Alexander Hamilton: Writings (LOA #129)
1108Alexander Hamilton: Writings (LOA #129)
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Overview
Arranged chronologically, this volume contains more than 170 letters, speeches, pamphlets, essays, reports, and memoranda written between 1769 and 1804. Included are all fifty-one of Hamilton’s contributions to The Federalist, as well as subsequent writings calling for a broad construction of federal power; his famous speech to the Constitutional Convention, which gave rise to accusations that he favored monarchy; and early writings supporting the Revolutionary cause and a stronger central government. His detailed reports as Secretary of the Treasury on the public credit, a national bank, and the encouragement of manufactures present a forward-looking vision of a country transformed by the power of financial markets, centralized banking, and industrial development.
Hamilton’s sometimes flawed political judgment is revealed in the “Reynolds Pamphlet,” in which he confessed to adultery in order to defend himself against accusations of corrupt conduct, as well as in his self-destructive pamphlet attack on John Adams during the 1800 presidential campaign. An extensive selection of private letters illuminates Hamilton’s complex relationship with George Washington, his deep affection for his wife and children, his mounting fears during the 1790s regarding the Jeffersonian opposition and the French Revolution, and his profound distrust of Aaron Burr.
LIBRARY OF AMERICA is an independent nonprofit cultural organization founded in 1979 to preserve our nation’s literary heritage by publishing, and keeping permanently in print, America’s best and most significant writing. The Library of America series includes more than 300 volumes to date, authoritative editions that average 1,000 pages in length, feature cloth covers, sewn bindings, and ribbon markers, and are printed on premium acid-free paper that will last for centuries.
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9781931082044 |
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Publisher: | Library of America |
Publication date: | 10/15/2001 |
Series: | Library of America Founders Collection , #4 |
Pages: | 1108 |
Product dimensions: | 5.19(w) x 8.17(h) x 1.36(d) |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
Chapter One
"MY AMBITION IS PREVALENT"
To Edward Stevens
St Croix Novemr. 11th 1769
Dear Edward
This just serves to acknowledge receipt of yours per Cap Lowndes which was delivered me Yesterday. The truth of Cap Lightbourn & Lowndes information is now verifyd by the Presence of your Father and Sister for whose safe arrival I Pray, and that they may, convey that Satisfaction to your Soul that must naturally flow from the sight of Absent Friends in health, and shall for news this way refer you to them. As to what you say respecting your having soon the happiness of seeing us all, I wish, for an accomplishment of your hopes provided they are Concomitant with your welfare, otherwise not, tho doubt whether I shall be Present or not for to confess my weakness, Ned, my Ambition is prevalent that I contemn the grov'ling and condition of a Clerk or the like, to which my Fortune &c. condemns me and would willingly risk my life tho' not my Character to exalt my Station. Im confident, Ned that my Youth excludes me from any hopes of immediate Preferment nor do I desire it, but I mean to prepare the way for futurity. Im no Philosopher you see and may be jusly said to Build Castles in the Air. My Folly makes mc ashamd and beg youll Conceal it, yet Neddy we have seen such Schemes successfull when the Projector is Constant I shall Conclude saying I wish there was a War.
I am Dr Edward Yours Alex Hamilton
PS I this moment receivd yours by William Smith and am pleasd to see you Give such Close Application to Study.
Excerpted from Alexander Hamilton by Alexander Hamilton. Copyright © 2001 by Literary Classics of the United States, Inc.. Excerpted by permission. All rights reserved.
