Alexander Hamilton (11 Januari 1755 atau 1757 – 12 Juli 1804) adalah Bapak Pendiri Amerika Serikat, kepala ajudan Jenderal George Washington, salah satu penerjemah dan pendukung Konstitusi A.S. paling berpengaruh, pendiri sistem keuangan Amerika Serikat, pendiri Partai Federalis, partai politik berbasis pemilih pertama di dunia, pendiri Penjaga Pantai Amerika Serikat, dan pendiri surat kabar The New York Post. Sebagai Menteri Keuangan pertama, Hamilton merumuskan kebijakan ekonomi pemerintahan George Washington. Hamilton memimpin program pembayaran utang negara bagian oleh pemerintah federal, pendirian bank nasional, sistem tarif, dan hubungan dagang bersahabat dengan Britania Raya. Ia mengetuai Partai Federalis yang dibentuk untuk mendukung pandangan-pandangan Hamilton. Ia menentang Partai Demokrat-Republik pimpinan Thomas Jefferson dan James Madison; keduanya membenci Britania dan khawatir kebijakan pemerintahan pusat yang kuat di bawah Hamilton akan melemahkan komitmen Republikanisme Amerika Serikat.Lahir di luar pernikahan, dibesarkan di Hindia Barat, dan yatim piatu sejak kecil, Hamilton melanjutkan pendidikannya di perguruan tinggi lewat bantuan orang-orang kaya di daerahnya. Berkat kemampuan dan bakatnya, ia dikirim ke King's College (sekarang Universitas Columbia) di New York City. Hamilton memainkan peran penting dalam Perang Revolusi Amerika Serikat. Ketika perang pecah tahun 1775, ia bergabung dengan kelompok milisi. Pada awal 1776, ia membentuk tentara artileri daerah dan diangkat sebagai kapten. Ia kemudian ditunjuk sebagai pembantu senior George Washington, komandan tertinggi militer Amerika Serikat. Washington mengutusnya dalam berbagai misi penting untuk menyampaikan keinginan Washington ke para jenderal di lapangan. Seusai perang, Hamilton terpilih sebagai anggota Kongres Konfederasi dari New York. Ia mengundurkan diri untuk terjun ke dunia hukum dan mendirikan Bank of New York. Hamilton merupakan salah satu tokoh yang tidak menyukai pemerintahan nasional yang lemah. Ia memimpin Konvensi Annapolis yang berhasil meminta Kongres untuk menyelenggarakan Konvensi Philadelphia dalam rangka perumusan undang-undang dasar baru. Ia sangat aktif di Konvensi Philadelphia dan membantu proses ratifikasi dengan menulis 51 dari 85 bagian The Federalist Papers, kumpulan dokumen yang sampai sekarang masih dijadikan acuan penafsiran undang-undang dasar Amerika Serikat.
Hamilton menjadi anggota kabinet berpengaruh di jajaran pemerintahan Washington. Hamilton adalah seorang nasionalis yang menegaskan pentingnya pemerintahan pusat yang kuat. Ia berpendapat bahwa kekuasaan tersirat dalam Konstitusi mengizinkan pemerintah mendanai utang nasional, mengambil alih utang negara bagian, dan mendirikan Bank of the United States milik negara. Program-program ini didanai oleh tarif impor, lalu dibantu oleh pajak wiski yang cukup kontroversial. Menghadapi penolakan dari Jefferson dan Madison, Hamilton mengerahkan teman-temannya di pemerintahan, khususnya bankir dan pebisnis, untuk mendirikan Partai Federalis. Isu utama yang membelah partai ini adalah Perjanjian Jay yang sebagian besar isinya dirumuskan oleh Hamilton pada tahun 1794. Perjanjian ini meresmikan hubungan ekonomi bersahabat dengan Britania Raya yang kelak dicerca oleh Perancis dan pendukung Revolusi Perancis. Hamilton memegan posisi penting di Partai Federalis; partai ini mendominasi politik tingkat nasional dan negara bagian sampai tahun 1800, ketika Jefferson dari Partai Demokrat-Republik terpilih sebagai presiden.
