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A Documentary Companion
to the Exhibition at the
New-Y
York Historical Society
— FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHERS —
A Documentary Companion
to the Exhibition at the
New-Y
York Historical Society
— FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHERS —
with an Introduction by
Richard Brookhiser
Published in honor of the New-York Historical Society
by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
New York, NY
Richard Brookhiser is an independent scholar and writer based in New York City. He is the author of
Alexander Hamilton, American (New York, 1999) and Historian Curator of the exhibition Alexander
Hamilton: The Man Who Made Modern America, at the New-York Historical Society from September
10, 2004 through February 28, 2005 and, in panel form, nationally thereafter.
EDITORIAL COMMITTEE
James Basker
Justine Ahlstrom
Libby Garland
Nicole Seary
Stacy Ward
Thanks to the following for additional research:
Clare Brown, New-York Historical Society
Donna Davey, New-York Historical Society
Sandra Trenholm, Gilder Lehrman Collection
Mina Rieur Weiner, New-York Historical Society
Illustration credits: p. 8: from the Collection of the New-York Historical Society (N-YHS) 1904.1; p. 11: from the
Gilder Lehrman Collection, GLC 79; p. 12: N-YHS 1952.359ab (musket), N-YHS INV.5996.1 (cannonball), N-YHS
INV. 5778.19-23 (grapeshot); p. 15: N-YHS, Hyde Collection 1338; p. 17: Manuscript Collection of the N-YHS; p.
20: GLC 819.01; p. 21: GLC 3585; p. 23: Museum of American Financial History (paper currency); N-YHS
INV.13710.5 (Mexican coin), N-YHS INV.13864a (NJ copper), N-YHS INV.13867c (“Fugio cent”), N-YHS
INV.13896ab (silver dollar); p. 25: GLC 7882; p. 27: N-YHS Manuscript Collection; back cover: NYHS 1978.58
(portrait of Elizabeth Hamilton), N-YHS Manuscript Collection (newspaper article).
ISBN 1-932821-05-8
Copyright © 2004
The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION by Richard Brookhiser
4
NOTE TO EDUCATORS
6
IMMIGRATION
An Immigrant’s View of America: New York City in the 1750s
8
10
REVOLUTION
The Declaration of Independence
The Continental Army
The American Rattle Snake, April 12, 1782
ABOLITION
“Regard, with Compassion, the Injustice done to . . . Slaves”: The Principles of the
New York Society for Promoting the Manumission of Slaves, February 4, 1785
16
CONSTITUTION
“We the People of the States”: The Preamble to a Draft of the Constitution of the
United States, August 1787
18
“We the People of the United States”: The Preamble to the Constitution of the
United States, September 17, 1787
TREASURY
Money in the Early United States
22
DUEL
“General Hamilton was this morning woun[d]ed: A Letter from
Hamilton’s Sister-in-Law Angelica Church to Her Brother
Philip J. Schuyler, July 11, 1804
24
DEATH
“During his last illness”: The Physician’s Bill for Attending Hamilton’s Deathbed
26
The Order of March for Hamilton’s Funeral, July 14, 1804 [Shown on
A Portrait of His Widow, Elizabeth Hamilton
ANSWER GUIDE
[Shown on
BACK COVER]
BACK COVER]
30
INTRODUCTION
Alexander Hamilton lives in our memory because he died in a lurid duel with
Vice President Aaron Burr, and because we carry his face in our wallets, on the ten dollar bill. But Hamilton’s packed and varied career was impressive enough for Mount
Rushmore. More than any other Founder, he foresaw the America we now live in. All
the Founders had high ideals, but Hamilton—industrious, visionary, combative and
urbane—shaped the institutions that would make those ideals come to life. The new
nation’s legal, economic and political systems all bore Hamilton’s mark.
