone,
Jefferson and His Time,
vol. 2, p. 271. 5. Cooke,
Alexander Hamilton,
p. 149.
6.
The Political Science Quarterly,
March 1890. 7. Knott,
Alexander Hamilton and the Persistence
of Myth,
p. 87.
8. Ibid., p. 259.
One: The Castaways
1. Van Doren,
Benjamin Franklin,
p. 312.
2. Hubbard,
Swords, Ships, and Sugar,
p. 40.
3. Ibid., p. 33.
4.
PAH,
vol. 25, p. 88, letter to William Jackson, August 26, 1800.
5. Ibid.
6. Flexner,
Young Hamilton,
p. 9.
7.
PAH,
vol. 25, p. 89, letter to William Jackson, August 26, 1800.
8. Ramsing,
Alexander Hamilton’s Birth and Parentage,
p. 4.
9. Hamilton,
Intimate Life of Alexander Hamilton,
p. 11.
10. Ramsing,
Alexander Hamilton’s Birth and Parentage,
p. 8.
11.
The American Genealogist,
January 1945. 12. Mitchell,
Alexander Hamilton: Youth to Maturity,
p. 7.
13. Schachner,
Alexander Hamilton,
p. 1.
14.
The American Genealogist,
January 1945. 15.
PAH,
vol. 16, p. 276, letter to George Washington, April 14, 1796.
16. Ibid., vol. 2, p. 539, letter to Margarita Schuyler, January 21, 1781.
17. Ibid., vol. 25, p. 88, letter to William Jackson, August 26, 1800.
18.
Kilmarnock Standard,
April 5, 1924.
19. Castle,
John Glassford of Douglaston,
pp. 22–23. 20. LC-AHP, reel 29, “Agreement of November 11, 1737.”
21. Ragatz,
Fall of the Planter Class in the British Caribbean,
pp. 16–17.
22.
PAH,
vol. 25, p. 89, letter to William Jackson, August 26, 1800.
23. Ibid.
24. LC-AHP, reel 29, letter from John Hamilton to Thomas Reid, 1749 [n.d.].
25. Ibid.
26. St. Kitts Archives, Government of St. Kitts and Nevis, Basseterre, St. Kitts.
27.
PAH,
vol. 25, p. 89, letter to William Jackson, August 26, 1800.
28. Hamilton,
Life of Alexander Hamilton,
vol. 1, p. 42.
29. Hamilton,
Intimate Life of Alexander Hamilton,
p. 13.
30.
PAH,
vol. 3, p. 573, letter from Hugh Knox, July 28, 1784.
31. Schachner,
Alexander Hamilton,
p. 8.
32. Hamilton,
Life of Alexander Hamilton,
vol. 1, p. 42.
33.
PAH,
vol. 26, p. 774, “Comments on Jews,” n.d. 34. Hamilton,
Life of Alexander Hamilton,
vol. 7, pp. 710–11.
35.
London Magazine,
August 1753.
36. Ibid.
37. Brookhiser,
Alexander Hamilton,
p. 14. 38. Andrews,
Journal of a Lady of Quality,
p. 127. 39. Nevis Historical and Conservation Society, RG MG 2.25, Charlestown, Nevis.
40. Emery,
Alexander Hamilton,
p. 13.
41.
The William and Mary Quarterly,
April 1952. 42. Ramsing,
Alexander Hamilton’s Birth and Parentage,
p. 8.
43. Ibid.
44.
PAH,
vol. 21, p. 77, letter to William Hamilton, May 2, 1797.
45. Ibid.
46. Ibid., vol. 22, p. 223.
47. Tyson and Highfield,
Kamina Folk,
p. 46.
48. Flexner,
Young Hamilton,
p. 31.
49.
PAH,
vol. 20, p. 458, “From Ann Mitchell” [1796].
50. Ramsing,
Alexander Hamilton’s Birth and Parentage,
p. 28.
