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Citizen Hamilton: The Words and Wisdom of an American Founder
A man of extraordinary talent and boundless energy, Alexander Hamilton left a remarkable legacy in America's history. A member of George Washington's staff during the American Revolution, a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, an author of the Federalist Papers , and the nation's first secretary of the treasury, he played a seminal role in the nation's founding.
In this elegant collection, Donald R. Hickey and Connie D. Clark bring together enlightening, important, and amusing selections from Hamilton's speeches, published writings and personal letters. As we come to understand Hamilton's thoughts on subjects as diverse as the Constitution, love, war, liberty and honor, we find that his words are often as applicable in our own time as they were in his.
From Citizen Hamilton
American Character
"The people of the United States are a people equally sober and enlightened; their notions of liberty are rational and orderly."
Constitutional Law
"A sacred respect for the constitutional law is the vital principle, the sustaining energy, of a free government."
Dueling
"My religious and moral principles are strongly opposed to the practice of dueling, and it would even give me pain to be obliged to shed the blood of a fellow creature in a private combat forbidden by the laws."
Finding a Husband
"Get a man of sense, not ugly enough to be pointed at, with some good-nature, a few grains of feeling, a little taste, a little imagination, and above a good deal of decision to keep you in order, for that I foresee will be no easy task."
Happiness
"Experience more and more convinces me that true happiness is only to be found in the bosom of one's own family."
Money
"The effects of imagination and prejudice cannot safely be disregarded in anything that relates to money."
Optimism
"It is a maxim of my life to enjoy the present good with the highest relish and to soften the present evil by a hope of future good."
The People
"The fabric of American Empire
In this elegant collection, Donald R. Hickey and Connie D. Clark bring together enlightening, important, and amusing selections from Hamilton's speeches, published writings and personal letters. As we come to understand Hamilton's thoughts on subjects as diverse as the Constitution, love, war, liberty and honor, we find that his words are often as applicable in our own time as they were in his.
From Citizen Hamilton
American Character
"The people of the United States are a people equally sober and enlightened; their notions of liberty are rational and orderly."
Constitutional Law
"A sacred respect for the constitutional law is the vital principle, the sustaining energy, of a free government."
Dueling
"My religious and moral principles are strongly opposed to the practice of dueling, and it would even give me pain to be obliged to shed the blood of a fellow creature in a private combat forbidden by the laws."
Finding a Husband
"Get a man of sense, not ugly enough to be pointed at, with some good-nature, a few grains of feeling, a little taste, a little imagination, and above a good deal of decision to keep you in order, for that I foresee will be no easy task."
Happiness
"Experience more and more convinces me that true happiness is only to be found in the bosom of one's own family."
Money
"The effects of imagination and prejudice cannot safely be disregarded in anything that relates to money."
Optimism
"It is a maxim of my life to enjoy the present good with the highest relish and to soften the present evil by a hope of future good."
The People
"The fabric of American Empire
- GenresBiography
208 pages, Hardcover
First published November 28, 2005
About the author
Alexander Hamilton
1,086 books1,011 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
American politician Alexander Hamilton, the first secretary of the treasury of United States from 1789 to 1795, established the national bank and public credit system; a duel with Aaron Burr, his rival, mortally wounded him.
One of the Founding Fathers, this economist and philosopher led calls for the convention at Philadelphia and as first Constitutional lawyer co-wrote the Federalist Papers , a primary source for Constitutional interpretation.
During the Revolutionary War, he, born in the West Indies but educated in the north, joined the militia, which chose him artillery captain. Hamilton, senior aide-de-camp and confidant to George Washington, general, led three battalions at the siege of Yorktown. People elected him to the Continental congress, but he resigned to practice law and to found in New York. He served in the legislature of New York and later returned to Congress; at the convention in Philadelphia, only he signed the Constitution for New York. Under Washington, then president, he influenced formative government policy widely. Hamilton, an admirer of British, emphasized strong central government and implied powers, under which the new Congress funded and assumed the debts and created an import tariff and whiskey tax.
A coalition, the formative Federalist Party, arose around Hamilton, and another coalition, the formative Democratic-Republican Party, arose around Thomas Jefferson and James Madison before 1792; these coalitions differed strongly over domestic fiscal goals and Hamiltonian foreign policy of extensive trade and friendly relations with Britain. Exposed in an affair with Maria Reynolds, Hamilton resigned to return to Constitutional law and advocacy of strong federalism. In 1798, the quasi-war with France led him to argue for an army, which he organized and commanded de facto.
Opposition of Hamilton to John Adams, fellow Federalist, contributed to the success of Thomas Jefferson, a Democratic-Republican, in the uniquely deadlocked election of 1800. With defeat of his party, his industrializing ideas lost their former prominence. In 1801, Hamilton founded the Federalist broadsheet New-York Evening Post, now known as the New York Post. His intensity with the vice-president eventually resulted in his death.
After the war of 1812, Madison, Albert Gallatin, and other former opponents of the late Hamilton revived some of his federalizing programs, such as infrastructure, tariffs, and a standing Army and Navy. His Federalist and business-oriented economic visions for the country continue to influence party platforms to this day.
American politician Alexander Hamilton, the first secretary of the treasury of United States from 1789 to 1795, established the national bank and public credit system; a duel with Aaron Burr, his rival, mortally wounded him.
One of the Founding Fathers, this economist and philosopher led calls for the convention at Philadelphia and as first Constitutional lawyer co-wrote the Federalist Papers , a primary source for Constitutional interpretation.
During the Revolutionary War, he, born in the West Indies but educated in the north, joined the militia, which chose him artillery captain. Hamilton, senior aide-de-camp and confidant to George Washington, general, led three battalions at the siege of Yorktown. People elected him to the Continental congress, but he resigned to practice law and to found in New York. He served in the legislature of New York and later returned to Congress; at the convention in Philadelphia, only he signed the Constitution for New York. Under Washington, then president, he influenced formative government policy widely. Hamilton, an admirer of British, emphasized strong central government and implied powers, under which the new Congress funded and assumed the debts and created an import tariff and whiskey tax.
A coalition, the formative Federalist Party, arose around Hamilton, and another coalition, the formative Democratic-Republican Party, arose around Thomas Jefferson and James Madison before 1792; these coalitions differed strongly over domestic fiscal goals and Hamiltonian foreign policy of extensive trade and friendly relations with Britain. Exposed in an affair with Maria Reynolds, Hamilton resigned to return to Constitutional law and advocacy of strong federalism. In 1798, the quasi-war with France led him to argue for an army, which he organized and commanded de facto.
Opposition of Hamilton to John Adams, fellow Federalist, contributed to the success of Thomas Jefferson, a Democratic-Republican, in the uniquely deadlocked election of 1800. With defeat of his party, his industrializing ideas lost their former prominence. In 1801, Hamilton founded the Federalist broadsheet New-York Evening Post, now known as the New York Post. His intensity with the vice-president eventually resulted in his death.
After the war of 1812, Madison, Albert Gallatin, and other former opponents of the late Hamilton revived some of his federalizing programs, such as infrastructure, tariffs, and a standing Army and Navy. His Federalist and business-oriented economic visions for the country continue to influence party platforms to this day.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
October 11, 2016
My library had a copy, so I decided to check it out for the weekend and skim it. Wonderful nine-page introduction to Hamilton's life and thought. Well chosen subjects and quotations. A worthy academic addition to any patriot's library.
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