Hamilton was born on the Caribbean island of Nevis, probably in 1757, and
raised on St. Croix. Those early years marked him. The shame of his birth, to unmarried parents, fueled a lifelong concern with honor. The West Indian sugar economy,
prosperous and brutal, gave him a firsthand view of slavery, a system he would come
to oppose. Clerking in a New York-based merchant house in St. Croix taught him the
workings of international commerce from the bottom up.
In 1773, Hamilton was sent to New York to be educated. His identity as an immigrant shaped his identity as an American. When native-born Americans of the period
spoke of their “country,” they usually meant their home states; Hamilton’s loyalty was
only and always to the United States. Sometimes the short-sighted particularism of his
countrymen drove him to despair, but Hamilton always overcame it, and worked for the
unity, strength and self-respect of his adopted nation.
Hamilton arrived in New York during a dramatic time. Shortly after he began his
studies at King’s College (now Columbia University), Britain and its colonies went to
war. Hamilton left school to fight. His experience in the American Revolution—first as
the captain of a New York artillery company, then as a colonel on George Washington’s
staff—was an education in military and political affairs. In his private affairs, as in his
public ones, Hamilton joined the new nation’s elite. In December 1780, he had married
Elizabeth Schuyler, daughter of General Philip Schuyler and one of the most eligible
young women in New York.
Hamilton believed ardently in the Revolutionary cause, but he could also face
reality, and much of it was dark. Working for the commander in chief plunged him into
the country’s financial and constitutional problems. Congress, in its original form,
lacked the power to tax; funding the war was thus a constant struggle. Hamilton chafed
at the inefficiencies and lack of coordination.
At the Constitutional Convention in 1787, Hamilton and the other framers undertook to repair the systemic weakness that Hamilton had witnessed during the war.
Hamilton and his fellow Federalists argued passionately for a stronger, more centralized government. The document that the delegates to the Convention produced is an
elaborate mechanism, but the change in the opening words of the Preamble, from the
first draft to the final version, symbolizes its nationalizing and energizing tendencies:
“We the People of the United States.” That prophetic language was the handiwork of
Gouverneur Morris, delegate from Pennsylvania. But it reflected the hopes and the
4
ideas of Morris’s friend Hamilton, who would spend the rest of his career implementing them.
In 1788, the Constitution was ratified, in part because of Hamilton’s intense public efforts on its behalf in The Federalist Papers, published in eighty-five installments in
New York newspapers between October 1787 and May 1788. Hamilton conceived of
the project and wrote nearly two-thirds of the essays; John Jay and James Madison
wrote the rest. In 1789, Washington became the nation’s first President under the
Constitution and chose Hamilton, his former aide, as Treasury Secretary. Hamilton
more than any other Founder kept the weak new nation from bankruptcy; he and
Washington kept it out of world war; he and his admirer John Marshall kept it from
capricious justice. If he had failed, we might use the phrase “maple republics” instead
of “banana republics,” and the United States would have been the first one.
No politician achieves everything he wants—especially not a politician as
creative and headstrong as Hamilton. In the late 1790s, he fought against the demise
of the Federalist party and the rise of Jefferson’s Republicans. But when the
deadlocked presidential election of 1800 was thrown to the House of Representatives
to break the tie, Hamilton advised Federalists to perform the irksome task of choosing
one enemy, Thomas Jefferson, over another, Aaron Burr. All the Founders were
ambitious, said Hamilton, but they all moderated (or made compacts with) their
ambition: all of them save Aaron Burr. Hence Hamilton reluctantly preferred Jefferson.
Burr finally resented this, and many other slights. The gentlemen corresponded,
and agreed to do what gentlemen did when honor was at stake. The Vice President
and the former Treasury Secretary met on July 11, 1804, at Weehawken, New Jersey.
Hamilton’s bullet hit the branch of a cedar tree. Burr’s pierced Hamilton’s abdomen.
The hectic note of Elizabeth’s sister Angelica Church, dashed off the morning her
brother-in-law (and perhaps lover) was shot, expresses the hope that Hamilton would
recover, but he died the next day. The description of his funeral procession was printed
in the New-York Evening Post, the newspaper he founded.