Pada tahun 1795, ia membuka praktik hukum di New York. Ia mencoba mengendalikan kebijakan Presiden Adams (1797–1801). Tahun 1798 dan 1799, Hamilton mengumumkan mobilisasi pasukan untuk melawan Perancis setelah Skandal XYZ dan diangkat sebagai komandan pasukan baru yang ia persiapkan untuk ber perang. Namun demikian, Perang Kuasi yang pecah di laut tidak pernah diumumkan secara resmi dan sama sekali tidak melibatkan angkatan darat. Pada akhirnya, Adams mengusulkan diplomasi untuk menghindari perang melawan Perancis. Penolakan Hamilton terhadap pencalonan kembali Adams membuatnya kalah pemilu tahun 1800. Ketika Jefferson dan Aaron Burr memiliki jumlah wakil elektoral yang sama pada tahun 1801, Hamilton membantu Jefferson mengalahkan Burr yang ia anggap tidak berprinsip dan memilih Jefferson meski berbeda pandangan. Hamilton melanjutkan aktivitas hukum dan bisnisnya di New York City, tetapi kalah pamor di kalangan anggota Partai Federalis. Saat Wakil Presiden Burr mencalonkan diri sebagai gubernur New York tahun 1804, Hamilton mencap Burr tidak layak menjadi gubernur. Karena tersinggung oleh komentar Hamiltoon, Burr menantangnya untuk adu tembak pada tahun 1804. Tembakan Burr melukai Hamilton, dan Hamilton meninggal dunia keesokan harinya.
Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757 – July 12, 1804) was an American statesman and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He was an influential interpreter and promoter of the U.S. Constitution, as well as the founder of the nation's financial system, the Federalist Party, the United States Coast Guard, and The New York Post newspaper. As the first Secretary of the Treasury, Hamilton was the main author of the economic policies of the George Washington administration. He took the lead in the funding of the states' debts by the Federal government, as well as the establishment of a national bank, a system of tariffs, and friendly trade relations with Britain. He was opposed by the Democratic-Republican Party led by Virginia planters Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. They denounced Hamilton as too friendly toward Britain and toward monarchy in general. Hamilton was born out of wedlock in Charlestown, British West Indies, to a mother of French Huguenot and British ancestry, and a Scots father, James A. Hamilton, the fourth son of Scottish laird Alexander Hamilton of Grange, Ayrshire. Orphaned as a child by his mother's death and his father's abandonment, he was taken in by an older cousin, and later by a prosperous merchant family. He was recognized for his intelligence and talent, and sponsored by a group of wealthy local men to travel to New York City and pursue his education. Hamilton attended King's College (now Columbia University), choosing to stay in the Thirteen Colonies to seek his fortune.
After graduation, Hamilton played a major role in the American Revolutionary War. At the start of the war in 1775, he joined a militia company. In early 1776, he raised a provincial artillery company, to which he was appointed captain. He soon became the senior aide to General Washington, the American forces' commander-in-chief. Hamilton was dispatched by Washington on numerous missions to convey plans to his generals. After the war, Hamilton was elected as a representative to the Congress of the Confederation from New York. He resigned to practice law, and founded the Bank of New York. Hamilton was among those dissatisfied with the weak national government. He led the Annapolis Convention, which successfully influenced Congress to issue a call for the Philadelphia Convention in order to create a new constitution. He was an active participant at Philadelphia, and he helped achieve ratification by writing 51 of the 85 installments of The Federalist Papers which, to this day, are the single most important reference for Constitutional interpretation.
Hamilton became the leading cabinet member in the new government under President Washington. He was a nationalist who emphasized strong central government and successfully argued that the implied powers of the Constitution provided the legal authority to fund the national debt, assume states' debts, and create the government-backed Bank of the United States. These programs were funded primarily by a tariff on imports, and later also by a highly controversial tax on whiskey. Facing well-organized opposition from Jefferson and Madison, Hamilton mobilized a nationwide network of friends of the government, especially bankers and businessmen, which became the Federalist Party. A major issue splitting the parties was the Jay Treaty, largely designed by Hamilton in 1794. It established friendly economic relations with Britain, to the chagrin of France and the supporters of the French Revolution. Hamilton played a central role in the Federalist party, which dominated national and state politics until it lost the election of 1800 to Jefferson's Democratic Republicans.
In 1795, he returned to the practice of law in New York. He tried to control the policies of President Adams (1797–1801). In 1798–99, Hamilton called for mobilization against France after the XYZ Affair and became commander of a new army, which he readied for war. However, the Quasi-War was never officially declared and did not involve army action, though it was hard-fought at sea. In the end, President Adams found a diplomatic solution that avoided a war with France. Hamilton's opposition to Adams' re-election helped cause his defeat in the 1800 election. Jefferson and Aaron Burr tied for the presidency in the electoral college in 1801, and Hamilton helped to defeat Burr, whom he found unprincipled, and to elect Jefferson despite philosophical differences. Hamilton continued his legal and business activities in New York City, but lost much of his national prominence within the Federalist party. Vice President Burr ran for governor of New York State in 1804, and Hamilton crusaded against him as unworthy. Burr took offense at some of Hamilton's comments and challenged him to a duel in 1804. He mortally wounded Hamilton, who died the next day.
