In the early morning of July 11, 1804, New York was still sleeping. A small boat sailed quietly from Manhattan to New Jersey on the other side. There was a person on the boat slowly pacing back and forth. His name was Alan Burr, then the vice president of the United States. , and later he will engage in a duel. The opponent who made him restless was Alexander Hamilton, who was out of work and ruined Burr's good things many times in recent years.
Four years ago, Burr and Jefferson ran for president. The two voted equally, and the decision fell to Hamilton, the leader of the Federalist Party. As a result, Hamilton wrote, "Bur is a man who only has ambition and no principles. You must not vote for him." One vote shattered Burr's presidential dream. And just this year, I don't know which bastard, printed Hamilton's quotations in the newspaper, so that he didn't even get elected as the governor of New York. Burr asked Hamilton to come out to refute the rumors, but Hamilton refused, Burr was furious, and today's duel was born.
When the boat docked at the dock, they came to a small open space, and Burr's assistant briefly cleared the stones and branches that were blocking the foot. Soon, another boat arrived. Alexander Hamilton stepped down. He looked a little tired. He worked late last night and wrote a diary. Normal people who keep a diary may feel that some things are not done. It's too late. In the morning he said goodbye to his wife pretending to be relaxed, like going on an outing. Hamilton seemed to believe he could clear Burr's misunderstanding and cancel the stupid duel.
Burr and Hamilton had known each other since the Revolutionary War, and they served together in Washington. But unlike Hamilton, who was deeply trusted by Washington, Burr always felt neglected, and later, during the hardest part of the Revolutionary War, he resigned from the military and became a deserter. Hamilton walked to Burr and extended his hand to say hello to the former comrade-in-arms. Burr ignored it, and Hamilton had to withdraw his hand in embarrassment. Burr sneered, you little bastard from the Caribbean island, climbed up by clinging to Washington's thigh, and now your godfather Washington has retired and returned home, are you free at home and have nothing to do, that's why you came to trouble me .
Unlike Burr, Jefferson, Adams and other wealthy second-generation and official second-generation generations, Hamilton's childhood life was quite miserable. He was not only poor, but also lacked love. He was abandoned by his father and lost his mother at a young age. Knowledge is all self-taught. At the age of 14, Hamilton worked as a clerk in a trading company on the island, where he accumulated basic business and financial knowledge, and learned the cruel survival laws of adult society very early. At the age of 17, relying on excellent writing, Hamilton received funding to study in the continental United States, and received an education at King's University (now Columbia University).
For Hamilton, life is never easy. He tried his best to be on an equal footing with the second generation. There are two lines in the play that are great:
"You could never back down" He would never miss an opportunity, whether it was working in a trading company, going to school in New York, or becoming Washington's right-hand man, never reconciled to the status quo, moving forward, taking risks, maybe this is the so-called American spirit , at least it was back then.
"You never learned to take your time" He kept writing, learning and writing at any time. Of the 85 Federalist essays, Hamilton completed 51 by himself, and published them directly in the New York Times for ordinary people to comment on ( The newspaper was also founded by Hamilton).
The debate between Burr and Hamilton became more and more heated. Burr shouted like an explosion, accusing Hamilton of betraying the capital incident. Burr regarded himself as the king of New York, similar to the man who likes to put his name on New York buildings now, and was dissatisfied with the black-box deal made by Hamilton, Jefferson, and Madison in 1790. Hamilton, then Treasury Secretary, agreed to relocate the capital from New York to Jefferson's native Virginia on the condition of establishing a central bank. And this series of operations were all done behind Burr's back, for which he was both angry and a little disappointed.
In fact, when Jefferson, Madison and others were obsessed with the small-scale peasant economy, they thought about how to buy more slaves and live a comfortable life. It is precisely because of Hamilton's far-sighted financial policy that the core is to establish a sound national debt market, which eventually nurtured Wall Street and gradually created a dollar hegemony system that dominates the global economy for the United States.
It seemed that it was impossible to negotiate. Hamilton adjusted his clothes and touched the pistol on his waist. He and Burr stood back-to-back on the line, and then each took ten steps forward, ninety-eight... Counting as they walked, he remembered that his son had duel three years ago because someone criticized his father's speech, and he told his son to cut Don't hurt anyone, just shoot the gun up to the sky, and everyone will reconcile. However, this is not the case. His son fell to the ground and died of serious injuries. For this reason, Hamilton was depressed for many years.
When the count reached one, Hamilton and Burr turned around at the same time. He sighed, not knowing whether it was out of observance of Christian doctrine or a promise to his son, he pointed a shot at the sky. At the same time, Burr also fired, and after a burst of gunpowder, severe pain came from the right chest, and Hamilton fell to the ground.
The next day, Hamilton died of his injuries, and before he died, the family opened the diary that night, and it was written that no matter what, the shooting would not be fired tomorrow. According to his last wishes, Hamilton was buried in the cemetery of Holy Trinity Church in New York.
Politically, Hamilton is mature enough, calm and pragmatic, will not blindly cater to voters, has strategic insights far beyond the times, and is strong in execution, and has really implemented these financial policies.
In addition, although he was in charge of the financial power, he did not enrich his personal pockets. In order to prove his innocence, he would rather let his political opponents control his lustful affairs, for which he lost the chance to run for president. He himself did not have much property, and his wife depended on pensions to survive after his death.
The most commendable thing is that Hamilton, who has experienced hardships since childhood, and was humiliated by local political enemies as an adult, is still able to remain kind in his heart, knowing the world without being worldly.
In 2012, my first stop in New York was to visit Hamilton's tombstone in Holy Trinity Church at the intersection of Broadway and Wall Street, which is in a good location with a direct view of the New York Stock Exchange. Hamilton liked to debate with people before his death, but now, it is probably one of the most lively places in the world.
Hamilton's death was dramatic. He was like a pirate from the Caribbean, but instead of plundering, he gave alms, leaving his most precious things to this nascent country. Look at his legacy:
——Not far from the tombstone, the harvester built by him and named "Federal Reserve" is still cutting leeks around the world day and night.
Finally, I would like to thank Lin-Manuel Miranda for brushing the dust off Hamilton for audiences all over the world. He should have been the most dazzling one in that era.
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