Alexander Hamilton’s death was two centuries ago. The issues he lived with—
war and peace; law and disorder; debt and prosperity; passion and ambition—are the
eternal stuff of politics.
—RICHARD BROOKHISER
5
NOTE TO EDUCATORS
Immigration, Revolution, Abolition, Constitution: These are some of the topics that
we share with you and your students in this documentary companion. Through
Alexander Hamilton's honor in life and notoriety in death students gain an additional
perspective with which to study these important themes in America’s history. Activities
in this resource are divided into mini-units based on these topics. The units can be
used singularly, to support your established curriculum, or collectively, to offer an
introduction to Hamilton and defining American moments of which he was a part.
Student activities are located adjacent to the primary sources. This provides an
opportunity to delve into important historical topics through contemporary materials.
Document analysis allows students to hone critical thinking skills. In completing the
included exercises, students gain historical content, while practicing English language
arts, mathematics and geography skills within the context of Hamilton's life.
As you explore the contents of this book, you might consider the following activities:
• Write an essay that supports Alexander Hamilton's life as an example of the
American Dream. How did Hamilton, arriving in New York as an immigrant, live
his life in a such a way to be honored among America's Founding Fathers?
• The title of the exhibition at the New-York Historical Society is Alexander
Hamilton: The Man Who Made Modern America. Describe why Hamilton
deserves this description. Use examples from the documents to support your
essay.
• Do you believe that Hamilton’s death in a duel is a fitting end to his life? Write an
essay that supports your position. Use examples from the documents to support
your argument.
• It is 1804 and you are the editor of the New-York Evening Post. Recreate the
front page of this newspaper the day after Hamilton's death. Think about what
information you will share with the public. What aspects of his life do you wish to
highlight?
You may find the following resources helpful in creating classroom activities:
Books on Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton, American, by Richard Brookhiser (New York: Free Press,
2004, first ed. 1999, 256 pages, paperback, $14)
Alexander Hamilton, by Ron Chernow (New York: Penguin, 2004, ISBN 1-594200092, 818 pages, hardcover, $35)
Films about Hamilton
Duel: Hamilton vs. Burr (History Channel, 2004, 90 min.) Available on VHS and
DVD for $29.95 at ShopHistoryChannel.com or 1-800-708-1776.
The Duel (PBS Home Video, 2000, 60 min.) Available on VHS for $19.98 at
http://www.shoppbs.org or 1-800-531-4727.
6
Web sites about Hamilton and His Era
Alexander Hamilton
http://www.alexanderhamiltonexhibition.org
This is the web companion for the New-York Historical Society exhibition
Alexander Hamilton: The Man Who Made Modern America. It incorporates
artifacts from the exhibition; a rich selection of historic documents by, to, or
about Hamilton (many of which have never been published); portraits of the
men and women who were Hamilton’s friends, family, colleagues and rivals
throughout his life; a weekly “log” of things he said and did; a timeline of his life;
and other educational materials.
Independence and Its Enemies
in New York
http://independence.nyhistory.org
1st Federal Congress Project
http://www.gwu.edu/~ffcp/index.html
National Constitution Center
http://www.constitutioncenter.org
The Revolutionary War
http://www.nps.gov/revwar/
American History Journals
The New-York Journal of American History, issue 3 (Spring 2004), published by the
New-York Historical Society, includes articles about Alexander Hamilton by leading
Hamilton scholars and an interview with Hamilton biographer Ron Chernow. (New-York
Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024; phone: 212 873-3400;
Web site: http://www.nyhistory.org/publications.html)
Magazine of History, published by the Organization of American Historians,
provides historical information, documents, lesson plans, and other resources for
history teachers. Journal of American History, also published by the OAH, is a leading
scholarly publication in the field of U.S. history. (Organization of American Historians,
P.O. Box 5457, Bloomington, IN 47408-5457; phone: 812 855-9851; Web site:
http://www.oah.org)
Online American History Journals
History Now, at www.historynow.org, is a new online journal for history teachers
and their students.