51.
PAH,
vol. 15, p. 331, “To the College of Physicians,” September 11, 1793.
52. Ibid., vol. 1, p. 369, letter from Edward Stevens, December 23, 1777.
53. MHi-TPP, reel 51.
54. Ibid.
55. Lodge,
Alexander Hamilton,
p. 286.
1. Hamilton,
Life of Alexander Hamilton,
vol. 1, p. 44.
2. NYHS-NPP, “Draft Obituary Notice for Hamilton,” n.d.
3.
PAH,
vol. 1, p. 4, letter to Edward Stevens, November 11, 1769.
4. Ibid., p. 21, letter to Nicholas Cruger, late 1771 or early 1772.
5. Ibid., p. 23, letter to Tileman Cruger, February 1, 1772.
6. Ibid., p. 24, letter to Captain Newton, February 1, 1772.
7.
Royal Danish American Gazette,
January 23, 1771.
8. Flexner,
Young Hamilton,
p. 39.
9.
PAH,
vol. 1, p. 7.
10.
Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society,
vol. 69, April 1951.
11. Knox,
Letter to the Rev. Mr. Jacob Green,
p. 48. 12.
PAH,
vol. 3, p. 573, letter from Hugh Knox, July 28, 1784.
13.
Royal Danish American Gazette,
September 9, 1772.
14. Ibid., October 3, 1772.
15.
PAH,
vol. 3, p. 573, letter from Hugh Knox, July 28, 1784.
16.
Royal Danish American Gazette,
February 3, 1773.
17.
PAH,
vol. 26, p. 307, letter to Elizabeth Hamilton, July 10, 1804.
18.
Royal Danish American Gazette,
May 15, 1773. 19.
PAH,
vol. 1, p. 147, “The Farmer Refuted,” February 23, 1775.
20. Ibid., vol. 5, p. 125, “New York Ratifying Convention, Third Speech,” June 28, 1788. 21. St. Vincent Registry, deed book for 1784–1787, entered at Grenada on May 27, 1786, but first signed on March 14, 1774.
Three: The Collegian
1.
The William and Mary Quarterly,
April 1947.
2.
The American Historical Review,
January 1957.
3. Bowen,
Miracle at Philadelphia,
p. 65.
4. Burrows and Wallace,
Gotham,
p. 180.
5. Davis,
Memoirs of Aaron Burr,
vol. 1, p. 37.
6. Flexner,
Young Hamilton,
p. 150.
7. Davis,
Memoirs of Aaron Burr,
vol. 2, p. 434.
8. Mitchell,
Alexander Hamilton
:
Youth to Maturity,
p. 42.
9. Bobrick,
Angel in the Whirlwind,
p. 468. 10.
PAH,
vol. 1, p. 43.
11. Flexner,
Young Hamilton,
p. 56.
12. Schachner,
Alexander Hamilton,
p. 25.
13. Mitchell,
Alexander Hamilton: Youth to Maturity,
p. 50.
14. Ketcham,
James Madison,
p. 38.
15. Wills,
Explaining America,
p. 15.
16.
The William and Mary Quarterly,
April 1947. 17. Ibid.
18. Ketcham,
James Madison,
p. 38.
19. Humphreys,
Catherine Schuyler,
p. 103. 20.
The Columbia Monthly,
February 1904. 21. Burrows and Wallace,
Gotham,
p. 214.
22. Van Amringe and Smith,
History of Columbia University,
p. 53.
23.
PAH,
vol. 25, p. 560, letter from Gouverneur Morris, March 11, 1802.
24. Parton,
Life and Times of Aaron Burr,
p. 142. 25. Ibid., pp. 143–44.
26. New York
Mirror,
n.d. Copy in LC-AHP, reel 31. 27.
PAH,
vol. 25, p. 436.
