The prologue gives a brief account of Elizabeth (Eliza) Schuyler Hamilton’s efforts to protect her husband’s reputation. Eliza would remain committed to Hamilton’s legacy, both during his life and after his death. Chernow also discusses the reasons for writing this particular biography when books about Hamilton already exist. 

Alexander Hamilton claimed to have been born in Nevis, in the British West Indies, but there are no records that prove this. The sugar boom in the late 17th century led the British government to import many slaves and indentured servants there to work in the industry, leading to high populations of criminals, vagabonds, and unsavory people. Hamilton grew up there, unlike other founding fathers raised in aristocratic conditions on Virginia plantations.

After Hamilton’s father—James—deserted the family in 1765, his mother married John Lavien. Lavien was a selfish, cold man who later divorced Rachel for alleged infidelities, resulting in her being imprisoned for months. After getting out, she left with Alexander for St. Croix.

It does not appear that Alexander was formally schooled, but probably had private tutoring. He later told one of his sons that he had been tutored by a Jewish woman and maintained a reverence for Jews throughout his life.

Nine years after Rachel left St. Croix, Lavien officially sought a divorce. In the decree, he called Rachel a “scarlet woman” (27). He demanded that she be denied any legal rights to his property and referred to Alexander and his brother, James Jr., as her “whore-children” (27). A judge granted Lavien the freedom to divorce and remarry, but forbade Rachel from remarrying. This meant that the boys could not ever rise about their status as illegitimate children.

Their new house held 34 books, which were Alexander’s favorite treasure. His peers would sneer at his reading habits, but he was a voracious reader his entire life.

Rachel died of a fever in 1767. Peter Lytton, their 32-year-old cousin, received guardianship of the boys. Peter, however, committed suicide later that year, and his will left nothing to his two nephews.

James Jr. then apprenticed with a carpenter, and Alexander went to live with Thomas Steven, a respected merchant. He became close friends with Stevens’s son, Edward. Their resemblance was so uncanny that historians now speculate that Edward and Alexander may have actually been brothers. That could potentially identify one of the men with whom Lavien claimed Rachel had been having an affair. It could also explain why Lavien felt little guilt in abandoning Alexander and James Jr. 

A 14-year-old Hamilton learned the business of shipping and trading in the Caribbean while a clerk at Beekman and Cruger. He had to “mind money, chart courses for ships, keep track of freight, and compute prices in an exotic blend of currencies” (38). He showed a tremendous capacity for sustained physical work. But soon he began to dream of glory and adventure. He wrote to Edward Stevens that he almost wished a war would break out.

Once a year he witnessed a slave ship loaded with hundreds of bodies. His continual witness of the cruelty of the slavery institution would instill in him a loathing for “the tyranny embodied by the planters and their authoritarian rule, while also fearing the potential uprisings of the disaffected slaves. The twin specters of despotism and anarchy were to haunt him for the rest of his life” (42).

In 1770 the Royal Danish American Gazette was launched, giving Hamilton a potential place to publish his writing. He soon published two poems. The first was a romantic ode from a man to a woman with whom he was in love. The second was an indictment of the façade of female virtue, as if written by someone who had already been wronged by many women.

A 45-year-old Presbyterian minister named Henry Knox arrived in St. Croix the next year. He opened his library to Hamilton and became his mentor. Knox also worked as a self-taught doctor and journalist. On August 31, 1772, a hurricane hit St. Croix and caused great destruction. Hamilton wrote a letter to his father describing the devastation, and Knox urged him to publish the letter in the Gazette.

The letter was bombastic in its descriptions, and self-serious in the way of many teenagers, “but he had just written his way out of poverty” (47). The letter had been published as having an anonymous author, but in its aftermath, a fund was created (probably by Knox) that would send the author to North America for an education. The chief donors were most likely Hamilton’s employers who had owned Beekman and Cruger.

Hamilton’s first cousin, Ann Lytton, had married a man similar to Lavien. After her marriage ended, she fled with her son to New York, after giving Alexander power of attorney to collect payments from her father’s estate. This allowed her to secure some of her inheritance. In gratitude, she allowed him to use some of the money for his education. He left for America, eager to begin his studies, and to search for new adventures. 