Common-place, at www.common-place.org, explores and exchanges ideas about
early American history and culture.
7
IMMIGRATION
NAME
DATE
An Immigrant’s View of America:
New York City in the 1750s
Alexander Hamilton was born on Nevis and grew up on St. Croix, islands in the
Caribbean. This painting of New York from the late 1750s shows the city much as
Hamilton and other immigrants would have found it when they came to New York in the
1700s. As one of only a few Founding Fathers who were immigrants, Hamilton holds
particular interest for modern Americans. While his talents and ambition were perfectly suited to the burgeoning energy of New York, he was able to envision the United
States as one country in a way that his contemporaries, who had loyalties to their home
states, perhaps could not.
A Southeast Prospect of the City of New York, by an unidentified artist, c. 1756-57.
8
IMMIGRATION
NAME
DATE
Painting Analysis
1.a. On the map, find and label the Caribbean,
Atlantic Ocean, and New York City.
1.b. Sketch the route Hamilton traveled from
the Caribbean to New York City’s harbor.
2.a. Define:
Harbor:
Wharf:
2.b. Find examples of both a harbor and wharf
in the painting.
2.c. What type of transportation does this
painting emphasize?
2.d. How does this type of transportation relate to Alexander Hamilton arriving in New
York City in the 1700s?
3.
How do you think Hamilton, orphaned and only 16 years old, felt when the ship
pulled into New York City’s harbor?
4.
Describe a time when you began something new, or traveled to a new place. How
did you feel?
9
REVOLUTION
NAME
DATE
The Declaration of Independence
First printed in Philadelphia in July 1776, the Declaration of Independence was
then sent to various cities and towns in the thirteen colonies for reprinting and distribution. This rare survival of a Boston printing shows how swiftly the Declaration was
disseminated. Hamilton was present, no doubt, when it was read to the American
troops in New York on July 9, 1776.
Document Analysis
1.
When was the Declaration of Independence first printed?
Use the excerpt below to answer the following questions:
2.
From this Declaration, we learn that the Colonies have been suffering. What
would they like to alter, or change?
3.
Who has inflicted “repeated injuries” on the colonies?
4.
Alexander Hamilton was fighting for America’s freedom and a new system of government. How do you think he felt as he heard the reading of this document?
Excerpt from the Declaration of Independence
“. . . new Guards for their future Security. Such has been the patient Sufferance of
these Colonies; and such is now the Necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The History of the present King of Great-Britain is a
History of repeated Injuries and . . .”
10
REVOLUTION
This copy of the Declaration of Independence was printed in Boston around July 18, 1776, by
John Gill.
11
REVOLUTION
The Continental Army
Hamilton fought heroically in battles against the British in Manhattan and White
Plains, in New York, and in Trenton and Princeton, in New Jersey, as the captain of an
artillery company, drawing praise from officers and coming to the attention of General
George Washington. As a result, Washington promoted him to lieutenant colonel and
gave him a place on his own staff, or “family,” as an aide-de-camp.
The artillery uses cannon. Both cannonballs and grapeshot were used in cannons.
The cannonball is about five inches across and each piece of grapeshot is about one
inch across. A cannon could shoot one cannonball at a time, but it could shoot a bunch
of the small grapeshot at a time. The cannonball and the grapeshot pictured here were
found by archeologists excavating old battlefields.
The musket, which is about 58” long with the bayonet, was made in Great Britain
but used in the Colonies during the American Revolution. Americans did not have factories to manufacture their own guns, and so muskets like this one were used
by both British and American soldiers.
A British musket from
about 1770, used during
the American Revolution
A cannonball from the 1700s found near
a Revolutionary War battlefield.
Five pieces of grapeshot from the 1700s,
found near a Revolutionary War battlefield.