28. Ibid., vol. 22, p. 340, letter to Elizabeth Hamilton, December 10, 1798.
29. Ibid., vol. 7, p. 40, letter to George Washington, September 15, 1790.
30. Hamilton,
Life of Alexander Hamilton,
vol. 1, p. 47. 31. LC-AHP, reel 30, “Memo of Robert Troup on the Conway Cabal, October 26, 1827.”
32. Tripp, “Robert Troup,” p. 167.
33. Davis,
Memoirs of Aaron Burr,
vol. 1, p. 307, and Tripp, “Robert Troup,” p. 64.
34.
The William and Mary Quarterly,
April 1947. 35. Flexner,
Young Hamilton,
p. 63.
36. Wood,
American Revolution,
p. 37.
37. LC-AHP, reel 31, “Robert Troup Memoir of General Hamilton, March 22, 1810.”
38. Hibbert,
George III,
p. 144.
39. Burrows and Wallace,
Gotham,
p. 216.
40. Mitchell,
Alexander Hamilton: Youth to Maturity,
p. 63.
41. Hamilton,
Life of Alexander Hamilton,
vol. 1, p. 56.
42. Callahan,
Royal Raiders,
p. 139.
43.
New-York Gazetteer,
March 30, 1774.
44. Mitchell,
Alexander Hamilton: Youth to Maturity,
p. 53.
45.
Columbia University Quarterly,
September 1899.
46.
New-York Journal; or, The General Advertiser,
September 8, 1774.
47. Van Amringe and Smith,
History of Columbia University,
p. 46.
48.
Columbia University Quarterly,
September 1899.
49. Tyler,
Literary History of the American Revolution,
p. 394.
50.
Columbia University Quarterly,
September 1899.
51. Miller,
Alexander Hamilton,
p. 9.
52. Callahan,
Royal Raiders,
p. 143.
53.
New-York Gazetteer,
January 12, 1775.
54.
PAH,
vol. 4, p. 613.
55.
New-York Gazetteer,
December 15, 1774.
56.
PAH,
vol. 1, p. 65, “A Full Vindication of the Measures of Congress,” December 22, 1774.
57. Ibid., p. 68.
58. Ibid., p. 48.
59. Ibid., p. 50.
60. Ibid., p. 86, “The Farmer Refuted,” February 23, 1775.
61. Ibid., p. 82.
62. Ibid., p. 164.
63. Ibid., p. 122.
64. Bobrick,
Angel in the Whirlwind,
p. 201.
65.
PAH,
vol. 1, p. 125, “The Farmer Refuted,” February 23, 1775.
66. Ibid., pp. 135–36.
67. Ibid., p. 128.
68. Ibid., pp. 157–58.
69.
The William and Mary Quarterly,
April 1947.
Four: The Pen and the Sword
1. Bobrick,
Angel in the Whirlwind,
p. 119.
2. Burrows and Wallace,
Gotham,
p. 223.
3. CU-FFP, box 1818–1828, letter from Nicholas Fish to Timothy Pickering, December 26, 1823.
4.
The William and Mary Quarterly,
April 1947.
5. Van Amringe and Smith,
History of Columbia University,
p. 48.
6. O’Brien,
Hercules Mulligan,
p. 184.
7. LC-AHP, reel 31, letter from Robert Troup to Timothy Pickering, March 27, 1828.
8. Ibid.
9.
The Columbia Monthly,
February 1904. 10. Callahan,
Royal Raiders,
p. 139.
11.
Gentleman’s Magazine,
July 1776.
12. “The Presidents of Columbia,” Columbia University Archives, New York, N.Y.
13. Ferling,
John Adams,
p. 98.
14. Wood,
American Revolution,
p. 75.
15. Bobrick,
Angel in the Whirlwind,
p. 142. 16. Wood,
American Revolution,
p. 74.
17.
PAH,
vol. 1, p. 174, “Remarks on the Quebec Bill,” June 15, 1775.
18. Wood,
American Revolution,
p. 53.
