American Legends

A lot of ink has been spilled covering the lives of history's most influential figures, but how much of the forest is lost for the trees? In Charles River Editors' American Legends series, readers can get caught up to speed on the lives of America's most important men and women in the time it takes to finish a commute, while learning interesting facts long forgotten or never known.The Founding Fathers have been revered by Americans for over 200 years, celebrated for creating a new nation founded upon the loftiest ideals of democracy and meritocracy. But if the American Dream has come to represent the ability to climb the social ladder with skill and hard work, no Founding Father represented the new America more than Alexander Hamilton.Unfortunately, one of the best known aspects of Hamilton s (1755-1804) life is the manner in which he died, shot and killed in a famous duel with Aaron Burr in 1804. But Hamilton started as an orphaned child in the West Indies before becoming one of the most instrumental Founding Fathers of the United States in that time, not only in helping draft and gain support for the U.S. Constitution but in also leading the Federalist party and building the institutions of the young federal government as Washington s Secretary of Treasury.Hamilton is also well remembered for his authorship, along with John Jay and James Madison, of the Federalist Papers. The Federalist Papers sought to rally support for the Constitution s approval when those three anonymously wrote them, but they demonstrate how men of vastly different political ideologies came to accept the same Constitution.Like the other American Legends, much of Hamilton s personal life has been overshadowed by the momentous events in which he participated, from the Revolutionary War to the most famous duel in American history. American Legends: The Life of Alexander Hamilton covers the amazing and various facets of Hamilton s life and career, putting a human touch on the man who gave as good as he got, but always put what he felt were the country s interests ahead of his own political interests. Along with pictures of Hamilton and other important people and events in his life, you will learn about this Founding Father like you never have before, in no time at all.