Can you hear me ok . Thank you so much for being here today. We are really excited to have this book. Michael and i go back a few years now. I have been a big cheerleader of his for several years. It is exciting to have this conversation with you to learn more about this book. First, michael, why did you decide to write this book . I think that is the biggest question. Michael first, i want to thank the museum of American Finance for hosting this and organizing this. Hamilton, Alexander Hamilton, is the most fascinating and remarkable founding father. Yet there is so much of his life that is uncertain, controversial. I started by just reading about hamilton, and i learned about all this controversy. What year was he born . What battle did he fight him . All the stuff we did not know. I basically read every book there is. I went to all the primary sources to determine what the truth is, and wrote it down. When you learn the truth, his story is even more remarkable than what you read in the shorter biographies which assume facts, or repeat previous comments. Nicole thank you. Why do you think it is so important for readers to learn about the formative years . You mentioned that this book covers his truck could does childhood in the caribbean as well as his service during the revolutionary war. Why is this so important to understand about Alexander Hamilton . Michael hamilton is one of the most important founding fathers, key writer of the constitution, developer of the mental system, washingtons chief aide during his presidency, acting secretary of state for a while, leader in favor of a strong military, the most defense of peace. He did not just start in 1789 or 1987. He developed a political philosophy starting even in the west indies as a youth, when he was working for a mercantile company. And then of course during the war, his political and military philosophy continued to develop. There is no way to understand Alexander Hamilton postconstitution or in writing the constitution if you dont understand where he grew up, how his life developed, how he entered the political sphere. Those things occurred during the war and during his youth. The book ends in 1782. Nicole you have mentioned so far you also mention it in your preface that Alexander Hamilton is the most workable founding father. What does that title mean to you . Michael we all know hamilton is one of the most important founding fathers, if not the most important founding father. Beyond that, to be the most remarkable is something different. George washington in 1789, everybody knew he was going to be president. Benjamin franklin was already famous. Thomas jefferson had written the declaration of independence. Yet here we have this kid in the 1772 coming to the United States, the american colonies. He is a nobody. He had very few friends. He had a cousin in the u. S. , no family, no wealth. Yet within a few years he is washingtons chief aide. He is one of the leading politicians in the country. Nobody else came from nowhere in such a short time to become a rounding father. That is only one half of why he is the most workable. The other half is, nobody contributed as much in such a wide array of areas. Hamilton you know he is secretary of the treasury. He was also aide to washington during the war, military experience. He became majorgeneral of the army. He was acting secretary of state for a while. He negotiated with the british. He was largely responsible, along with john jay, for the jay treated. A writer of the constitution. A leader in getting it ratified through the federalist papers, the new york convention. Nobody else did so much in so many different areas. Between the breath of his work and coming out of nowhere, being so unknown there is no contest that he is the most remarkable founding father. Nicole instead of a chronological timeline, you did something different. You did follow a general chronological timeline but structure it around thems and topics. Can you tell us why you chose this approach and how you utilize it . Michael there are too many reasons i decided to look at topics and teams rather than strict chronology. One is it allows more depth to the topics. During the war, when hamilton is serving as washingtons aide, hamilton was involved in many different things. Obviously, his chief task was writing letters helping with military strategy. But there were other areas. I write three separate chapters on three of those areas. There is his work on Prisoner Exchange negotiation. There is his work on helping washington with his espionage operation. There is his help with the french, coordinating military activity with the french army and navy. If you had put each of those activities in the chronology, so you would have something here on page 200 on prisoner negotiations, then Something Else on page 300, you lose the theme and will not notice that hamilton was so active in those areas. By putting it all together, not only is it all in one place, you can give more depth to it, more analysis. That is one reason. The second reason is the historiography. One of the purposes of the book is to clarify certain things that are unknown, unknowable, or matters of debate concerning hamiltons life. Did he do this . Did he do that . If you look at things chronologically, it will be more difficult than looking at that topic. I can spend maybe 10 pages on his year of birth. Which is not just one event that occurred in 1755. Or much more likely 1757. You have to bring in the evidence of other years. Why on earth would you be writing about something that happened in 1768, if it is related to 1767, if you are in a chronological book . Cause it is by theme, you can bring you an information that is not strictly chronological. Nicole speaking to the historiography approach to this book, one thing that struck me is there was this book that not only did you use a great deal of primary sources that was documents from the time to tell