Alexander Hamilton:
http://www.isidore-of-seville.com/hamilton/
http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/B/hamilton/hamilxx.htm
http://www.alexanderhamiltonexhibition.org/
http://www.lambda.net/~maximum/hamilton.html
Thomas Jefferson:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/tj3.html
http://www.monticello.org/
http://sc94.ameslab.gov/TOUR/tjefferson.html
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/jefferson/quotations/
Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson were indispensable Founding
Fathers that could not have been more dissimilar.
Jefferson, the third of eight children, was raised on a series of
small farms in the Virginia territory by middle class parents. He
received a good classical education as a child. He attended William
and Mary College for two years. He sat in on law lectures and drew the
attention of influential legal scholars and practioners of his day.
After a legal apprenticeship, he joined the bar as a young up-and
coming star.
Jefferson married Martha Wayles Skelton, a wealthy widow, who had a
half sister of slave background from her father?s dalliances. They
were married ten years and had two daughters that lived to adulthood.
Jefferson is widely believed to have had children with his wife?s half
sister after his wife?s death.
Jefferson stood 6 feet, 2 inches, was an elegant, thin man with an
aristocratic bearing. He was the 3rd President of the United States,
serving from 1800-1808. He was a 2nd cousin of John Marshall as the
4th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, served as Governor of
Virginia during the Revolutionary War and later served as Minister to
France. His sympathy for the French Revolution led him into conflict
with Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton when Jefferson was
Secretary of State and both served in President Washington's Cabinet.
He served as Vice President under John Adams.
Alexander Hamilton was born on the island of Nevis in the West Indies
in 1755. He was the illegitimate son of an itinerant tinker and his
mother, then married to another man. His father abandoned them early
on and his mother died in his early teenage years. Local merchants
discovered that Hamilton had a genius for financial management and
allowed him to manage various import-export businesses to the
colonies. The same merchants funded his formal education at Columbia
University (then Kings College), were he also studied law.
Hamilton stood 5 feet, seven inches, was very thin and handsome. He
had a youthful disposition, was high energy, impulsive, hot tempered
and passionate. In his mature years Hamilton dressed in a more
peacock, insecure manner.. Jefferson was low-keyed and tall, with an
aristocratic bearing and a subtle, sly temperament.
Hamilton served directly under Gen. George Washington during the
Revolutionary War and later was in command of his own fighting
regiment.
Hamilton had been active while at Kings College writing essays and
arguing for the Revolutionary War. He married Elizabeth Schuyler in
1780, the daughter of one of the most influential New York families.
Hamilton was a collaborator with James Madison and John Jay in writing
the Federalist Papers, arguing for a Continental Congress to create a
more stable government after the Articles of Confederation failed.
Both Hamilton and Jefferson served in the Continental Congress.
Hamilton was most vigorous in arguing for a strong, centralized
government with a powerful chief executive. His contemporaries always
suspected him of harboring Napoleonic ambitions.
Hamilton served as President Washington?s first Treasury Sec., while
Jefferson served as the first Sec. of State. In his role at the
Treasury, Hamilton authored four cornerstone essays that become the
bulwark of the American economic system. He also survived a sex
scandal with hints of payoffs. In addition, he was caught engaging in
land speculation around the new capital on the Potomoc.
Hamilton moved on to serve New York state as a U.S. Senator and soon
was in conflict with Aaron Burr for control of NY politics. As
Hamilton's political fortunes declined, he became more unpredictable
and initiated several duels (later canceled) before his duel with Burr
at age 49. His oldest son was killed in a duel a year before he was.
His oldest daughter went mad after his death in 1804.
Jefferson was also touched by rumors of sex scandals. He utilized
Hamilton's idea of "energy in the executive" as President with very
expansive ideas that established the dynamism of the presidency. |