Table of Contents
The West Indies, the Revolution, and the Confederation, 1769-1786 | ||
To Edward Stevens, November 11, 1769: "My Ambition Is Prevalent" | 3 | |
To Nicholas Cruger, February 24, 1772: Counting-House Business | 4 | |
To The Royal Danish American Gazette, September 6, 1772: Account of a Hurricane | 6 | |
A Full Vindication of the Measures of the Congress, December 15, 1774 | 10 | |
To John Jay, November 26, 1775: The Danger of Trusting in Virtue | 43 | |
To Gouverneur Morris, May 19, 1777: The New York Constitution | 46 | |
To George Clinton, February 13, 1778: The Trouble with Congress | 48 | |
To Elias Boudinot, July 5, 1778: The Battle of Monmouth | 51 | |
To John Jay, March 14, 1779: Enlisting Slaves as Soldiers | 56 | |
To John Laurens, c. April 1779: Hope for a Wife | 58 | |
To William Gordon, September 5, 1779: An Insult to Honor | 61 | |
To John Laurens, January 8, 1780: "I Am Not Fit for This Terrestreal Country" | 65 | |
To Elizabeth Schuyler, August 1780: "Examine Well Your Heart" | 66 | |
To James Duane, September 3, 1780: "The Defects of Our Present System" | 70 | |
To Elizabeth Schuyler, September 3, 1780: Opinions Regarding the Sexes | 87 | |
To Elizabeth Schuyler, September 25, 1780: The Plight of Mrs. Arnold | 89 | |
To Elizabeth Schuyler, October 2, 1780: The Fate of Major Andre | 91 | |
To Margarita Schuyler, January 21, 1781: Advice About Marriage | 92 | |
To Philip Schuyler, February 18, 1781: A Break with Washington | 93 | |
To James McHenry, February 18, 1781: Washington Will Repent His Ill-Humour | 97 | |
The Continentalist No. I, July 12, 1781 | 98 | |
The Continentalist No. III, August 9, 1781 | 101 | |
The Continentalist No. IV, August 30, 1781 | 106 | |
The Continentalist No. VI, July 4, 1782 | 111 | |
To Richard Kidder Meade, August 27, 1782: The Birth of a Son | 118 | |
Remarks in Congress on Raising Funds, January 27, 1783 | 120 | |
Remarks in Congress on Collecting Funds, January 28, 1783 | 121 | |
To George Washington, February 13, 1783: The Prospect of a Mutiny | 121 | |
To George Washington, March 17, 1783: "Contending for a Shadow" | 123 | |
A Letter from Phocion to the Considerate Citizens of New-York on the Politics of the Day, January 1784 | 127 | |
To James Hamilton, June 22, 1785: "I Feel All the Sentiment of a Brother" | 140 | |
Address of the Annapolis Convention, September 14, 1786 | 142 | |
Framing and Ratifying the Constitution, 1787-1789 | ||
Plan of Government, c. June 18, 1787 | 149 | |
Speech in the Constitutional Convention on a Plan of Government, June 18, 1787 | 151 | |
To George Washington, July 3, 1787: "The Critical Opportunity" | 166 | |
Conjectures About the New Constitution, c. late September 1787 | 167 | |
The Federalist No. 1, October 27, 1787 | 171 | |
The Federalist No. 6, November 14, 1787 | 176 | |
The Federalist No. 7, November 17, 1787 | 183 | |
The Federalist No. 8, November 20, 1787 | 190 | |
The Federalist No. 9, November 21, 1787 | 196 | |
The Federalist No. 11, November 24, 1787 | 202 | |
The Federalist No. 12, November 27, 1787 | 209 | |
The Federalist No. 13, November 28, 1787 | 215 | |
The Federalist No. 15, December 1, 1787 | 218 | |
The Federalist No. 16, December 4, 1787 | 226 | |
The Federalist No. 17, December 5, 1787 | 232 | |
The Federalist No. 21, December 12, 1787 | 237 | |
The Federalist No. 22, December 14, 1787 | 243 | |
The Federalist No. 23, December 18, 1787 | 253 | |
The Federalist No. 24, December 19, 1787 | 258 | |
The Federalist No. 25, December 21, 1787 | 264 | |
The Federalist No. 26, December 22, 1787 | 269 | |
The Federalist No. 27, December 25, 1787 | 275 | |
The Federalist No. 28, December 26, 1787 | 279 | |
The Federalist No. 29, January 9, 1788 | 284 | |
The Federalist No. 30, December 28, 1787 | 290 | |
The Federalist No. 31, January 1, 1788 | 296 | |
The Federalist No. 32, January 2, 1788 | 301 | |
The Federalist No. 33, January 2, 1788 | 305 | |
The Federalist No. 34, January 5, 1788 | 310 | |