the story and actual narrative with their own words, but you also examined the validity of people who had written not only at that time, but also in the subsequent centuries and years. What was this aspect of analyzing and researching so many different sources like . Michael it was both very enjoyable and very frustrating. It is really good to be able to read basically all the Alexander Hamilton biographies, get every single authors perspective and analysis. It adds so much more depth. But you read so many errors, false assumptions. Mentioned in introductory remarks, one author says one thing, the next says the opposite. Which are you going to believe . It is frustrating. A lot of times, there is no evidence for either side and it is all speculation on both sides. In those cases, that is what i conclude, that we really just do not know, and it is possible this is more likely. Even though it is frustrating at times, it is so enjoyable to be able to see all the different perspectives. It is the benefit of hamilton being so complicated. Everybody has something to say. Almost everybody also has valid points to make. It is great to see all the different perspectives. Nicole thank you. Obviously, this book is very ideal for researchers, myself included. It is already my go to source when i want to look up and confirm with the endnotes. For somebody who is just starting to learn about Alexander Hamilton or has not yet read a biography, why would they want to start with your book, Alexander Hamilton, the formative years . Michael one reason is it starts at the beginning, with his origins, his grandparents, and works forward. A finance book starts in 1789. It starts at the beginning. Also, because it builds on all the previous works, it includes what has been written before, adds increased accuracy. It is more comprehensive, being 500 pages on just that first half of his life. Also, there were many discoveries made in researching the book, which are included. None of which are in the previous books. In my opinion, and as some of the reviews have said, it is something of a page turner. Others said it is a must read. A wellwritten book that is a mustread on hamiltons life, starting from the beginning, working its way forward it is definitely a good buy. Im a little biased. Nicole [laughter] nicole talking about hamiltons caribbean origins, obviously very little is known about that, although much has been written. You tackled a lot of controversies, debates. Specifically, what did you find about the debate on when Alexander Hamilton was born, 1755 and 1757 . For people who might not know, can you give a brief introduction to why there is that controversy . Michael i will start at the beginning, getting into the historiography. Hamilton said he was born in 1757. His children had written in their books he was born in 1757. His grand children wrote that. That is what everybody believed. In the 1930s, i believe, they discovered a probate record when hamiltons mother had passed away, saying that Alexander Hamilton is 13 years old. That would make him born in 1755 rather than 1757. Then everybody started that historians started looking for other evidence that hamilton maybe was born in 1755 instead of 1757. They found a piece of poetry which might have been written by hamilton which suggested he had been born earlier than 1757. The problem with that poetry is that the author could have fibbed about his age, and it implies he had been born in 1754 and there is no evidence that hamilton actually wrote it. The only primary evidence that hamilton was born in 1755 is that probate document. The evidence he was born in 1757 is that hamilton said he was born in 1757. People in this country do not know. How is a robert troop, hercules mulligan, or john jay how would they know how old he was . The problem is, there were people already in this country that new hamilton from the west indies, his cousin, his old friend ned stevens at Kings College, his bosses, the ship captains. I think i list 11 people that knew him from the west indies that also knew him in this country. How could hamilton come here and say i am born in 1757, and then Edward Stevens would not say, no you were not. All these people had to have conspired or acquiesced in the lie in order for hamilton to have said and people to have believed he was born in 1757. The question is, which one is more believable . That hamilton lied about his age from 17721804, and all his friends kept quiet, nobody said anything, not even political enemies who had contact in the west indies . Or that a probate clerk or his uncle who provided the information made a mistake and gave his wrong age . I believe it is more likely that Somebody Just made a mistake in the west indies than he lied for 32 years and nobody said anything about it. Most likely, almost definitely, he was born in 1757. Nicole one of the most surprising things while i read this book is that although it is about Alexander Hamilton, you spend a lot of time, especially during the revolutionary war, discussing George Washington and general gates, baron von steuben. This told a news story about the revolutionary war. Why did you think that was important to include in a book about Alexander Hamilton . Michael Alexander Hamilton was a great man. There were other great men that worked with him. And there were great men who worked against him. His Partnership Team with George Washington is probably the most important in the history of the world. I dont think you can look at washington without looking at hamilton. And you cant look at hamilton without looking at washington. They are a political combination from 17771799. Its remarkable. You cannot think of anything washington did without hamilton support, and anything hamilton did without washingtons support during that time. His relationship with Philip Schuyler, who was a Major General in the army and later his fatherinlaw, and later they were in politics