Alexander Hamilton: The Formative Years

by Michael E. Newton

Even though Alexander Hamilton was among the most important Founding Fathers, less is known about his early life than that of any other major Founder. Relatively few records have been found regarding Hamilton’s birth, childhood, and origins in the West Indies. Alexander Hamilton “rarely . . . dwelt upon his personal history” and never recorded his life’s story. Most of Hamilton’s correspondence prior to 1777 was lost during the American Revolution. This has resulted in many gaps in Alexander Hamilton’s biography, which has given rise to much conjecture regarding the details of his life. Relying on new research and extensive analysis of the existing literature, Michael E. Newton presents a more comprehensive and accurate account of Alexander Hamilton’s formative years.

Despite being orphaned as a young boy and having his birth be “the subject of the most humiliating criticism,” Alexander Hamilton used his intelligence, determination, and charisma to overcome his questionable origins and desperate situation. As a mere child, Hamilton went to work for a West Indian mercantile company. Within a few short years, Hamilton was managing the firm’s St. Croix operations. Gaining the attention of the island’s leading men, Hamilton was sent to mainland North America for an education, where he immediately fell in with the country’s leading patriots. After using his pen to defend the civil liberties of the Americans against British infringements, Hamilton took up arms in the defense of those rights. Earning distinction in the campaign of 1776–77 at the head of an artillery company, Hamilton attracted the attention of General George Washington, who made him his aide-de-camp. Alexander Hamilton was soon writing some of Washington’s most important correspondence, advising the commander-in-chief on crucial military and political matters, carrying out urgent missions, conferring with French allies, negotiating with the British, and helping Washington manage his spy network. As Washington later attested, Hamilton had become his “principal and most confidential aid.” After serving the commander-in-chief for four years, Hamilton was given a field command and led the assault on Redoubt Ten at Yorktown, the critical engagement in the decisive battle of the War for Independence. By the age of just twenty-five, Alexander Hamilton had proven himself to be one of the most intelligent, brave, hard-working, and patriotic Americans.

'Alexander Hamilton: The Formative Years' tells the dramatic story of how this poor immigrant emerged from obscurity and transformed himself into the most remarkable Founding Father. In riveting detail, Michael E. Newton delivers a fresh and fascinating account of Alexander Hamilton’s origins, youth, and indispensable services during the American Revolution.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American Revolution, Biography Memoir, American Revolutionary War, Biography

774 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 2015

About the author

Michael E. Newton graduated Summa Cum Laude with honors from Arizona State University with degrees in finance and computer information systems. He was a portfolio manager for ten years and writes about economics, finance, and the market. Michael Newton has always had a passion for history, politics, and economics, which led him write The Path To Tyranny: A History of Free Society's Descent Into Tyranny. His newest book, Angry Mobs and Founding Fathers: The Fight for Control of the American Revolution, was just published in July 2011.

Reviews

[Lois]

As a life-long Hamilton buff, I was thrilled to win a copy of this book, and am privileged to write a review of it for goodreads.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Michael Newton takes on a fascinating subject in this biography covering the early life of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton. In doing so, he sheds light on so much that was not previously known or was simply misunderstood about Hamilton, and thus expands the reader's understanding of both the man and his experiences.

As I read, particularly in the early chapters, I could not help but smile a bit on the author's comments about wading through centuries-old records, which are so often inaccurate, incomplete, or just straight up not there. It is a familiar refrain that I have heard in the past, mostly from my own mother, who is the unofficial genealogist of our extended family. She too has gone on many a research trip and found herself working extra hard to decipher records and make sense of them to form an accurate picture of one ancestor or another. That Mr. Newton had similar experiences in researching Hamilton's childhood in the West Indies says quite a bit to me.

I will warn the reader that this book is not for the faint of heart. It is not a biography that you will breeze through in a few days. There is just too much information to read and process. One thing that does make it easier, I think, is that the chapters are generally fairly short, usually averaging 10-15 pages (with some exceptions). This actually made it easier to read, letting me set myself a goal of perhaps 2-3 chapters a day (barring RL interference, of course). I could reach my goal, and then stop, allowing me to process what I had read before going further. This prevented me from becoming overwhelmed and frustrated with the breadth of information being presented.

One of my favorite sections of the biographies was the first chapters where we gain a detailed look at Hamilton's family, and his mother in particular. I knew the basics of Rachel Fawcett's life going in, but Newton did an excellent job laying out the details of her life, in particular just how her reputation suffered charges of being a "whore" and other such unsavory accusations which have been passed down by various biographers over the centuries.

Another part I particularly enjoyed was the chapters devoted to Benedict Arnold's betrayal in 1780. Again, I knew the basics of the story, but I was glad to see Hamilton's involvement laid out in further detail and the inaccuracies stripped away. In particular, I much enjoyed the chapter dedicated to Peggy Shippen Arnold's involvement in the plot, and how Hamilton likely came to believe that she wasn't involved (though she likely was).

Again, this is not the easiest of reads for people. It takes time and patience to read through what Mr. Newton has gathered together here. But if you're willing to take the time, to pace yourself, you will find the book fascinating and so enlightening. Definitely a must-read for any serious Hamilton scholar.

[Yaaresse]

Sampled 3-2017. Very dry. Doesn't seem to bring anything new to surface, and fixates on inconsistencies in record keeping, especially name spellings, that anyone with even a passing interest in history of genealogy knows are ubiquitous with even the most common names.