The Federalist No. 35, January 5, 1788 | 316 | |
The Federalist No. 36, January 8, 1788 | 322 | |
The Federalist No. 59, February 22, 1788 | 330 | |
The Federalist No. 60, February 23, 1788 | 335 | |
The Federalist No. 61, February 26, 1788 | 341 | |
The Federalist No. 65, March 7, 1788 | 345 | |
The Federalist No. 66, March 8, 1788 | 351 | |
The Federalist No. 67, March 11, 1788 | 357 | |
The Federalist No. 68, March 12, 1788 | 362 | |
The Federalist No. 69, March 14, 1788 | 366 | |
The Federalist No. 70, March 15, 1788 | 374 | |
The Federalist No. 71, March 18, 1788 | 383 | |
The Federalist No. 72, March 19, 1788 | 388 | |
The Federalist No. 73, March 21, 1788 | 394 | |
The Federalist No. 74, March 25, 1788 | 400 | |
The Federalist No. 75, March 26, 1788 | 403 | |
The Federalist No. 76, April 1, 1788 | 408 | |
The Federalist No. 77, April 2, 1788 | 413 | |
To James Madison, May 19, 1788: Coordinating a Campaign | 418 | |
The Federalist No. 78, May 28, 1788 | 420 | |
The Federalist No. 79, May 28, 1788 | 428 | |
The Federalist No. 80, May 28, 1788 | 431 | |
The Federalist No. 81, May 28, 1788 | 438 | |
The Federalist No. 82, May 28, 1788 | 448 | |
The Federalist No. 83, May 28, 1788 | 452 | |
The Federalist No. 84, May 28, 1788 | 467 | |
The Federalist No. 85, May 28, 1788 | 478 | |
To James Madison, June 8, 1788: Fears of Civil War | 485 | |
Speech in the New York Ratifying Convention on Representation, June 21, 1788 | 487 | |
Speech in the New York Ratifying Convention on Interests and Corruption, June 21, 1788 | 496 | |
Speech in the New York Ratifying Convention on the Distribution of Powers, June 27, 1788 | 502 | |
To George Washington, September 1788: Convincing Washington To Serve | 511 | |
To James Wilson, January 25, 1789: Withholding Votes from Adams | 513 | |
To George Washington, May 5, 1789: Presidential Etiquette | 515 | |
Secretary of the Treasury, 1789-1795 | ||
To Lafayette, October 6, 1789: "I Hazard Much" | 521 | |
Memorandum by George Beckwith on a Conversation with Hamilton, October 1789 | 523 | |
To Henry Lee, December 1, 1789: "Suspicion Is Ever Eagle Eyed" | 530 | |
Report on the Public Credit, January 9, 1790 | 531 | |
Report on a National Bank, December 13, 1790 | 575 | |
Opinion on the Constitutionality of a National Bank, February 23, 1791 | 613 | |
Report on the Subject of Manufactures, December 5, 1791 | 647 | |
To Philip A. Hamilton, December 5, 1791: "A Promise Must Never Be Broken" | 735 | |
To Edward Carrington, May 26, 1792: "A Faction Decidedly Hostile to Me" | 736 | |
To George Washington, July 30, 1792: The Necessity of Reelection | 751 | |
An American No. I, August 4, 1792 | 755 | |
To George Washington, August 18, 1792: Political and Personal Defense | 760 | |
To John Adams, September 9, 1792: Reprimanding Adams | 788 | |
To George Washington, September 9, 1792: Responding to a Plea for Peace | 789 | |
Amicus, September 11, 1792 | 792 | |
To an Unknown Correspondent, September 26, 1792: An Embryo-Cesar | 794 | |
Draft of a Defense of the Neutrality Proclamation, c. May 1793 | 795 | |
Pacificus No. I, June 29, 1793 | 801 | |
To Andrew G. Fraunces, October 1, 1793: "Contemptible As You Are" | 810 | |
To Angelica Hamilton, c. November 1793: Advice to a Daughter | 810 | |
To George Washington, April 14, 1794: Crisis with Britain | 811 | |
To George Washington, August 2, 1794: The Whiskey Rebellion | 823 | |
Tully No. I, August 23, 1794 | 827 | |
Tully No. III, August 28, 1794 | 830 | |
To Angelica Church, October 23, 1794: "Wicked Insurgents of the West" | 832 | |
To Angelica Church, December 8, 1794: "A Politician, and Good for Nothing" | 833 | |
Memorandum on the French Revolution, 1794 | 833 | |
To George Washington, February 3, 1795: Resigning from Office | 836 | |
Federalist Leader and Attorney, 1795-1804 | ||
To Rufus King, February 21, 1795: A Threat to the Public Credit | 841 | |
To Robert Troup, April 13, 1795: "Public Fools" | 842 | |
The Defence No. I, July 22, 1795 | 844 | |
