Alexander Hamilton Quick Facts

Born on the West Indian Island of Nevis, January 11, 1755 or 1757

Illegitimate son of James Hamilton and Rachel Faucett Lavien

Orphaned in 1768

Sent to New Jersey to further his education, by his guardian, James Crugar, in 1772

Enrolled at King’s College (now Columbia University) in 1773

Defended the actions of the First Continental Congress with essays A Full Vindication of the Measures of Congress (1774) and The Farmer Refuted (1775)

Joined New York militia in 1775

Commissioned as a lieutenant colonel in the Continental Army and George Washington appointed Hamilton as his aide-de-camp in 1777

Appointed as commander of a battalion of light infantry and participated in the Battle of Monmouth, the Battle of Long Island and the Battle of Yorktown in 1781

Married Elizabeth Schuyler, the daughter of General Philip Schuyler one of the richest and most prominent men in New York State, in 1780

Admitted to the New York bar in 1783

Member of the Continental Congress from 1782 to 1783

Assisted in founding the Bank of New York in 1784

Assisted in founding the New York Society for Promoting the Manumission of Slaves in 1785

Served as a delegate to the Annapolis Convention in 1786, where delegates from five states gathered to discuss problems with interstate commerce

Authored an address at the Annapolis Convention encouraging all of the states to send delegates to a meeting in Philadelphia in 1787 to consider changes to the Articles of Confederation

Represented New York at the Constitutional Convention in 1787

One of 39 signers of the U.S. Constitution in 1787

Authored 51 of the Federalist Papers from 1787 to 1788

Member of the Confederation Congress from 1788 to 1789

Appointed as the first Secretary of the Treasury in 1789

Resigned from the treasury in 1795

Appointed as major general of the army during the Quasi War of 1798-1800

Mortally wounded in a duel with Aaron Burr on July 11, 1804

Died July 12, 1804, New York

Buried in Trinity Churchyard, in New York City