12
REVOLUTION
NAME
DATE
Object Analysis
1.
Did Americans manufacture their own weapons?
2.
From whom did Americans buy muskets?
3.
Who noticed Hamilton’s heroic military service?
4.
General George Washington promoted Hamilton to what military rank?
5.a. On the map, find and label White Plains,
New York; Trenton, New Jersey; and
Princeton, New Jersey.
5.b. Which city is the farthest east?
5.c. Which city is the farthest south?
6.
Which side, the American or the British,
won each of these Revolutionary War battles:
White Plains
Trenton
Princeton
7.a. In the box below, use your ruler to draw a line the width of a cannonball.
7.b. In the box below, use your ruler to draw a line the width of a grapeshot.
7.c. If a soldier had 10 grapeshot lined up, how many cannonball widths would that
equal?
13
REVOLUTION
NAME
DATE
The American Rattle Snake
April 12, 1782
When this cartoon was published in Great Britain on April 12, 1782, two British
armies had surrendered to the Americans: General Burgoyne’s forces at Saratoga,
New York, in 1777 and General Cornwallis’s at Yorktown, Virginia, in 1781. Many people in Great Britain did not want to keep fighting in the Colonies, and this cartoon suggests that the British could not win the war.
The words underneath the cartoon say:
“Britons within the Yankeean Plains,
Mind how ye March & Trench,
The Serpent in the Congress reigns,
As well as in the French.”
The sign hanging from the snake’s tail says: “An Apartment to lett for Military
Gentlemen.”
The snake is saying: “Two British Armies I have thus Burgoyn’d, And room for more
I’ve got behind.”
Document Analysis
1.
When was this political cartoon published?
2.
In this political cartoon, how is America represented?
3.
In this political cartoon, how is Great Britain represented?
4.
Why do you think that the flags are on the ground?
5.a. What words would you use to describe the look on the snake’s face?
5.b. How does the snake’s expression compare to Americans’ emotions?
6.
How do you think British soldiers would have felt after seeing this political cartoon?
The British cartoon on the next page is attributed to James Gillray (1756-1815).
14
REVOLUTION
ABOLITION
NAME
DATE
“Regard, with Compassion, the Injustice done to . . . Slaves”:
The Principles of the New York Society for
Promoting the Manumission of Slaves
February 4, 1785
After the American Revolution, Alexander Hamilton studied to become a lawyer and
returned to New York City. In 1785, he was one of 32 prominent New Yorkers who
founded the New York Manumission Society. Hamilton attended the second meeting of
the Society on February 4, 1785.
As shown in the minutes of that meeting, the members believed:
“The benevolent Creator and Father of Men having given to them all, an equal Right
to Life, Liberty and Property; no Sovereign Power, on Earth, can justly deprive them of
either, but in Conformity to impartial Government and Laws to which they have
expressly or tacitly consented.
It is our Duty, therefore, both as free Citizens and Christians, not only to regard, with
Compassion, the Injustice done to those, among us, who are held as Slaves, but to
endeavour, by lawful Ways and Means, to enable them to Share, equally with us, in that
civil and religious Liberty with which an indulgent Providence has blessed these States;
and to which these, our Brethren, are by Nature, as much entitled as ourselves.”
manumission: a freeing or being freed from slavery; liberation, emancipation
Document Analysis
1.
How did the members of the Manumission Society feel about slavery?
2.
What two liberties did the Society members feel slaves should share?
3.
Alexander Hamilton was a member of the Manumission Society. What does this
tell you about his feelings toward slavery?
16
ABOLITION
Page 3 of the Manumission Society Minutes (1/25/1785-11/21/1797)
17
CONSTITUTION
“We the People of the States”: The Preamble to a
Draft of the Constitution of the United States
August 1787
“We the People of the United States”: The Preamble
to the Constitution of the United States
September 17, 1787
On the following pages (20-21), at left is the first page of the working draft of the
Constitution, submitted for debate at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in
August 1787. On the right is the first page of the U.S. Constitution as it was finally published (this is Benjamin Franklin’s signed copy). Where the draft’s opening reflects the
sense of the thirteen states as separate entities, the final version’s “We the People of
the United States” invokes the Hamiltonian vision of a unified nation.
