Monday marked the 200th anniversary of Alexander Hamilton’s death. Yet his many accomplishments seem in great danger of being forgotten.
Amazingly, it is Republicans, his political quasi-descendants, who are trying to replace Hamilton on the $10 bill with Ronald Reagan. The Democratic party was founded by Thomas Jefferson specifically to organize against Hamilton and his Federalist principles.
A simple majority of both houses of Congress is required to make changes to the currency. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is fighting to keep Hamilton on the currency. “Hamilton was a great man,” Schumer said in a recent interview.
Most of his contemporaries believed that America would-and should-always remain an agrarian farming society. More than anyone of his time, Hamilton saw the crucial role stock markets would play in the decades ahead.
“Hamilton was the prophet of the capitalist system that Ronald Reagan so admired,” said historian Ron Chernow. He “was the most influential American who was not president and had a more lasting impact on American society and economy than all but a few presidents.”
In 1787 the Continental Congress authorized a Constitutional Convention. Disgusted with the growing consensus towards centralization, the other two New Yorkers left the Convention and left Hamilton to be the state’s only signer of the new Constitution. A loophole was even inserted in Article II to allow foreign-born Hamilton to be eligible for the Presidency.
Hamilton is more responsible than any other individual for New York joining the United States. Over two-thirds of the New York delegates who would vote on ratification were chosen specifically for their opposition to the Constitution. Hamilton began his battle by penning the bulk of The Federalist, seeking to convince New Yorkers of the value of the Constitution. His speeches at the state convention convinced his political opponents to ratify, by a margin of 30 to 27.
Recognizing his intellect, Washington invited Hamilton to be the first secretary of the treasury. The paper money issued by the states as payment to the soldiers was then being exchanged for pennies on the dollar.
Hamilton struck a deal for redeeming the paper money at face value and without regard to whom the money was originally issued. The bill was pivotal in establishing the financial security of the US Government. To this day treasury bills are regarded as one of the safest forms of investment.
In addition to founding the Bank of New York, the New York Manumission (abolitionist) Society and the New York Post, Hamilton retains the dubious honor of being at the center of the nation’s first sex scandal. He was blackmailed by his mistress’ husband. As rumors hit the press, Hamilton published a pamphlet detailing the complete ugly affair.
What Hamilton remains most famous for is his 1804 duel with Vice-President Aaron Burr, as recreated last week in Weehawken. But in death his greatness is still, quite literally, obscured.
Hamilton lies buried at Trinity Church, at the crossroads of Broadway and Wall Street. But his monument is not the largest even in the tiny cemetery. That honor belongs to historical footnote John Watts, the last royal recorder of the city of New York.
Michael Malice