The Imagination of Alexander Hamilton
November 06, 2013
The Making of a Nation
Welcome to The Making of a Nation – American history in VOA Special English. I’m Steve Ember.
Today we begin the story of Alexander Hamilton. He was one of the country’s founding fathers. He never became president. He did, however, become the country’s first secretary of the treasury.
At that time, the American government was very weak. It had many debts and no money. Many of the country’s citizens did not support their own government. Many wondered if America would last.
In a few years, however, there was a change. This change was produced in large part by the energy and imagination of one man: Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton wanted to make America a strong and important nation. He wanted it to become the equal of the powerful nations of Europe.
There is much mystery about the early days of Alexander Hamilton. Some facts about his childhood and youth have been clearly established. Others have not. Historians think he was born around 1755 or 1757.
His mother was the daughter of French Huguenots who had settled in the British West Indies. Her name was Rachel Lavien. Historians are not sure who his father was. One story says he may have been James Hamilton, a poor businessman from Scotland. Rachel Lavien lived with him after she left her husband.
One thing is certain. His mother died when he was 11 years old. When she died, friends of the family found work for the boy on the island of Saint Croix -- then called Santa Cruz -- in the Virgin Islands. He became an assistant bookkeeper and learned how to keep financial records.
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