Alexander Hamilton

Alexander Hamilton was born in the British West Indies. An orphan, he was sponsored to go to America by people in his community in 1772, and matriculated from Columbia University in 1773. During the Revolutionary War, Hamilton joined a New York volunteer militia and eventually became commander of a light infantry battalion that helped end British military operations in North America. In 1782, Hamilton was elected to the Congress of the Confederation and in 1787 served in the Constitutional Convention, where he was influential in drafting the Constitution. Hamilton was also George Washington’s Secretary of the Treasury and helped establish the U.S. Mint. Hamilton was killed in an 1804 duel with Vice President Aaron Burr.