Alexander Hamilton: The Unloved and Forgotten Founding Father

Abstract

As Americans, we tend to place a high importance on our Founding Fathers. There are streets, schools, monuments, cities, money and more all bearing the name or image of Founding Fathers. In looking at these it becomes apparent that history has not treated all of the Founding Fathers kindly, or equally. Alexander Hamilton, who was undeniably vital to the country?s formation, has become forgotten and actually viewed unfavorably. This negative perception that people have of Alexander Hamilton has been somewhat written about, but among scholars no one has been able to pinpoint its origin. The goal of this paper is to analyze the theories that have been previously written, combined with letters from Hamilton and his peers, in an attempt to come to a conclusion regarding Hamilton's perhaps unfounded bad reputation. Based on this method, a new theory has been found by looking at the previous theories in a new way: as a whole. Alexander Hamilton has come to be regarded with a negative reputation because of his disagreements with Thomas Jefferson, his own personality flaws, combined with Americans tendency to push him away because he reminds us of facts we would rather not remember. Hamilton was also an easy target for those seeking to attack him. This uneven memory of the Founding Fathers is changing though, with new and more truthful biographies about the individuals being published.