Summary and Analysis of Alexander Hamilton

Based on the Book by Ron Chernow

Worth Books

• Publisher: Worth Books
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9781504046664
• eBook ISBN: 9781504043052
• Topic: Study Aids
• Subtopic: Political Biographies

So much to read, so little time? This brief overview of Alexander Hamilton tells you what you need to know—before or after you read Ron Chernow's book.
Crafted and edited with care, Worth Books set the standard for quality and give you the tools you need to be a well-informed reader.
 
This short summary and analysis of Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow includes:
 

• Historical context
• Chapter-by-chapter summaries
• Detailed timeline of key events
• Important quotes
• Fascinating trivia
• Glossary of terms
• Supporting material to enhance your understanding of the original work

 
About Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow:
 
Ron Chernow's New York Times–bestselling biography of Alexander Hamilton sets the record straight on the often-misunderstood founding father. Beginning with a thoroughly researched investigation of Hamilton's controversial origins, the book takes an immersive look at the man who authored the Federalist Papers, fought in the Revolutionary War, crafted the nation's financial system, and served as George Washington's right-hand man before being killed in an infamous duel with Aaron Burr.
 
More than a portrait of one man, Alexander Hamilton is the story of America's birth—and the inspiration for Lin-Manuel Miranda's Pulitzer Prize–winning Broadway musical.
 
The summary and analysis in this ebook are intended to complement your reading experience and bring you closer to a great work of nonfiction.
 

Summary

Chapter One: The Castaways

Alexander Hamilton was born in 1755. He was raised on various islands in the British West Indies, a center of the world sugar trade at the time, but the precise location of his birth remains a mystery. His father, James Hamilton, was the fourth child of a Scottish laird, and his mother, Rachel Faucette Lavien, was from a mixed English and French Huguenot family.

Because his mother was separated from her first husband (who would not grant her a divorce), from a legal and social standpoint, Hamilton is considered “illegitimate,” a circumstance that is both a secret source of shame and arguably the major cause of his insatiable drive to succeed. Unique among the founding fathers, his childhood is beset by a nearly unimaginable number of tragedies and financial hardships.

Chapter Two: Hurricane

Despite his tumultuous upbringing, Hamilton is a remarkable student. A chance encounter with Hugh Knox, a fatherly Presbyterian minister who had recently relocated to the island of St. Croix, helps the precocious teenage Hamilton win sponsorship to study in North America. He leaves the island overwhelmed by the belief that he is, at last, fulfilling his destiny.

Chapter Three: The Collegian

After arriving in New York, Hamilton enrolls at the Elizabethtown Academy, a college preparatory school across the river in Elizabethtown (now Elizabeth), New Jersey. His connections in the West Indies put him into contact with members of the area elite, and he integrates himself into New York and New Jersey colonial society with remarkable speed and finesse.

Hamilton enrolls at King’s College in lower Manhattan, which is overseen by a stern Tory president named Dr. Myles Cooper. Although New York is a Loyalist stronghold, recent British actions against Massachusetts in response to the Boston Tea Party enrage many people in the city, and Hamilton is quickly sucked in to the bubbling subculture of anti-British activism.

Chapter Four: The Pen and the Sword

By April 1775, the political situation in New York had become explosive. After news of the deadly skirmishes at Lexington and Concord reached the city, newly formed militia groups begin rallying and harassing Loyalists, many of whom flee to England fearing for their lives. Hamilton immediately volunteers for service, but, despite his enthusiastic military participation and fiery rhetoric, he worries that unchecked revolutionary fever could lead right back to the kind of tyranny he is fighting against. He is soon made an artillery captain, and fights a number of major—and agonizingly bloody—battles in and around New York City.

Chapter Five: The Little Lion

All-out war erupts in the colonies. Hamilton demonstrates strategic talent in a number of retreats, and the leader of the fledgling Continental Army, General George Washington, takes notice of the gifted young captain. Washington recruits Hamilton to be one of his aides-de-camp, and Hamilton accepts the position, despite his wish—admitted years later—to be given a senior fighting appointment. Nevertheless, Hamilton predictably flourishes in his administrator role and earns enough of Washington’s trust to serve as a largely autonomous representative of the general.

This kicks off a number of feuds, some of which would become lifelong, with various Continental Army military and political leaders unaccustomed to taking orders from a confident twenty-two-year-old.

Chapter Six: A Frenzy of Valor

Due to the unimaginable deprivation and death count at Valley Forge, the winter of 1778 marks the low point of Continental Army morale. In June, its fortunes take a dramatic turn. At the battle of Monmouth, with Washington’s steely leadership—and Hamilton’s intensity (or perhaps recklessness)—the Army inflicts significant casualties. With assistance from France, American victory slowly came to be seen as less than impossible.

Hamilton and his close friend John Laurens, an antislavery aristocrat from South Carolina, draft a proposal to abolish slavery by giving blacks freedom in exchange for military service. The proposal fails, leading Hamilton to conclude bitterly that, “prejudice and private interest will be antagonists too powerful for public spirit and public good.”

Chapter Seven: The Lovesick Colonel

In 1780, the Continental Army endures another devastating winter while stationed in Morristown, New Jersey. Fortune turns, however, after a chance visit to Morristown by Elizabeth (Eliza) Schuyler, the beguiling twenty-two-year-old daughter of Philip Schuyler, a Continental Army general and one of the most distinguished figures in New York Dutch society.

Hamilton falls head over heels for Eliza. After only a month of courtship, the pair decide to wed; they marry that December. His frustration with Washington reaches a boiling point, and after being denied yet another request for combat, Hamilton resigns his position as Washington’s right-hand man.

Chapter Eight: Glory

Even though he is no longer a member of Washington’s staff, Hamilton continues to hound him for a military assignment. Washington finally relents, and, in the summer of 1781, Hamilton is put in charge of a light-infantry battalion. In September, he leads a courageous charge at the Battle of Yorktown that helps provoke the sur...

Table of contents

• Title
• Disclaimer
• Contents
• Context
• Overview
• Summary
• Timeline
• Cast of Characters
• Direct Quotes and Analysis
• Trivia
• What’s That Word?
• Critical Response
• About Ron Chernow
• For Your Information
• Bibliography
• Copyright