A champion of the Constitution, Alexander Hamilton wrote nearly two-thirds of the
Federalist Papers of 1787-88, which are viewed as the factor that turned public opinion in favor of ratification.
18
CONSTITUTION
NAME
DATE
Document Analysis
1.
Which version of the Constitution came first?
2.
How does the Working Draft begin? Write the first sentence.
3.
Where on the Working Draft do you find the title, or name, of our country?
4.
On the Working Draft, is the name of our country bigger or smaller than the names
of the states?
5.
In the Working Draft, the delegates identify themselves by their states. What evidence shows this?
6.
Did Alexander Hamilton identify with one state?
7.
How does the Final Version of the Constitution begin? Write the first sentence.
8.
In the Final Version, what has been removed from the first sentence?
9.
How does the first sentence of the Final Version demonstrate the delegates’ common identity?
19
CONSTITUTION
Working Draft
Page 1 of the working draft of the U.S. Constitution, printed in August 1787. This copy
belonged to Pierce Butler, a delegate from South Carolina.
20
CONSTITUTION
Final Version
Page 1 of the final version of the U.S. Constitution, printed on September 17, 1787.
This copy is signed by Benjamin Franklin.
21
TREASURY
NAME
DATE
Money in the Early United States
In their first years of independence, Americans used a confusing combination of
coins and paper money. Different coins and different kinds of paper money were made
by each of the states. However, Spanish coins, or pieces of eight, were the most popular coins and could be used in all the states.
One of Alexander Hamilton’s main goals when he became the first Secretary of the
Treasury in 1789 was to create a strong single currency: the American dollar.
Object Analysis
1.
On the left side of this Tchart list objects and words
that you see on the US silver
dollar from 1795.
On the right side of the Tchart list objects and words
that you see on a quarter
from 2004.
2.
Complete the table:
1795 Coin
2004 Quarter
What items and words Why do you think these items and words are imporare on both coins?
tant enough to be on currency from 1795 and today?
List below.
Answer separately next to each item or word.
22
TREASURY
Notes of Paper Currency
Note worth four shillings in New York in 1776.
Note worth four Spanish dollars
in Pennsylvania in 1780.
Early Coins used in the United States
A Spanish coin minted, or made,
in Mexico City in 1739.
A “New Jersey copper” minted,
or made, in New Jersey in 1786.
A “Fugio cent” minted, or made,
in Connecticut in 1787.
Both sides of a U.S. silver dollar from 1795
23
DUEL
NAME
DATE
“General Hamilton was this morning woun[d]ed”:
A Letter from Hamilton’s Sister-in-Law
Angelica Church to Her Brother Philip J. Schuyler
July 11, 1804
In 1804, Aaron Burr, who was Vice President of the United States, felt Alexander
Hamilton had insulted him. He challenged Hamilton to a duel, and the two men met on July
11, 1804. Hamilton’s bullet ended up in a tree, while Burr’s bullet struck Hamilton’s side.
That day, Angelica Church wrote in haste to her brother Philip Schuyler to break the
news to him, expressing her hope that Hamilton would recover. The hasty scrawl of her
handwriting suggests the degree of her distress.
Angelica Church’s letter says:
at Wm Bayards Grenwich
Wednesday Morn
My dear Brother
I have the painful task to inform you that General Hamilton was this
morning woun[d]ed by that wretch Burr but we have every reason to hope that
he will recover. May I advice that you repair immediately to my father, as perhaps he may wish to come down—my dear Sister bears with saintlike fortitude
this affliction.
The town is in consternation, and there exists only the expression of
grief & Indignation.