together. And his rivalry with horatio gates. But it is not just because of hamilton during this period of work with these people. The relationships continued, so hamilton had a rivalry with dates which continued into 1783, with the newburgh conspiracy, his relationship with washington continued through the constitution and its administration. His relationship with Philip Schuyler continued until hamiltons death. His were not Just Relationships during this one time. These were lifelong relationships that started during this period. If we are going to understand washingtons relationship with hamilton during the first in ministration, we have to understand his relationship with hamilton during this period, beyond the story of the history. You also get a better glimpse at the people themselves. The book is about his accompaniments, but also about his character and about washingtons character and all these peoples characters. And hamilton on the battlefield or writing letters might not display so much about his character. It might show bravery and intelligence, but it does not show his friendship, his support for his friends, and how he treated his rivals, which is also remarkable. I do not think you could look at the life of hamilton or the life of any founding father without looking at the relationship with the others. Nicole thank you. Last year you did speak here at the museum of American Finance, and the theme of your talk was about some of the new discoveries you had made about Alexander Hamiltons life, which you include in your book. Can you share maybe one or two of those discoveries that you either had made then, or have made since then . Michael there is quite a number. I will start with the one that is probably the most emotional for me, maybe because it was one of my first. You always are over your first. We all know hamiltons writing about the hurricane in the west indies. A hurricane hit at the end of august 1772. He wrote this hurricane account in september 1772, september 6, which was written to his father. It was then published in the st. Croix newspaper in october, october 3. Then it was lost to history. John c hamilton wrote about it in his biography of hamilton. He could not find a copy. Did not have a copy. It was not until 1902 that somebody found a copy of it in the royal danish american gazette. What was interesting i wish i could remember exactly how i found it. I was browsing through oh yeah. I was browsing through old copies of boston newspapers looking for when hamilton might have arrived in boston, because before he went to new york, he stopped over in boston. And i found his account in a boston newspaper, the massachusetts spy. Nobody had seen it in 130 years, 140 years. I couldnt believe it. I was very very happy. Of course, that is not really that important to hamiltons biography, but it was very cool. More important to hamiltons biography this actually was not in my i do not think this was in my speech last year, because i do not think i found it yet. In november 1777, hamilton was the aide for washington for eight months, nine months. He was 20 years old, at the time not even old enough to vote. Timothy pickert and wanted to resign as adjutant general of the army, one of the most important positions in the army. He writes to Eldridge Gerry that he wants to retire and wants Alexander Hamilton to replace him. He says he is surprised that hamilton had not already been given the position. And then he had these glowing words about hamilton. Calls him a great character. Had nothing but praise for hamilton. Suggested he replace him. And said that if hamilton hamilton at the time was sick, deathly ill. Up in fishkill. He said that hamilton was not sick, he would have resigned and let hamilton do it right away. Hamilton would have been acting adjutant general, waiting for congress to approve him. In the end, hamilton was sick. This was right in the way of the conway cabal, and washington had rivals in congress, so hamilton was not chosen. It was quite the letter, and no historian anywhere has cited this letter. So i was lucky to find it. A lot of this, i guess you can say, is luck. But the way you happen upon it is by looking everywhere. You turn over a rock and you are going to find some stuff. I found quite a number of things. These are the most emotional and perhaps the most emotional being the hurricane letter, and the most important being pickerings letter. The most important and emotional discoveries i have made. Nicole the last question i would like to ask before we open up to audience questions so start thinking what you might like to ask what do you wish for readers to take away from your book . Michael thats a great question. Well, obviously the book is about hamiltons accomplishments during the American Revolution. Obviously i want them to take that away. Hamilton being an aide, we think, he wrote some letters. But his contributions were much greater. Espionage activities, Prisoner Exchange negotiations, working with the french. At one point, the french commanderinchief said, only confide this with hamilton one of the few who spoke french. Hamiltons contributions if they were not indispensable, they were very close to being indispensable. Nobody else at Headquarters Washington did not know french. Nobody else at headquarters could do what hamilton did. It really does impact the relationships, the relationships hamilton made that would be so important during the drive for the constitution and founding the first government. All those things happened in this book, in this time. If you read it and then think about the later things that hamilton did, the later founding of the country, it has its origin formation in this time. Even though it is a book about hamiltons first half of his life, it is really a book about his entire life and the entire founding of the country. Nicole now we are going to have marci, our chapter president , come pass around the microphone. I