Have you ever watched the show "How it's Made?" It is about... well... how things are made. The channel shows us in a factory setting the precise way an item is mass produced. Each product turns out perfectly identical or is tossed out with the reject pile. Some people are like this. They want to 'fit in' and be able to relate to everyone else rather than risk being different and going above the bare minimum amount of effort required of them (ahem... like me with some of my blogs). But those who are 'normal' rarely accomplish admirable feats because they lack persistence.
Villainous Business clearly shows us that Alexander Hamilton fits in any other description than 'perfect'. His upbringing was far from cushy. Alexander's mother, Rachel Fawcett Lavien, was pressured into wedding her first husband, John Lavien, who was abusive to her even when she was only a teenager. Sadly, Rachel was not blameless herself. It is recorded that Mr. Lavien had Rachel imprisoned for several months at a time for adultery. When her sentence was up, instead of returning to her husband she fled to St. Kitts where she met James Hamilton. Just a few years later, James abandoned Rachel and a young Alexander, leaving them in debt and poverty.
This is when Alexander made the choice to work tirelessly. At the young age of 11, he got a job to support what was left of his family. His mother also worked laboriously which led to her falling ill in 1768 when she died at age 38.
However, Alexander was not the product one would expect from such a tragic upbringing. His employers described him as "bright and ambitious". In fact, Hamilton was so impressive that his boss, Nicolas Cruger, and others helped gather enough money to send Alexander to America to get an education!
Hamilton did enroll into King's College but when he heard talk of the American Revolution he made the better economic decision to fight in the war for America's independence rather than finish up school. He even excelled in his military career where he was promoted to lieutenant of the Continental Army in 1777. This dedicated young man then earned the interest of THE general George Washington and was asked to be his number one assistant!
In 1800, Hamilton left the honorable position of Washington's assistant in order to study law and eventually became a lawyer. After becoming one of the most prestigious attorneys in Manhattan, Alexander was drawn further into government. He then made it his goal to establish a stronger federal government under the constitution- which caused him to butt heads with MANY people.
When Washington was elected president in 1786, Hamilton was appointed the first secretary of state in America. By the time Hamilton stepped down from his position in politics in 1795, he left the economy in a far more secure state then he found it.
Remember how I mentioned that Alexander tended to butt heads with other cabinet members? I was not exaggerating. Aaron Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel that ended his life in 1804.
Hamilton was far from perfect. His upbringing was woefully inadequate. He was stubborn and made some risky decisions. He is even famous for one of the first sex scandals in our nation's history. Yet, this makes him even more of an intriguing person when one considers his wonderful accomplishments in the constant uphill battle that was his life. Hamilton proves that there is no such thing as a 'cookie cutter' mold for a founding father or an influential person. He was persistent enough to flourish no matter what the circumstances were.
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