Hamilton, Alexander. “Alexander Hamilton Papers: Digital Collections: Library of Congress.” The Library of Congress. Accessed December 31, 2024. https://www.loc.gov/collections/alexander-hamilton-papers/about-this-collection/.
For any students learning about the early years of the United States as a nation, these papers will provide a valuable resource for educators to use and share. Often when students are learning about the early years of the United States as a nation, they consult primary source documents such as the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution, but rarely do they read Alexander Hamilton’s letters during this time. Students will be able to learn about Hamilton’s role in the formation of the new nation, including serving as the first treasury secretary of the United States. Students and educators who are familiar with Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway show, Hamilton, will be interested in comparing Hamilton’s original letters with information depicted in the Broadway show.
The papers of Alexander Hamilton (ca. 1757–1804), first treasury secretary of the United States, consist of his personal and public correspondence, drafts of his writings (although not his Federalist essays), and correspondence among members of the Hamilton and Schuyler families. The collection of approximately 12,000 items dating from 1708 to subsequent family members’ papers up until 1917, documents Hamilton's impoverished Caribbean boyhood (scantly); events in the lives of his family and that of his wife, Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton; his experience as a Revolutionary War officer and aide-de-camp to General George Washington; his terms as a New York delegate to the Continental Congress (1782–1783) and the Constitutional Convention (1787); and his careers as a New York state legislator, United States treasury secretary (1789–1795), political writer, and lawyer in private practice. Most of the papers date from 1777 until Hamilton's death in 1804.
- In 1776, the American colonies declared their independence from England to establish themselves as their own country, the United States of America, with the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
- Alexander Hamilton had many roles in the early years of the United States, including serving as the first treasury secretary of the United States.
- These papers span Hamilton’s personal and professional documents from before the Revolutionary War until after his death in 1804, with most dating from 1777–1804.
- How did Hamilton’s writing change over the course of his career?
- What were the differences in style of letters comparing Hamilton’s personal correspondence (such as with his wife Elizabeth) with his professional ones?
- How do Hamilton’s letters compare with George Washington’s papers also available on the Library of Congress website?
- How do the ideas presented by Hamilton in these letters compare or contrast with the Broadway show Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda?
New Jersey Learning Standards-ELA
RI.CI.9–10.2. Determine one or more central ideas of an informational text and analyze how it is developed and refined over the course of a text, including how it emerges and is shaped by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.
- These letters and documents mostly span from 1777-1804, and as such, students can track how Hamilton’s ideas have changed, or remained the same, over time. Students can refer to specific details in history that may have caused any changes that they identify over the course of the letters. Additional information about Hamilton was shared by the Hamilton and Schuyler families posthumously.
IT.9–10.3. Analyze how an author unfolds ideas throughout the text, including the order in which the points are made, how they are introduced and developed, and the connections that are drawn between them.
- Hamilton’s well-written letters will serve as a great example of informational text for students to read in terms of rhetoric, organization, and language. Students can analyze the points that Hamilton makes in his letters and how he lays out those claims in an organized way.
- Read through some of George Washington’s papers on the Library of Congress website and see what connections can be found between Hamilton’s letters and Washington’s. Were there any correspondences between the two? Did Hamilton and Washington have similar concerns at the start of the new nation? Educators can pre-select certain letters to use with students or have students find the connections themselves.
- Watch “The Hamilton Mixtape” from the 2009 White House Poetry Jam, or have students watch a portion of the Broadway show, Hamilton (streaming on Disney+ as of December 2024 or as clips on YouTube). Ask students to complete a graphic organizer in which they compare and contrast Hamilton’s ideas as presented in his letters from this collection with how he is presented by Lin-Manuel Miranda in the Broadway show.
- When students are learning about significant historical documents such as the Declaration of Independence or the US Constitution, also provide them with some of Alexander Hamilton’s letters from the time of the creation and signing of the documents. Ask students to compare and contrast Hamilton’s concerns in his letters with those ideas presented in each primary source document.
As a Founding Father, the history of Alexander Hamilton is taught in most schools, so there may not be as much potential for challenge with this source as with some others on the LOC website. That being said, some of the ideas of the Founding Fathers may be viewed as outdated and antiquated, especially the usurping of Native American lands. Educators can refer to this resource from Facing History about the teaching of the founding of America.
- Print of the Declaration of Independence: https://www.loc.gov/item/2018757136/
- The US Constitution: https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/constitution/
- American Revolution and Founding Washington: https://www.loc.gov/free-to-use/american-revolution/
- George Washington Papers: https://www.loc.gov/collections/george-washington-papers/about-this-collection/
- We the People: Expanding the Teaching of the US Founding: Facing History
- “Alexander Hamilton: A Resource Guide”: Information from the Library of Congress about Alexander Hamilton, including prints and related online resources.
- “The Hamilton Mixtape”: Video of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s performance at the 2009 White House Poetry Jam.