George Washington was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Second Continental Congress as commander of the Continental Army in June 1775, Washington led Patriot forces to victory in the American Revolutionary War and then served as president of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, which drafted and ratified the Constitution of the United States and established the American federal government. Washington has thus been called the "Father of his Country".
Thomas Jefferson was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. Among the Committee of Five charged by the Second Continental Congress with drafting the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson was the document's primary author. Following the American Revolutionary War and prior to becoming president in 1801, Jefferson was the first U.S. secretary of state under George Washington and then the nation's second vice president under John Adams.
The 1800 United States presidential election was the fourth quadrennial presidential election. It was held from October 31 to December 3, 1800. In what is sometimes called the "Revolution of 1800", the Democratic-Republican Party candidate, Vice President Thomas Jefferson, defeated the Federalist Party candidate, incumbent president John Adams. The election was a political realignment that ushered in a generation of Democratic-Republican leadership. This was the first presidential election in American history to be a rematch.
Alexander Hamilton was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795 during George Washington's presidency.
Aaron Burr Jr. was an American politician, businessman and lawyer who served as the third vice president of the United States from 1801 to 1805 during Thomas Jefferson's first presidential term. He was a co-founder of the Bank of New York, which he founded in June 1784 along with Alexander Hamilton. He founded the Manhattan Company on September 1, 1799. His legacy is defined by his famous personal and political conflict with Hamilton, which culminated in the Burr–Hamilton duel in Weehawken, New Jersey on July 11, 1804, during which Burr mortally wounded Hamilton, who died from his wounds the following day.
The Founding Fathers of the United States, commonly referred to simply as the Founding Fathers, were a group of late 18th century American revolutionary leaders who united the Thirteen Colonies, oversaw the War of Independence from Great Britain, established the United States, and crafted a framework of government for the new nation.
Ronald Chernow is an American writer, journalist, and biographer. He has written bestselling historical non-fiction biographies.
The Burr–Hamilton duel took place in Weehawken, New Jersey, between Aaron Burr, the third and current U.S. vice president at the time, and Alexander Hamilton, the first and former Secretary of the Treasury, at dawn on July 11, 1804. The duel was the culmination of a bitter rivalry that had developed over years between both men, who were high-profile politicians in the newly-established United States, founded following the victorious American Revolution and its associated Revolutionary War.
The presidency of John Adams, began on March 4, 1797, when John Adams was inaugurated as the second president of the United States, and ended on March 4, 1801. Adams, who had served as vice president under George Washington, took office as president after winning the 1796 presidential election. The only member of the Federalist Party to ever serve as president, his presidency ended after a single term following his defeat in the 1800 presidential election. He was succeeded by Thomas Jefferson of the opposition Democratic-Republican Party.
Elizabeth Hamilton, also called Eliza or Betsey, was an American socialite and philanthropist. She was the wife of American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton and was a passionate champion and defender of Hamilton's work and efforts in the American Revolution and the founding of the United States.
Angelica Church was an American socialite. She was the eldest daughter of Continental Army General Philip Schuyler, and a sister of Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton and sister-in-law of Alexander Hamilton.
John Church Hamilton was an American historian, biographer, and lawyer. He was a son of Alexander Hamilton, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.
William Peter Van Ness was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of New York and the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, also notable for serving as Aaron Burr's second in Burr's duel with Alexander Hamilton.
John Barker Church, a.k.a.John Carter, was an English born businessman and supplier of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.
The Hamilton–Reynolds affair was the first major sex scandal in American political history. It involved Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton conducting an affair with Maria Reynolds from 1791 to 1792, during the presidency of George Washington. When Reynolds' husband — James Reynolds — discovered the affair, he subsequently blackmailed Hamilton over the matter, resulting in Hamilton paying James Reynolds over $1,300 — about a third of his annual income — to maintain the secrecy. In 1797, Hamilton publicly admitted to the affair in what he called, the Reynolds Pamphlet, after his political enemies attacked and accused him of embezzling government funds during his time as the Treasury Secretary. Hamilton responded to these accusations by writing in the aforementioned pamphlet, "The charge against me is a connection with one James Reynolds for purposes of improper pecuniary speculation. My real crime is an amorous connection with his wife, for a considerable time with his privity and connivance."
Hamilton is a sung-and-rapped-through biographical musical with music, lyrics, and book by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Based on the 2004 biography Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow, the musical covers the life of American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton and his involvement in the American Revolution and the political history of the early United States. Composed over a seven-year period from 2008 to 2015, the music draws heavily from hip hop, as well as R&B, pop, soul, and traditional-style show tunes. It casts non-white actors as the Founding Fathers of the United States and other historical figures. Miranda described Hamilton as about "America then, as told by America now."
Philip Hamilton was the eldest child of Alexander Hamilton and Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton. He died at age 19, fatally shot in a duel with George Eacker.
Angelica Hamilton was the second child and eldest daughter of Elizabeth Schuyler and Alexander Hamilton, who was the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.
The Selected Papers of John Jay is an ongoing endeavor by scholars at Columbia University's Rare Book and Manuscript Library to organize, transcribe and publish a wide range of politically and culturally important letters authored by and written to American Founding Father John Jay that demonstrate the depth and breadth of Jay's contributions as a nation builder. More than 13,000 documents from over 75 university and historical collections have been compiled and photographed to date. Printed volumes illustrate Jay's roles as a patriot, jurist, diplomat, peacemaker and governor. As of January 2022, all seven planned chronological letterpress volumes have been published. A free searchable database of Jay's papers is available through Founders Online, a website maintained by the National Archives and Records Administration that also includes the writings and letters of Washington, Adams, Franklin, Jefferson, Madison, and Hamilton.
Alexander Hamilton is a 2004 biography of American statesman Alexander Hamilton, written by historian and biographer Ron Chernow. Hamilton, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, was an instrumental promoter of the U.S. Constitution, founder of the nation's financial system, and its first Secretary of the Treasury.