Adieu my dear Brother remember me to Sally, ever yours A Church
Document Analysis
1.a. On what date did Angelica Church write this letter?
1.b. At what time of day did Angelica Church write this letter?
2.
If this letter was written in the “Morn,” when did Hamilton and Burr duel?
3.
What does Angelica Church hope will happen to Hamilton?
4.
According to Angelica Church, how does the town feel about Hamilton’s current
situation?
24
DUEL
Angelica Church’s letter to Philip J. Schuyler, July 11, 1804.
25
DEATH
NAME
DATE
“During his last illness”:
The Physician’s Bill for
Attending Hamilton’s Deathbed
Shot in the duel with Aaron Burr, Hamilton was rowed back across the Hudson from
Weehawken, New Jersey, and taken into the home of William Bayard. There he was
attended by his physician, Dr. David Hosack. The bill reprinted below was presented
to Hamilton’s executors. It covered not only the expenses for treating Alexander
Hamilton on his deathbed, but the existing account for the previous six months. Dr.
Hosack signed it when he received payment from the estate.
Dr. Hosack’s bill says:
The Estate of General Hamilton
To D Hosack Dr
1804 To med and adv in January—February
March—May and June __________ $37.50
To attendance &c during
his last illness _______________
50
$ 87.50
Recd payment
New York Augt. 8th. 1805
D Hosack
Document Analysis
1.
In 1804, during which months did the doctor help Hamilton?
2.
What amount did the doctor charge for attending to Hamilton’s last illness?
3.
When and where did the doctor receive payment for this bill?
26
DEATH
Dr. Hosack’s bill for services to Alexander Hamilton.
27
DEATH
NAME
DATE
The Order of March for Hamilton’s Funeral
and
A Portrait of His Widow, Elizabeth Hamilton
On the back cover of this booklet is part of an article from the July 17, 1804 issue
of the New-York Evening Post reporting on Alexander Hamilton’s funeral of July 14,
1804. Several thousand people turned out to watch as the coffin was carried to the
church for burial.
Also on the back cover is a portrait of Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton in 1825, still
shown in her mourning clothes. Betsey would survive her husband by a full fifty years,
and she spent those decades working to preserve his reputation and build his legacy.
Document Analysis
1.
2.
What date was this article published?
List at least three people or organizations that were part of the 12 o’clock funeral
procession.
3.
Why do you think so many people took part in Hamilton’s funeral?
Image Analysis
1.
When was Elizabeth Hamilton’s portrait painted?
2.
Alexander Hamilton died in 1804. How many years after his death was this portrait painted?
3.
28
In this painting, does Elizabeth Hamilton express feelings of sadness toward her
deceased husband? Support your answer with elements from the portrait.
NOTES
29
ANSWER GUIDE
Page 9: Painting Analysis
1.a. & 1.b.
NEW
YORK
CITY
ATLANTIC
OCEAN
CARIBBEAN
2.a. Harbor: a port or safe place for ships.
Wharf: wooden or stone structure found on the
edge of a body of water. Ships stop, or dock, next
to wharfs so that cargo may be loaded or unloaded.
2.b.
2.c. Ships, sea travel
2.d. Hamilton traveled by boat from the Caribbean to
New York City.
3. Answers will vary.
4. Answers will vary.
Page 10: Document Analysis
1. July 1776
2. Their “Systems of Government”
3. “King of Great-Britain”
4. Answers will vary.
Page 13: Object Analysis
1. No, America did not manufacture its own weapons.
2. Great Britain
3. Officers, General George Washington
4. Lieutenant Colonel
5.a.
WHITE
PLAINS
PRINCETON
TRENTON
30
5.b. White Plains
5.c. Trenton
6. White Plains: The British won. although, since they
lost more men than the Americans and failed to pursue Washington’s army it is sometimes called
“inconclusive.”
Trenton: The Americans won.
Princeton: The Americans won.
