Alexander Hamilton (Magill’s Literary Annual 2005)
At a glance:
- Author: Ron Chernow
- First Published: 2004
- Type of Work: Biography
- Time of Work: c. 1755-1809
- Setting: Nevis and St. Croix, British West Indies; New York City; Philadelphia; and Trenton, New Jersey
- Principal Characters: Alexander Hamilton, Rachel Faucette Lavien Hamilton, Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, George Washington, Hugh Knox, Aaron Burr, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, George Clinton
- Genres: Nonfiction, Biography
- Subjects: New York, United States or Americans, Caribbean, Politics, Colonies or colonization, Nineteenth century, American Revolution, Eighteenth century, Politicians, Republics
- Locales: New York, NY, Philadelphia, PA, West Indies, Trenton, NJ
The circumstances of Alexander Hamilton's birth portended at best an indifferent future. According to his own testimony, he was born on Nevis, an island in the British West Indies. Previous biographers have suggested St. Kitts as his birthplace. The year 1757 is generally accepted because Hamilton and his family claimed it, though author Ron Chernow offers cogent arguments for 1755. Hamilton's father, James Hamilton, Sr., was a Scottish nobleman, but he was the fourth of eleven children and therefore penniless and without a chance of inheritance. He was not married to Hamilton's mother,...
[The entire page is 1764 words long]
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