Alexander Hamilton

by Gabby T

Have you ever bought something and used paper money? Or just wondered, who had the guts and brains to make the banking system? Meet Alexander Hamilton, a neglected Founding Father without a father, who created the banking system 300 years ago! This man was a soldier in the revolution, he stabilized the economy, he protected the constitution, and he opposed slavery. This was a man of wonders, and yet, no one really knows about this, this 300 year old Founding Father!

 Alexander Hamilton had a horrid childhood, having his father leave him at ten, and in addition to that, his mother left this world when he was 12. Life was already terrible but when his mom Rachel passed, he had to move in with his cousin who committed suicide and left Alexander as a 100% orphan. Then a horrible hurricane came and Hamilton felt his future dripping away, but some voice in his head told him he had potential. So Alex stayed and wrote about the hurricane, his father leaving, and his mother’s death, in hope that at least his father saw it. Eventually, wealthy people decided that Alexander had potential and this determined-to-stay, alive bold man-child was too smart for the tiny island of St. Croix. They sent him to NY so he could do something with his life. Little did they know... By this time Alexander was ready and willing to be set on his adventures to New York so he could change the world.

Once our risk-taker Alexander went on his merry way to New York he became a hero. And all we knew about him is that he was on the ten dollar bill. My brother once said “They are going to take Alexander Hamilton off the ten dollar bill, he did nothing.” but I can prove him, and all of you wrong by only stating his heroic actions. Alexander fought in the Revolutionary War, by George Washington’s side, and he opposed slavery by supporting his friend, John Laurens, who started the first black military regiment that recruited 2,000 men! Apart from that, Hamilton, even though the Federalist Party stopped in 1804, managed to stabilize the economy and, as a result, they created the first bank in the world. From Alexander’s genius thinking, we have the system we have today. Fun fact: George Washington was not the one to write his farewell address. And Hamilton wrote 51 of the Federalist Paper essays out of eighty-five. A lot of things were all Hamilton’s work.

Three-hundred years later and his systems are still being used. I guess you could classify this guy as an A++ hero for his great thinking and intelligence. After being a Revolutionary War soldier, defending the Constitution, stabilizing the economy, and opposing slavery, Alex may have faced many hardships in his life but he is still a risk-taking valiant hero.