WHITE SPRINGS, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis unveiled a new statue Wednesday honoring Alexander Hamilton in Hamilton County. The event is part of the governor’s commemoration of the nation’s upcoming 250th anniversary and recognizing Hamilton’s contributions to the American Republic and to Florida’s early history.
The statue, located in White Springs along the banks of the historic Suwannee River, is part of a broader initiative to install monuments to America’s Founding Fathers in Florida counties that bear their names.
“I was proud to unveil a new statue of Hamilton County’s namesake, Alexander Hamilton,” DeSantis said. “His participation in the fight for independence, his contributions to writing the Federalist Papers, his public service as a diplomat and ‘Father of the Treasury,’ and his role as a confidante to George Washington made Hamilton an indispensable figure in our nation’s history.”
Top 10 Alexander Hamilton Facts
*SOURCE: National Park Service and The National Constitution Center
1. Hamilton was born in the Caribbean
Alexander Hamilton was born on Jan. 11, 1755 on the island of Nevis in the British West Indies. His father was from Scotland, his mother was from Nevis. He left there as a teenager.
2. Hamilton’s writing skills helped him leave the Caribbean
Hamilton penned a newspaper article in 1772 about a hurricane that struck Saint Croix that was reprinted in the Royal Danish American Gazette. Many locals were so impressed they took up a collection to send him to the British North American colonies. He was rejected by Princeton, but accepted to King’s College (now Columbia).
3. Hamilton fought with honor in the Revolutionary War
Hamilton became General George Washington’s right-hand man. Hamilton also led an attack at the Battle of Yorktown on a British redoubt.
4. Hamilton was a self-taught lawyer
After resigning from the military, Hamilton studied law and passed his legal examination in six months in 1782.
5. Hamilton promoted the Constitutional Convention of 1787
Hamilton worked with James Madison and other Founders to hold the Annapolis Convention in September 1786 where he introduced a resolution for more delegates “to meet at Philadelphia on the second Monday in May next, to take into consideration the situation of the United States.”
6. The Federalist Papers is Hamilton constitutional legacy
Hamilton was pivotal in securing the Constitution’s ratification as one of the three authors of The Federalist Papers along with James Madison and John Jay. Hamilton wrote roughly 51 of the 85 essays, which are still consulted today by scholars and the Supreme Court.
7. Hamilton founded the Treasury Department
President Washington appointed Hamilton as the first Secretary of the Treasury as the new nation was facing a steep financial crisis. Hamilton brokered a solution to paying off the former colonies’ war debt, and then organized the Treasury Department. He also formed the First Bank of the United States and convinced other nations that the United States was financially sound.
8. Hamilton inspired the first American political party
Hamilton’s was a proponent of a strong central government leading to the unofficial formation of the Federalist Party by 1791. In response, leaders like James Madison and Thomas Jefferson formed a political faction known as the Democratic Republicans that directly objected to Hamilton and his ideas.
9. Hamilton helped his political enemy become President
The 1800 presidential election was deadlocked and a House of Representatives controlled by the Federalists had two Republican candidates to choose from: Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr.
Hamilton wrote a private letter to a House member urging that Jefferson, Hamilton’s political enemy, become the next President. He wrote, “Mr. Burr loves nothing but himself — Thinks of nothing but his own aggrandizement — and will be content with nothing short of permanent power in his own hands,” Hamilton wrote. “In a choice of Evils, let them take the least—Jefferson is in my view less dangerous than Burr.”
10. Hamilton was killed in a duel with Aaron Burr
Hamilton and Burr had been rivals in New York before the 1800 election, and Hamilton worked to deny Burr’s election as New York governor.
After Hamilton wouldn’t retract an insult, the two men and their seconds met in Weehawken, New Jersey, with Burr shooting Hamilton, and Hamilton dying the next day.
The only witnesses were the men’s seconds, who wrote a joint account of the incident. “Both parties presented and fired in succession. The intervening time is not expressed, as the seconds do not precisely agree on that point. The fire of Colonel Burr took effect, and General Hamilton almost instantly fell,” goes the account, with the witnesses disagreeing on who shot when.
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