Page 14: Document Analysis
1. April 12, 1782
2. Rattle Snake
3. Small people/soldiers
4. Great Britain has surrendered.
5. Answers will vary.
6. Answers will vary.
Page 16: Document Analysis
1. The members of the Manumission Society felt that
slaves were equal as human beings.
Members felt that slaves should be free.
2. Civil and Religious liberties
3. Answers will vary.
Page 19: Document Analysis
1. Working Draft, August 1787
2. “We the People of the States of New-Hampshire,
Massachusetts, Rhode-Island and Providence
Plantations, Connecticut, New-York, New-Jersey,
Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, NorthCarolina, South-Carolina, and Georgia, do ordain,
declare and establish the following Constitution for
the Government of Ourselves and our Posterity.”
3. Under Article I.
4. The name of our country is smaller than the names
of the states.
5. The delegates placed the names of their individual
states in the beginning of the document.
6. No, although he was a delegate from New York.
7. “We the People of the United States, in order to
form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure
domestic tranquility, provide for the common
defence, promote the general welfare, and secure
the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the
United States of America.”
8. The names of the individual states have been
removed from the first sentence.
9. In the Final Version the delegates printed the name
of their country in the beginning of the document.
Page 22: Object Analysis
1. Complete the chart:
Quarter used in 2004
1795 coin
"United States of America" "United States of America"
Eagle
"E Pluribus Unum"
"Liberty"
"Quarter Dollar"
1795
Eagle
Stars
George Washington
Lady Liberty
"Liberty"
1994
"In God We Trust"
ANSWER GUIDE
2.
Complete the Table
Reason they are on
Items and words
on both coins?
both coins
"United States of America” Answers will vary
Eagle
"Liberty"
the date
2.
Page 24: Document Analysis
1.a. July 11, 1804
1.b. Morn, or morning
2. Hamilton and Burr dueled in the early morning.
3. Angelica Church hoped Hamilton would recover.
4. The town is in consternation, with feelings of grief
and indignation.
Page 26: Document Analysis
1. The doctor helped Hamilton during January,
February, March, May and June.
2. The doctor charged $50.00 for attending to
Hamilton's last illness.
3. The doctor received payment in New York on
August 8th, 1805.
Page 28: Document Analysis
1. This article was published on Tuesday, July 17,
1804.
3.
Answers may include:
The Artillery; The 6th Regiment of Militia; Flank
Companies; Cincinnati Society; A numerous train of
Clergy of all denominations; The General's Horse
appropriately dressed; His Children and Relatives;
Physicians; Gouverneur Morris, the funeral orator,
in his carriage; The Gentlemen of the Bar, all in
deep mourning; The Lieutenant-Governor of the
state, in his carriage; Corporation of the city of NewYork; Resident Agents of Foreign Powers; Officers
of our Army and Navy; Military and Naval Officers of
Foreign Powers; Militia Officers of the State; The
various officers of the respective Banks; Chamber
of Commerce and Merchants; Wardens of the Port
and masters of vessels in the harbor; The
President, Professors and Students of Columbia
College in mourning gowns; St. Andrew's Society,
mostly in mourning; Tammany Society; Mechanic
Society; Marine Society; Citizens in general.
Answers will vary
Page 28: Image Analysis
1. 1825
2. This portrait was painted 21 years after Hamilton's
death.
3. Answers will vary
31
For more information about the exhibition Alexander Hamilton: The Man Who Made
Modern America and other educational programs of the New-York Historical Society and
the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, please check out the web site:
www.alexanderhamiltonexhibition.org
The New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West
New York, NY 10024
(212) 873-3400
www.nyhistory.org
The Gilder Lehrman Institute
of American History
19 West 44th Street, Ste. 500
New York, NY 10036
(646) 366-9666
www.gilderlehrman.org
At left, an article about Alexander Hamilton’s
funeral procession from the New-York Evening
Post of July 17, 1804; above, a portrait of
Elizabeth Hamilton during her long widowhood,
1825, by Henry Inman.