Hamilton Born: Architect of American Finance
He was born illegitimate on the island of Nevis, in the British West Indies. His father abandoned the family; his mother died when he was eleven. He taught himself finance and law from books while working as a clerk for a trading company. The company's partners collected money to send him to college in New York. He graduated King's College in two years. He became Washington's chief aide at 22, a general at 24, Treasury Secretary at 34. He designed the American financial system from scratch. Aaron Burr killed him in 1804 over a paragraph in a letter.
January 11, 1755
271 years ago
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