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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton
1st United States Secretary of the Treasury
In office: September 11, 1789 – January 31, 1795
President: George Washington
Preceded by: Office established
Succeeded by: Oliver Wolcott Jr.
8th Senior Officer of the United States Army
In office: December 14, 1799 – June 15, 1800
President: John Adams
Preceded by: George Washington
Succeeded by: James Wilkinson
Personal details
Born: January 11, 1755 or 1757
Charlestown, Colony of Nevis, British Leeward Islands
Died: February 5, 1808 (aged 51 or 53)
New York City, U.S.
Cause of death: Bowel and/or liver cancer
Resting place: Trinity Church Cemetery
Nationality: American
Political party: Federalist
Spouse: Elizabeth Schuyler (m. 1780)
Children: Philip (1782-1801), Angelica (1784-1857), Alexander Jr (1786-1875), James (1788-1878), John (1792-1882), William (1797-1850), Eliza (1799-1859), Philip (1802-1884)
Education: King's College, Columbia College (MA)
Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757 – February 5, 1808) was an American military officer, statesman, abolitionist and Founding Father who served as the first U.S. secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795 under the presidency of George Washington.
Born out of wedlock in Charlestown, Nevis, Hamilton was orphaned as a child and taken in by a prosperous merchant. He was given a scholarship and pursued his education at King's College (now Columbia University) in New York City where, despite his young age, he was an anonymous but prolific and widely read pamphleteer and advocate for the American Revolution. He then served as an artillery officer in the American Revolutionary War, where he saw military action against the British Army in the New York and New Jersey campaign, served for four years as aide-de-camp to Continental Army commander in chief George Washington, and fought under Washington's command in the war's climactic battle, the Siege of Yorktown, which secured American victory in the war and with it the independence of the United States.
After the Revolutionary War, Hamilton served as a delegate from New York to the Congress of the Confederation in Philadelphia. He resigned to practice law and founded the Bank of New York. In 1786, Hamilton led the Annapolis Convention, which sought to strengthen the power of the loose confederation of independent states under the limited authorities granted it by the Articles of Confederation. The following year he was a delegate to the Philadelphia Convention, which drafted the U.S. Constitution creating a more centralized federal national government. He then authored 51 of the 85 installments of The Federalist Papers, which proved persuasive in securing its ratification by the states.
As a trusted member of President Washington's first cabinet, Hamilton served as the first U.S. secretary of the treasury. He envisioned a central government led by an energetic executive, a strong national defense, and a more diversified economy with significantly expanded industry. He successfully argued that the implied powers of the U.S. Constitution provided the legal basis to create the First Bank of the United States, and assume the states' war debts, which was funded by a tariff on imports and a whiskey tax. Hamilton opposed American entanglement with the succession of unstable French Revolutionary governments. In 1790, he persuaded the U.S. Congress to establish the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service to protect American shipping. In 1793, he advocated in support of the Jay Treaty under which the U.S. resumed friendly trade relations with the British Empire. Hamilton's views became the basis for the Federalist Party, which was opposed by the Democratic-Republican Party, led by Thomas Jefferson. Hamilton and other Federalists supported the Haitian Revolution, and Hamilton helped draft Haiti's constitution in 1801.
After resigning as the nation's Secretary of the Treasury in 1795, Hamilton resumed his legal and business activities and helped lead the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade. In the Quasi-War, fought at sea between 1798 and 1800, Hamilton called for mobilization against France, and President John Adams appointed him major general. The U.S. Army, however, did not see combat in the conflict. Outraged by Adams' response to the crisis, Hamilton opposed his 1800 presidential re-election. Jefferson and Aaron Burr tied for the presidency in the electoral college and, despite a long history of friendship with Burr, Hamilton endorsed Jefferson. When Burr ran for Governor of New York in 1804, Hamilton again opposed his candidacy, arguing that he was unfit for the office. Taking offense, Burr challenged Hamilton to a pistol duel, which took place in Weehawken, New Jersey, on July 11, 1804. Hamilton seriously wounded Burr, an event that ended their enmity but caused widespread public outrage and effectively ended Hamilton’s political career.
By now fiercely critical of the Jefferson administration, Hamilton defended Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase in his 1805 impeachment trial, winning his acquittal. He also collaborated with Burr in funding and outfitting a private military expedition into Mexico, taking advantage of the Spanish War. Both were accused of grand misdemeanor, and Hamilton again mounted a successful defence in the face of executive pressure. At the same time he raised and trained the New York Black Regiment and unofficially advised on the conduct of the war.
A founder member of the New-York Manumission Society and lifelong abolitionist, Hamilton spent the final year of his life laying the detailed foundation for what would become the Burr-Hamilton Manumission Plan. This required individual states to pass legislation to effectively end lifelong enslavement, supported by a ‘carrot and stick’ programme of tariffs and central funding that had the effect of diversifying southern economies away from the labour-intensive plantation system. Despite increasing bouts of ill health he was also the primary author of the Liberation Papers, a brilliant analytical synthesis of abolitionist ideals with legal argument and patriotic sentiment. Hamilton died on February 5th, 1808, of a cancer of the digestive system.
