The Forgotten Founders on Religion and Public Life

5. Alexander Hamilton, Theistic Rationalist

chapter 5 Alexander Hamilton, Theistic Rationalist Gregg L. Frazer The study of Alexander Hamilton’s religion presents a daunting, but interesting, challenge to the historian. Most biographers discuss the early religious influences on Hamilton and his apparent piety during his youth, then mention his religion briefly or not at all until the final years of his life. Hamilton is generally considered to be a religious enigma during the prime of his life, when he had a significant impact upon the American politicalscene . Therearetworeasonsforthisdifficulty. First,asDouglass Adair astutely observes, Hamilton appears to have gone through different religious stages. Adair identifies four stages in Hamilton’s religious life: (1) a conventionally religious youth, (2) religious indifference while in power, (3) opportunistic religiosity while in political opposition, and (4) Christian faith in retirement.1 The second reason for why biographers have dif- ficulty addressing Hamilton’s religion is that his religious beliefs and practices do not fit neatly into either of the two generally accepted categories for the period: deism and Christianity. In the prime of his life, Alexander Hamilton appears to have been neither a deist nor a Christian, but a theistic rationalist. 101 A Brief Biography Alexander Hamilton was born on the island of Nevis in the British West Indies in either 1755 or 1757 (depending on the evidence one accepts) to unwed parents whose relationship lasted nearly fifteen years and who presented themselves as James and Rachel Hamilton.2 He was left an orphan in 1768, after James abandoned the family and Rachel died. Aided by prominent sponsors, Hamilton entered King’s College in 1773 because his first choice, the College of New Jersey at Princeton, would not grant him special status. He gained notoriety by publishing patriot pamphlets in 1774 and 1775, and was appointed an artillery captain in 1776. Following distinction in combat engagements, Hamilton’s meteoric rise continued with his appointment as General Washington’s aide-de-camp in 1777. He married Elizabeth Schuyler in 1780, and she eventually bore eight children. In 1781, he led a critical assault in the decisive battle at Yorktown. After the war, Hamilton’s political reputation grew as a result of his writings, and he was named a delegate to the Continental Congress . In successive years, he opened a law office and founded the Bank of New York. In 1786, Hamilton drafted the resolution calling for what would become known as the Constitutional Convention.3 After service as a delegate to the convention, Hamilton led the fight for ratification of the new Constitution in New York. Toward that end, Hamilton proposed writing a series of essays designed to explain and support the Constitution, which became known as The Federalist Papers. Although he enlisted James Madison and John Jay to help him, Hamilton wrote about fifty-five of the eighty-five essays. Hamilton was appointed the first secretary of the treasury in the new government. As such, he saw himself as President Washington’s prime minister and became the primary initiator of the administration’s program. In what was perhaps at once his greatest and most controversial achievement, Hamilton established American credit and a sound financial footing for the fledgling nation . After his stint as secretary of the treasury, he remained a powerful player behind the scenes in domestic politics (as the recognized leader of the Federalist Party) and in American foreign policy. Largely due to Hamilton ’s efforts and influence, Aaron Burr was defeated in the presidential election of 1800 and in the New York gubernatorial election of 1804. 102 | Gregg L. Frazer Burr accused Hamilton of sullying his character, famously challenged him to a duel, and, in July 1804, fatally wounded him. Biographers and Hamilton’s Religion Scholarly treatment of Hamilton’s religion has been sketchy at best. Standard accounts leap from his childhood to the waning years of his life. Typically,thereiscoverageof theinfluenceof PresbyterianministerHugh Knox on the youthful Hamilton and mention of the teenage Hamilton’s newspaper account of a hurricane—then little or nothing until a brief reference to his use of religion for political purposes and discussion of his renewed interest in religion in his last few years of life. Most scholars mention Hugh Knox’s influence on Hamilton as a boy, but they differ as to the substance and persistence of that influence.4 Another part of Hamilton’s youth that is consistently...