A man of extraordinary talent and boundless energy, Alexander Hamilton
left a remarkable legacy in America's history. A member of George
Washington's staff during the American Revolution, a delegate to the
Constitutional Convention, an author of the Federalist Papers, and the
nation's first secretary of the treasury, he played a seminal role in
the nation's founding. In this elegant collection, Donald R. Hickey and
Connie D. Clark bring together enlightening, important, and amusing
selections from Hamilton's speeches, published writings and personal
letters. As we come to understand Hamilton's thoughts on subjects as
diverse as the Constitution, love, war, liberty and honor, we find that
his words are often as applicable in our own time as they were in his.
From Citizen Hamilton American Character The people of the United States
are a people equally sober and enlightened; their notions of liberty are
rational and orderly. Constitutional Law A sacred respect for the
constitutional law is the vital principle, the sustaining energy, of a
free government. Dueling My religious and moral principles are strongly
opposed to the practice of dueling, and it would even give me pain to be
obliged to shed the blood of a fellow creature in a private combat
forbidden by the laws. Finding a Husband Get a man of sense, not ugly
enough to be pointed at, with some good-nature, a few grains of feeling,
a little taste, a little imagination, and above a good deal of decision
to keep you in order, for that I foresee will be no easy task. Happiness
Experience more and more convinces me that true happiness is only to be
found in the bosom of one's own family. Money The effects of imagination
and prejudice cannot safely be disregarded in anything that relates to
money. Optimism It is a maxim of my life to enjoy the present good with
the highest relish and to soften the present evil by a hope of future
good. The People The fabric of American Empire