Memorandum on the Design for a Seal of the United States, c. May 1796 | 850 | |
To George Washington, July 30, 1796: A Draft of the Farewell Address | 851 | |
To William Loughton Smith, April 10, 1797: Crisis with France | 869 | |
To William Hamilton, May 2, 1797: Introduction to an Uncle | 879 | |
The "Reynolds Pamphlet," August 25, 1797 | 883 | |
To George Washington, May 19, 1798: An Appeal to Washington | 911 | |
To Elizabeth Hamilton, November 1798: "My Good Genius" | 912 | |
To Theodore Sedgwick, February 2, 1799: The Problem of Virginia | 913 | |
To James McHenry, March 18, 1799: Displaying Strength "Like a Hercules" | 915 | |
Memorandum on Measures for Strengthening the Government, c. 1799 | 915 | |
To Josiah Ogden Hoffman, November 6, 1799: "The Force of the Laws Must Be Tried" | 920 | |
To Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, December 22, 1799: The Death of Washington | 922 | |
To Martha Washington, January 12, 1800: "So Heart-Rending an Affliction" | 922 | |
To John Jay, May 7, 1800: An Electoral Stratagem | 923 | |
To Theodore Sedgwick, May 10, 1800: Withdrawing Support from Adams | 925 | |
To Charles Carroll of Carrollton, July 1, 1800: Supporting Pinckney | 926 | |
To John Adams, August 1, 1800: Response to an Accusation | 928 | |
To Oliver Wolcott Jr., August 3, 1800: "I Am in a Very Belligerent Humour" | 929 | |
To William Jackson, August 26, 1800: "The Most Humiliating Criticism" | 930 | |
Rules for Philip Hamilton, 1800 | 932 | |
To John Adams, October 1, 1800: "A Base Wicked and Cruel Calumny" | 932 | |
Letter from Alexander Hamilton, Concerning the Public Conduct and Character of John Adams, Esq. President of the United States, October 24, 1800 | 934 | |
To Gouverneur Morris, December 26, 1800: Jefferson Over Burr | 972 | |
To John Rutledge Jr., January 4, 1801: Anxiety About the Election | 972 | |
To James A. Bayard, January 16, 1801: Burr Has "No Fixed Theory" | 977 | |
Proposal for the New York Legislature for Amending the Constitution, January 1802 | 982 | |
Remarks on the Repeal of the Judiciary Act, February 11, 1802 | 983 | |
To Gouverneur Morris, February 29, 1802: "Mine Is an Odd Destiny" | 985 | |
To Benjamin Rush, March 29, 1802: The Death of Philip Hamilton | 987 | |
To James A. Bayard, April 1802: The Christian Constitutional Society | 987 | |
To Rufus King, June 3, 1802: "A Most Visionary Theory Presides" | 991 | |
To Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, December 29, 1802: "Refuge of a Disappointed Politician" | 994 | |
To Elizabeth Hamilton, March 17, 1803: "A World Full of Evil" | 995 | |
Purchase of Louisiana, July 5, 1803 | 996 | |
To Timothy Pickering, September 16, 1803: Explaining a Plan of Government | 1002 | |
Speech to a Federalist Meeting in Albany, February 10, 1804 | 1004 | |
Propositions on the Law of Libel, February 15, 1804 | 1006 | |
From Aaron Burr, June 18, 1804: Origins of a Dispute | 1008 | |
To Aaron Burr, June 20, 1804: Declining to Avow or Disavow | 1010 | |
From Aaron Burr, June 21, 1804: New Reasons for a Definite Reply | 1012 | |
To Aaron Burr, June 22, 1804: "Expressions Indecorous and Improper" | 1013 | |
From Aaron Burr, June 22, 1804: "The Course I Am About to Pursue" | 1014 | |
Response to a Letter from William P. Van Ness, June 28, 1804 | 1015 | |
Statement Regarding Financial Situation, July 1, 1804 | 1016 | |
To Elizabeth Hamilton, July 4, 1804: "Fly to the Bosom of Your God" | 1019 | |
Statement Regarding the Duel with Burr, c. July 10, 1804 | 1019 | |
To Theodore Sedgwick, July 10, 1804: "Our Real Disease; Which Is Democracy" | 1022 | |
To Elizabeth Hamilton, July 10, 1804: An Obligation Owed | 1023 | |
Appendix | Statements on the Hamilton-Burr Duel | |
Joint Statement by William P. Van Ness and Nathaniel Pendleton, July 17, 1804 | 1027 | |
Statement by Nathaniel Pendleton, July 19, 1804 | 1028 | |
Statement by William P. Van Ness, July 21, 1804 | 1030 | |
Chronology | 1035 | |
Note on the Texts | 1052 | |
Notes | 1056 | |
Index | 1090 |