In New York, Hamilton began studying at Elizabethtown Academy, a preparatory skill that offered courses in Greek, Latin, and the advanced math needed to qualify for college. He integrated easily into New York society, and showed a talent for making friends with older, influential men, including Hercules Mulligan, William Livingston, and Elias Boudinot, a lawyer who would later become president of the Continental Congress. During his time in New York, Hamilton politically “leaned towards monarchism” (57) and favored the British imperial system.

He next went to King’s College, after failing to gain acceptance at Princeton University. There, he would study under “one of the most ardent Tories in the colonies, Dr. Myles Cooper, the president of King’s” (59). Initially Alexander wanted to become a doctor, and attended anatomy lectures. He soon became enmeshed in various literacy circles, and most of the discussion at their meetings revolved around politics.

On December 16, 1773, 200 men dressed as Mohawk Indians destroyed 342 chests of tea in the Boston Harbor. The Boston Tea Party was a response to increasing dissatisfaction with Britain’s oppressive taxes. Hamilton wrote an anonymous article in praise of the dissidents in the New York Journal. The British tried to impose the Coercive Acts in response, which led to even greater dissent. On July 6, 1774, Hamilton gave a speech at a meeting of the militant Sons of Liberty. He called for a boycott of British goods and praised the Boston Tea Party. Colonial resistance continued to increase, and by August 1774 all of the colonies—except for Georgia—had chosen the delegates they would send to the First Continental Congress.

On April 18, 1775, 800 British troops went to arrest Samuel Adams and John Hancock. In the resulting skirmish, 273 British soldiers died, and 95 patriots. When the news reached New York, the Sons of Liberty paraded in the street.

Hamilton immediately joined a militia and began drilling under the command of Captain Edward Fleming. He helped Hamilton “embark upon a comprehensive military education” (77).

On May 10, hundreds of drunken protestors marched to King’s College, determined to kill Myles Cooper, the dean of the college. Cooper was aligned against the patriots, and had been blamed by them for the deaths resulting from the skirmish during the unsuccessful attempt to capture Adams and Hancock. Hamilton saw the mob coming and gave a speech on the steps, urging them to reconsider. The delay gave Cooper enough time to escape. Hamilton had shown bravery and loyalty to someone who had been good to him, qualities that would persist throughout his life. He “always expressed himself frankly, no matter what the consequences” (78).

The Second Continental Congress met on May 10 and named George Washington the commander of the Continental Army. Two days later, the Battle of Bunker Hill resulted in more than 1,000 British casualties.

On August 23, Hamilton joined 15 college volunteers who dragged two dozen cannons away from the port where the British warship Asia had appeared. They had worried that the British would capture the cannons, and escaped under heavy fire.

By January of 1776, Hamilton had left the Gazette to write for the republican paper the New-York Journal, which was run by John Holt. His anonymous weekly essays grew more aggressive each time, and he would later come to regret some of his words, which may have angered people that could have been converted into allies with a more subtle approach.

On February 18, Hamilton sent a letter to the Gazette, announcing his enlistment in the military. The letter was anonymous, and claimed that “it is impossible to die in a better or more important cause” (88) than the war for independence.

Colonel McDougall recommended that Hamilton receive command of an artillery company of 68 men. He was well liked by his men, and impressed many older officers with his voluminous knowledge of military history.

Later, a sergeant named Thomas Hickey, embroiled in a plan to assassinate George Washington, received punishment by hanging. Hamilton wrote several essays about the plots to murder Washington.

On July 4, the final version of the Declaration of Independence was approved, although it would not be signed until August 2.

The fighting was fierce in New York throughout August. On August 17, Washington ordered an evacuation of the citizens. The Americans lost the battle of Brooklyn and were forced to retreat. Hamilton was one of the last to retreat of the men who then fled to the woods of Harlem Heights. At Harlem Heights, Hamilton’s unit came under Washington’s command, and several sources reported that Washington was impressed with the young man’s talent for organization.

By the end of November, Washington’s army, now reduced to 3,000 men, retreated from New York into New Jersey.