Alexander Hamilton: Founding Father and Treasury Secretary
Words to Know clerk A person who sells goods at a store colony A newly settled area that still has ties to the ruling country constitution A set of beliefs and laws that determine the role of a country’s government and give certain rights to its people debt An amount of money owed duel A fight between two people that includes the use of weapons federal government The central government of a country mission A task with a military goal sue To try to get a court of law to force a person who has treated you unfairly to give you something or to do something tax Money that is paid to the government to cover public costs
Alexander Hamilton
chapter 1 Young Founding Father Alexander Hamilton is a name that all Americans know His face is on the ten-dollar bill Some people might wonder How did a man who was not president become so famous Even though he was young when the nation was forming Alexander helped shape the country’s future Alexander Hamilton was born on the island of Nevis in the Caribbean Sea probably on January 11 1755 His father James Hamilton was a Scottish trader and his mother Rachel Fawcett Lavien was the daughter of a French doctor At the time of Alexander’s birth his mother was not married to his father She had been married to another man who mistreated her so she ran away to the island of Saint Kitts 5