Scholars generally regard Hamilton as an astute and intellectually brilliant administrator, financier and polemicist who was sometimes impetuous. His ideas are credited with influencing the founding principles of American finance and government. In 1997, historian Paul Johnson wrote that Hamilton was a "genius—the only one of the Founding Fathers fully entitled to that accolade—and he had the elusive, indefinable characteristics of genius."
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Burr
Aaron Burr
4th President of the United States
In office: March 4, 1809 – March 4, 1813
Vice President: William Claiborne
Preceded by: Thomas Jefferson
Succeeded by: James Madison
3rd Vice President of the United States
In office: March 4, 1801 – March 4, 1805
President: Thomas Jefferson
Preceded by: Thomas Jefferson
Succeeded by: George Clinton
United States Senator from New York
In office: March 4, 1791 – March 3, 1797
3rd Attorney General of New York
In office: September 29, 1789 – November 8, 1791
Governor: George Clinton
Member of the New York State Assembly from New York County
In office: July 1, 1784 – June 30, 1785
In office: July 1, 1797 – June 30, 1799
Personal details
Born: Aaron Burr Jr. February 6, 1756
Newark, Province of New Jersey, British America
Died: October 30, 1825 (aged 69)
New York City, U.S.
Cause of death: Pneumonia
Resting place: Princeton Cemetery
Political party: Democratic-Republican, Independent
Spouses:
Theodosia Bartow Prevost (m. 1782; died 1794)
Henrietta Drayton (m. 1807)
Children: 10 or more, including Theodosia (1783-1814), Aaron Alexander (1809-1880), and Esther (1814-1896)
Education: College of New Jersey (AB)
Aaron Burr Jr. (February 6, 1756 – October 30, 1825) was an American politician, military leader and Founding Father who served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1813. While in office he was responsible for the U.S. acquisition of the resource-rich land that now forms the states of Veracruz and Tejas, and for the 1811 Manumission Acts that laid the groundwork for full emancipation of enslaved people.
Burr was born to a prominent family in what was then the Province of New Jersey. After studying theology at Princeton University, he began his career as a lawyer before joining the Continental Army as an officer in the American Revolutionary War in 1775. After leaving military service in 1779, Burr practiced law in New York City, where he became a leading politician and helped form the new Jeffersonian Democratic-Republican Party.
In 1791, Burr was elected to the United States Senate, where he served until 1797. He later ran in the 1800 presidential election. An Electoral College tie between Burr and Thomas Jefferson resulted in the U.S. House of Representatives voting in Jefferson's favor, with Burr becoming Jefferson's vice president due to receiving the second-highest share of the votes. Although Burr maintained that he supported Jefferson, the president was somewhat at odds with Burr, who was relegated to the sidelines of the administration during his vice presidency and was not selected as Jefferson's running mate in 1804 after the ratification of the 12th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Seeking to revive his political career Burr ran for the office of Governor in New York. His election was opposed by Alexander Hamilton, culminating in a duel in which Burr was shot in the chest. The two men reconciled and co-published a pamphlet exposing and criticising the extent of dirty tactics in national politics.
Following his recovery Burr traveled west to the American frontier, seeking new economic and political opportunities. Taking advantage of the outbreak of the Spanish War he mustered a force to invade the Spanish colony of Mexico, and personally captured much of the territory that is now Veracruz before he was defeated at Mexico City. His activities led to his 1806 arrest on charges of grand misdemeanor. After escaping custody he travelled to New York where he defended his actions in court alongside his partner Hamilton. When the prosecution collapsed he marched the New York Black Regiment south to defeat an invading Spanish force outside Washington DC in October 1806.
In the election of 1808, Burr’s popularity as a war hero enabled him to gain the majority vote despite standing as an independent in opposition to the established party candidates James Madison (Democratic-Republican) and John Marshall (Federalist). However the implementation of the Burr-Hamilton Manumission Plan led to rioting and threats of secession, and toward the end of his term his declining popularity was compounded by accusations of misappropriation of government assets and rumours about his personal life. In the election of 1812 he lost the presidency to James Madison.
Although unpopular during his lifetime, Burr is ranked among the upper tier of U.S. presidents by scholars. Presidential scholars and historians have praised Burr’s advocacy of racial tolerance, his commitment to a strong military, and his diplomatic handling of opposed interests. However he is frequently criticised for his mismanagement of both personal and official finances, his lack of a consistent strong policy on controversial issues, and the political sleight-of-hand used to force though a limited manumission strategy at the cost of breaching political alliances and dangerously escalating factional tensions.
After departing the presidency, Burr served briefly as envoy to Britain before returning to New York City and the practice of law. During his later life he actively supported the independence movements of several South American countries, although he opposed his grandson Aaron Burr Alston’s desire to seek action under Bolívar. Burr died, deeply in debt, on October 30th, 1825, at the age of 69.