For over two centuries, Alexander Hamilton’s birth, youth, and family background have been shrouded in mystery. For the first time ever, Michael E. Newton has conducted a systematic examination of the primary source material to discover the truth about Alexander Hamilton’s early life. In the greatest and most significant collection of original Hamilton discoveries to be made in decades, Newton separates fact from fiction to create a new portrait of the tempestuous early years of America’s most remarkable and enigmatic Founding Father and the people that comprised his world. An icon in life and a legend in death, Alexander Hamilton continues to fascinate. Discovering Hamilton answers some of the most important and intriguing questions about Hamilton’s biography and introduces abundant new material about the lives of Alexander Hamilton, his family, friends, and colleagues.
Money has great power in our lives. Used wisely, it is one key to accomplishing our goals, providing for our needs, and fulfilling our life purpose. In recent years, many of us ignored the wisdom of the past when it came to managing and spending our money. Credit card debt soared, savings rates plummeted, and our home equity became something to be tapped into and spent rather than a source of security in retirement. We felt an insatiable desire for more. And we found ourselves spending tomorrow's money today in order to have what we hoped would satisfy. The result of all of this was not greater happiness and satisfaction, but greater stress and anxiety. Enough is an invitation to rediscover the Bible's wisdom when it comes to prudent financial practices. In these pages are found the keys to experiencing contentment, overcoming fear, and discovering joy through simplicity and generosity. This book could change your life, by changing your relationship with money. "We Americans love our stuff. We're living in a fast-paced, me-first, instant-gratification world, and it's finally catching up to us. Debt is out of control, homes are in foreclosure ... even banks are going out of business. What the world needs today is the message of contentment and simplicity, and that's exactly what Pastor Adam Hamilton delivers in "Enough." Dave Ramsey, New York Times Best-Selling Author and Nationally Syndicated Radio Talk Show Host "Once again, Adam Hamilton is leading the church; 'Enough is enough' was once a Wesleyan watchword. Adam breathes new life into the Wesleyan commitment to simplicity. Amid a culture of greed and conspicuous consumption Adam calls us to a biblically based, evangelical joy of having the faith to say 'enough is enough.'" Bishop Will Willimon United Methodist Church, Birmingham Area "I pay close attention to whatever Adam Hamilton writes. His books are marked by extraordinary pastoral insight, biblical and theological depth, courage to speak the truth, and down-to-earth practicality. Enough comes like an antidote in the middle of a pandemic. I hope that classes, groups, couples, and individuals will use this book--and the economic crisis it addresses--as a challenge to get healthy again by deepening our discipleship in the vital area of money and possessions." Brian McLaren, Author/Networker (brianmclaren.net)
Even though Alexander Hamilton was among the most important Founding Fathers, less is known about his early life than that of any other major Founder. Relatively few records have been found regarding Hamilton’s birth, childhood, and origins in the West Indies. Alexander Hamilton “rarely . . . dwelt upon his personal history” and never recorded his life’s story. Most of Hamilton’s correspondence prior to 1777 was lost during the American Revolution. This has resulted in many gaps in Alexander Hamilton’s biography, which has given rise to much conjecture regarding the details of his life. Relying on new research and extensive analysis of the existing literature, Michael E. Newton presents a more comprehensive and accurate account of Alexander Hamilton’s formative years. Despite being orphaned as a young boy and having his birth be “the subject of the most humiliating criticism,” Alexander Hamilton used his intelligence, determination, and charisma to overcome his questionable origins and desperate situation. As a mere child, Hamilton went to work for a West Indian mercantile company. Within a few short years, Hamilton was managing the firm’s St. Croix operations. Gaining the attention of the island’s leading men, Hamilton was sent to mainland North America for an education, where he immediately fell in with the country’s leading patriots. After using his pen to defend the civil liberties of the Americans against British infringements, Hamilton took up arms in the defense of those rights. Earning distinction in the campaign of 1776–77 at the head of an artillery company, Hamilton attracted the attention of General George Washington, who made him his aide-de-camp. Alexander Hamilton was soon writing some of Washington’s most important correspondence, advising the commander-in-chief on crucial military and political matters, carrying out urgent missions, conferring with French allies, negotiating with the British, and helping Washington manage his spy network. As Washington later attested, Hamilton had become his “principal and most confidential aid.” After serving the commander-in-chief for four years, Hamilton was given a field command and led the assault on Redoubt Ten at Yorktown, the critical engagement in the decisive battle of the War for Independence. By the age of just twenty-five, Alexander Hamilton had proven himself to be one of the most intelligent, brave, hard-working, and patriotic Americans. Alexander Hamilton: The Formative Years tells the dramatic story of how this poor immigrant emerged from obscurity and transformed himself into the most remarkable Founding Father. In riveting detail, Michael E. Newton delivers a fresh and fascinating account of Alexander Hamilton’s origins, youth, and indispensable services during the American Revolution.