19. Maier,
American Scripture,
p. 24.
20. O’Brien,
Hercules Mulligan,
p. 182.
21.
New-York Journal; or, The General Advertiser,
September 1, 1774.
22.
Royal Danish American Gazette,
April 10, 1776.
23. O’Brien,
Hercules Mulligan,
p. 184.
24.
PAH,
vol. 1, pp. 176–77, letter to John Jay, November 26, 1775.
25. LC-AHP, reel 31, “Robert Troup Memoir of General Hamilton, March 22, 1810.”
26. Schachner,
Alexander Hamilton,
p. 32.
27. “The Monitor No. I,”
New-York Journal; or, The General Advertiser,
November 9, 1775.
28. “The Monitor No. VII,”
New-York Journal; or, The General Advertiser,
December 21, 1775.
29. Ibid.
30. “The Monitor No. I,”
New-York Journal; or, The General Advertiser,
November 9, 1775.
31. “The Monitor No. VIII,”
New-York Journal; or, The General Advertiser,
December 28, 1775.
32. “The Monitor No. I,”
New-York Journal; or, The General Advertiser,
November 9, 1775.
33. “The Monitor No. III,”
New-York Journal; or, The General Advertiser,
November 23, 1775.
34.
PAH,
vol. 21, p. 77, letter to William Hamilton, May 2, 1797.
35. “Extract of a Letter from a Gentleman in New York, Dated February 18th,”
Royal Danish American Gazette,
March 20, 1776.
36. Mitchell,
Alexander Hamilton: Youth to Maturity,
p. 79.
37. Valentine,
Lord Stirling,
p. 170.
38.
PAH,
vol. 23, p. 122, letter to James McHenry, May 18, 1799.
39. Hamilton,
Reminiscences of James A. Hamilton,
p. 11.
40.
PAH,
vol. 23, p. 122, letter to James McHenry, May 18, 1799.
41.
The William and Mary Quarterly,
April 1947.
42. Bobrick,
Angel in the Whirlwind,
p. 150.
43. “Extract of a Letter from a Gentleman in New York, Dated February 18th,”
Royal Danish American Gazette,
March 20, 1776.
44. Flexner,
Young Hamilton,
p. 92.
45. “NEW YORK. Sandy Hook, June 21, 1776,”
Royal Danish American Gazette,
August 14, 1776.
46. Callahan,
Royal Raiders,
p. 69.
47. Ibid., p. 73.
48. “Extract of a Letter from New York, June 24,”
Royal Danish American Gazette,
August 14, 1776.
49. Callahan,
Royal Raiders,
p. 74.
50. “Extract New York, July 1,”
Royal Danish American Gazette,
August 28, 1776.
51. Maier,
American Scripture,
p. 44.
52. Burrows and Wallace,
Gotham,
p. 227.
53. Ibid., p. 231.
54. Bobrick,
Angel in the Whirlwind,
p. 203. 55. Parton,
Life and Times of Aaron Burr,
p. 143. 56.
The New York Times,
July 4, 2003.
57. O’Brien,
Hercules Mulligan,
p. 183.
58. Schecter,
Battle for New York,
p. 104.
59. Ibid.
60. Bobrick,
Angel in the Whirlwind,
p. 208. 61. Ibid.
62. Schecter,
Battle for New York,
p. 150.
63. “Extract of a Letter from New York, August 30,”
Royal Danish American Gazette,
December 14, 1776.
64. McCullough,
John Adams,
p. 158.
65. Flexner,
Washington,
p. 83.
66. O’Brien,
Hercules Mulligan,
p. 183.
67. Hamilton,
Life of Alexander Hamilton,
vol. 1, p. 126.
68.
The William and Mary Quarterly,
April 1947. 69. McCullough,
John Adams,
p. 159.
70. Hamilton,
Life of Alexander Hamilton,
vol. 1, p. 128.
71. Ibid., p. 133.