From the bestselling author of The Greatest Stories Never Told series, the epic history of Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr's illustrious and eccentric political careers and their fateful rivalry. The famous duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr was the culmination of a story three decades in the making. Rivals unto Death vividly traces their rivalry back to the earliest days of the American Revolution, when Hamilton and Burr -- both brilliant, restless, and barely twenty years old -- elbowed their way onto the staff of General George Washington. The fast-moving account traces their intricate tug-of war, uncovering surprising details that led to their deadly encounter through battlefields, courtrooms, bedrooms, and the wildest presidential election in history, counting down the years to their fateful rendezvous on the dueling ground. This is politics made personal: shrill accusations, bruising collisions, and a parade of flesh and blood founders struggling--and often failing--to keep their tempers and jealousies in check. Smoldering in the background was a fundamental political divide that threatened to tear the new nation in two, and still persists to this day. The Burr and Hamilton that leap out of these pages are passionate, engaging, and utterly human characters inextricably linked together as Rivals unto Death.
America has gone Hamilton crazy. Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony-winning musical has spawned sold-out performances, a triple platinum cast album, and a score so catchy that it is being used to teach U.S. history in classrooms across the country. But just how historically accurate is Hamilton? And how is the show itself making history? Historians on Hamilton brings together a collection of top scholars to explain the Hamilton phenomenon and explore what it might mean for our understanding of America’s history. The contributors examine what the musical got right, what it got wrong, and why it matters. Does Hamilton’s hip-hop take on the Founding Fathers misrepresent our nation’s past, or does it offer a bold positive vision for our nation’s future? Can a musical so unabashedly contemporary and deliberately anachronistic still communicate historical truths about American culture and politics? And is Hamilton as revolutionary as its creators and many commentators claim? Perfect for students, teachers, theatre fans, hip-hop heads, and history buffs alike, these short and lively essays examine why Hamilton became an Obama-era sensation and consider its continued relevance in the age of Trump. Whether you are a fan or a skeptic, you will come away from this collection with a new appreciation for the meaning and importance of the Hamilton phenomenon.
The award-winning, smash Broadway hit, Hamilton: An American Musical,continues to captivate sold-out audiences and has sparked unprecedented interest in its historical protagonist. In Hamilton: An American Biography, Tony Williams provides readers with a concise biography that traces the events and values that enabled Hamilton to rise from his youth as a dispossessed orphan to Revolutionary War hero and Founding Father, a life uniquely shaped by America and who, in turn, contributed to the creation of the American regime of liberty and self-government. He was one of key leaders in the American Revolution, a chief architect of America’s constitutional order of self-government, and the key figure in Washington’s administration creating the institutions that governed America. Williams expertly weaves together biography with historical events to place Hamilton as one of the most important founding fathers. For readers just discovering Hamilton for the first time or those with an insatiable appetite for books on the Founders and the American Founding, Hamilton: An American Biography will shed new light on this American icon now experiencing a remarkable second act.
Winner of the Goldsmith Book Prize, Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government Winner of the Tankard Book Award, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Winner of the Frank Luther Mott–Kappa Tau Alpha Journalism & Mass Communication Research Award In democratic societies, investigative journalism holds government and private institutions accountable to the public. From firings and resignations to changes in budgets and laws, the impact of this reporting can be significant—but so too are the costs. As newspapers confront shrinking subscriptions and advertising revenue, who is footing the bill for journalists to carry out their essential work? Democracy’s Detectives puts investigative journalism under a magnifying glass to clarify the challenges and opportunities facing news organizations today. “Hamilton’s book presents a thoughtful and detailed case for the indispensability of investigative journalism—and just at the time when we needed it. Now more than ever, reporters can play an essential role as society’s watchdogs, working to expose corruption, greed, and injustice of the years to come. For this reason, Democracy’s Detectives should be taken as both a call to arms and a bracing reminder, for readers and journalists alike, of the importance of the profession.” —Anya Schiffrin, The Nation “A highly original look at exactly what the subtitle promises...Has this topic ever been more important than this year?” —Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution
