The Essential Hamilton, page 47
Three major editions of Hamilton’s writings have been published: The Works of Alexander Hamilton, edited by his son John Church Hamilton (7 volumes, 1850–51); The Works of Alexander Hamilton, edited by Henry Cabot Lodge (9 volumes, 1885–86); and The Papers of Alexander Hamilton, edited by Harold C. Syrett (27 volumes, 1961–87). In his edition, John Church Hamilton freely altered his father’s spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and paragraphing, and sometimes omitted words or passages from the documents he printed. Henry Cabot Lodge also made frequent alterations in Hamilton’s spelling, punctuation, and capitalization in preparing his edition.
In 1955 work began on The Papers of Alexander Hamilton, a new edition sponsored by Columbia University and published by Columbia University Press. The editors of The Papers of Alexander Hamilton collected copies of more than 19,000 documents relating to Hamilton’s life from libraries, archives, manuscript dealers, and private collections. Documents were transcribed and printed without alteration in their spelling and paragraphing, and with minimal alterations in their capitalization and punctuation, mostly in the substitution of periods for dashes used to end sentences and the omission of dashes in instances where a dash appears following a period. Wherever possible, the editors of The Papers of Alexander Hamilton used an autograph manuscript as the source of their text. In cases where no autograph manuscript, manuscript copy, or contemporary printed version of a document was available, the editors of The Papers of Alexander Hamilton took their text from a later printed version, such as the John Church Hamilton or Henry Cabot Lodge edition. For the texts of the first forty-four of Hamilton’s fifty-one contributions to The Federalist, the editors of The Papers of Alexander Hamilton used the newspaper versions published between October 27, 1787, and April 2, 1788, incorporating into these texts some of the variants (largely corrections of errors) that appeared in the first book edition, published in New York by John and Archibald McLean in two volumes on March 22 and May 28, 1788. The texts of Hamilton’s final seven Federalist essays, which did not appear in newspapers prior to book publication, were taken from the McLean first edition. In preparing its digital version of Hamilton’s writings, Founders Online used The Papers of Alexander Hamilton as its source of printed texts.
The Essential Hamilton prints texts as they appear on Founders Online, but with a few alterations in editorial procedure. The bracketed conjectural readings presented in Founders Online, in cases where original manuscripts or printed texts were damaged or difficult to read, are accepted without brackets in this edition when those readings seem to be the only possible ones; but when they do not, or when the Founders Online version makes no conjecture, the missing word or words are indicated by a bracketed two-em space, i.e., [ ]. In cases where Founders Online supplies in brackets letters or words that were omitted from the source text by an obvious slip of the pen or printer’s error, this edition removes the brackets and accepts the editorial emendation. Bracketed or parenthetical editorial insertions used in Founders Online to identify letter recipients, clarify meaning, or supply dates and place-names have been deleted in this edition. In cases where Founders Online uses brackets to indicate which portions of the text of a document are taken from an incomplete manuscript source, as opposed to a later printed source, this edition omits the brackets. Where Founders Online presents a document from a complete manuscript source and uses brackets to insert material that was added in a later printed version of the document, this edition deletes the inserted material and prints the manuscript version of the document. (The material added to “An American No. I,” which was most likely added by Hamilton, is presented in the notes in this edition.) Notes made by Hamilton in the margins of documents, or otherwise outside the flow of text in the original source, are presented at the end of documents in the Founders Online versions, while in this edition they are printed as footnotes on the appropriate page. Founders Online presented the draft of a farewell address enclosed by Hamilton in his letter to George Washington of July 30, 1796, the observations on Aaron Burr that Hamilton enclosed in his letter to John Rutledge Jr. of January 4, 1801, and the letter from Charles Cooper, dated April 23, 1804, enclosed by Burr in his letter to Hamilton of June 18, 1804, as separate documents; this edition prints them immediately below the texts of the letters with which they were enclosed.
Hamilton’s letter to Philip Schuyler of February 18, 1781, is presented by Founders Online in a text in which material deleted by Hamilton while drafting the letter is displayed with lines through the deleted material and with material substituted or added by Hamilton displayed with highlighting. This edition omits the canceled material and prints the highlighted material without highlighting. The draft of the Farewell Address enclosed by Hamilton in his letter to George Washington of July 30, 1796, is presented by Founders Online in a similar manner, with the difference that in this instance the highlighted material also includes words or passages offered by Hamilton as alternatives to uncanceled words and passages in the draft. This edition omits the canceled material and prints highlighted material containing added or substituted wording without highlighting. Three of Hamilton’s errors in the draft of the Farewell Address are treated as slips of the pen and corrected in this edition, even though they were not corrected on Founders Online at 281.30, “successessive” becomes “successive”; at 286.18, “and a and” becomes “and”; and at 290.1, “it vows for” becomes “it.”
In the text of “A Full Vindication of the Measures of the Congress” presented on Founders Online, errata that were printed in a newspaper contemporaneously with the initial pamphlet printing of Hamilton’s essay are presented as footnotes. In this edition, these corrections have been accepted and incorporated into the text printed here: at 12.24, “falibility” becomes “fallibility”; at 13.30, “nutral” becomes “neutral”; at 15.12, “hideous” replaces “tedious”; at 18.11, “engredient” becomes “ingredient”; at 18.20, “denied” replaces “desired”; at 20.31, “commerce; I know” replaces “commerce; know”; at 23.14, “would” replaces “could”; at 27.10–11, “is, not because” replaces “is, because”; at 28.40–29.1, “you, how and” replaces “you, and”; at 34.34, “arguments” replaces “argument”; at 36.33, “heineous” becomes “heinous”; at 37.36 “can” replaces “can’t”; at 38.40, “devised” replaces “desired”; at 39.8, “advices” becomes “advice”; at 39.33, “best” replaces “left.”
The Essential Hamilton presents the texts chosen as sources here but does not attempt to reproduce features of their typographic design. Some headings have been changed, and addresses and endorsements at the end of letters have been omitted, as have the date lines uniformly supplied by Founders Online at the beginning of documents. The texts are printed without alteration except for the changes previously discussed and for the correction of typographical errors. Spelling, punctuation, and capitalization are often expressive features, and they are not altered, even when inconsistent or irregular. The following is a list of typographical errors corrected, cited by page and line number: 8.35, only; 17.4, flourshes; 27.24, bitterst; 31.3, imprisioned; 59.21, explicity; 59.22, impossibily; 82.24–25, dismembrement; 101.2, theire; 110.9, interesting the; 110.24, judicous; 130.2, Præetors; 150.20, it as; 152.21, government.*; 156.7, fewer that; 182.4, confederation.”; 233.32, preverting; 238.13, agrigulcure; 238.28, that is; 243.11, ridicule he,; 253.37, inportant; 275.15, remmant; 279.20, characteristed; 286.12, hostiles; 295.8, his; 324.9, thing; 346.18, Decomocracy; 363.1, State.
Notes
In the notes below, the reference numbers denote page and line of this edition (the line count includes headings). No note is made for material included in standard desk-reference books such as Webster’s Collegiate, Biographical, and Geographical dictionaries. Footnotes in the text are Hamilton’s own. For further biographical background, references to other studies, and more detailed notes, see Broadus Mitchell, Alexander Hamilton (2 vols., New York: The Macmillan Company, 1957–62); Ron Chernow, Alexander Hamilton (New York: The Penguin Press, 2004); Founders Online (https://founders.archives.gov); and The Papers of Alexander Hamilton, edited by Harold C. Syrett (27 vols., New York: Columbia University Press, 1961–87).
THE WEST INDIES, THE REVOLUTION, AND THE CONFEDERATION, 1769–1786
3.2 Edward Stevens] Hamilton’s friend Edward Stevens (d. 1834) was the son of Thomas Stevens, a St. Croix merchant who may have taken Hamilton into his home after the death of Hamilton’s mother in 1768. Hamilton sent this letter to New York City, where Stevens attended King’s College (now Columbia University). Stevens later studied medicine in Edinburgh and treated Hamilton and his wife during the 1793 yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia.
4.2 To The Royal Danish American Gazette] Hamilton sent this letter to his father, who was living on St. Kitts at the time. Its publication was arranged by Hugh Knox, the Presbyterian minister on St. Croix who helped sponsor Hamilton’s education in North America; see Chronology, 1772.
7.10 Our General] Ulrich Wilhelm Roepstorff, the Danish governor general of St. Croix.
7.13 A Full Vindication] Hamilton was responding to a pamphlet dated November 16, 1774, and titled Free Thoughts on the Proceedings of the Continental Congress, Held at Philadelphia, Sept 5, 1774: Wherein Their Errors are exhibited, their Reasonings Confuted, and the fatal Tendency of their Non-Importation, Non-Exportation, and Non-Consumption Measures, are laid open to the plainest Understandings; and the Only Means pointed out for Preserving and Securing Our present Happy Constitution: In a Letter to the Farmers and other inhabitants of North America in General, and to those of the Province of New-York in Particular. By a Farmer. Hear me, for I Will speak! Most likely, the author was Samuel Seabury, an Anglican rector in Westchester County. The “Farmer” responded to Hamilton’s A Full Vindication with the pamphlet A View of the Controversy Between Great-Britain and her Colonies . . . dated December 24, 1774. Hamilton responded in turn with The Farmer Refuted: or A more impartial and comprehensive View of the Dispute between Great-Britain and the Colonies . . . published on February 23, 1775.
7.26 measures . . . congress] The First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia from September 5 to October 26, 1774, and adopted an agreement for the colonies to cease importing goods from Britain, Ireland, and the West Indies after December 1, 1774, to cease consuming British goods after March 1, 1775, and, if necessary, to halt exports to Britain, Ireland, and the West Indies after September 10, 1775.
10.14 invasion of our rights] The First Continental Congress convened in response to the “Intolerable Acts” passed by Parliament in the spring of 1774, which closed Boston harbor, abrogated the royal charter of Massachusetts, allowed royal officials accused of capital crimes in Massachusetts to be tried outside the colony, and permitted the quartering of troops in occupied dwellings throughout the thirteen colonies.
11.32–33 popery . . . Canada] The Quebec Act, signed by George III on June 22, 1774, established a civil government for Quebec without an elected assembly, gave the Roman Catholic Church the power to collect tithes, and extended the borders of the province to the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers.
11.34–35 the revolution] The 1688 “Glorious Revolution” in England.
12.6 The Premier] Lord North (1732–1792), prime minister of Britain from 1770 to 1782.
12.38 vi & armis] By force of arms.
24.19 Georgia] Georgia did not send delegates to the First Continental Congress.
32.38–39 not classical] In his pamphlet Free Thoughts the “Farmer” had written: “We are ordered to kill them sparingly: a queer phrase; however, let it pass. If it is not classical, it is congressional; and that’s enough.”
32.40 Mr. Johnson’s dictionary] Samuel Johnson, A Dictionary of the English Language (first edition, 1755).
35.24 weathers] Castrated rams.
40.17 John Jay] Jay (1745–1829) served as president of the Continental Congress from December 1778 to September 1779.
40.27–28 Capt Sears . . . Mr. Rivington’s types] Isaac Sears (1730–1786), a leader of the New York Sons of Liberty, recruited men from Connecticut to attack the press of James Rivington, the Loyalist editor and printer of Rivington’s New-York Gazetteer.
43.4 Col Laurens] Lieutenant Colonel John Laurens (1755–1782), the son of Henry Laurens, a prominent South Carolina planter and political leader, had become a close friend of Hamilton’s after joining Washington’s staff in 1777. He was killed in a skirmish in South Carolina in August 1782.
43.13 recommended by Congress] On March 29, 1779, Congress recommended that Georgia and South Carolina recruit 3,000 slaves to serve in separate battalions under white officers. Slaveowners would receive up to $1,000 for each slave who enlisted, and at the end of the war, the slaves would be freed and paid $50 for their service. The proposal was rejected by the government of South Carolina in May 1779.
43.36–37 want of cultivation . . . probably as good] Hamilton first wrote “spontaniety,” crossed it out and wrote “want of knowledge,” and then crossed out “knowledge” and wrote “cultivation.” He also changed “perhaps” to “probably.”
46.6–7 application to the Assembly] See note 43.13.
47.6 the Indian command] Washington was organizing a punitive expedition against the Iroquois of central New York, who had allied themselves with the British.
47.14–15 soi-disante . . . épouse] “Supposedly the kinswoman of Madame, your wife.” Laurens was studying law in London when the Revolutionary War began. He married Martha Manning in October 1776, then returned to America in January 1777.
47.16 perhaps [ ].] The end of the sentence was crossed out in the manuscript of the letter, probably by John Church Hamilton while preparing his edition of his father’s papers, The Works of Alexander Hamilton (7 volumes, 1850–51). Penciled at the top of the letter, presumably by John Church Hamilton, are the words: “I must not publish the whole of this.”
48.9–10 length of my nose . . . I [ ].] The end of the sentence was crossed out. Hamilton was possibly using “nose” as a double entendre for “penis,” as in the novel The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy (1759–67) by Laurence Sterne.
48.22 Fleury] François Louis Teisseydre, Marquis de Fleury, sought a position as secretary to the French diplomatic mission to the United States.
48.33–34 Governor Martin . . . the fleet] Josiah Martin (1737–1786), the royal governor of North Carolina, was driven from the colony in 1775. He sailed from New York City on December 26, 1779, as part of the British invasion fleet bound for South Carolina.
49.6 a certain commission] Laurens had urged Congress to appoint Hamilton as a secretary to Benjamin Franklin, who was serving as the American minister to France. In a letter of December 18, 1779, Laurens, the favored candidate, told Hamilton that he felt compelled to accept the post if Congress could agree on no other candidate, and identified the other men under consideration as Massachusetts delegate James Lovell, Colonel Walter Stewart, and Gouverneur Morris.
49.27 leave to go to the Southward] Hamilton was seeking a field command.
50.18–19 Meade . . . his widow] Lieutenant Colonel Richard Kidder Meade was an aide-de-camp to Washington. In 1780 he married Mary Fitzhugh Grymes Randolph, a widow.
50.25 Portia] Portia (or Porcia) was the daughter of Cato the Younger and the wife of Brutus, the leader of the conspirators who assassinated Julius Caesar.
53.2 James Duane] James Duane (1733–1797) was a delegate to Congress from New York, 1774–79 and 1781–83. He later served as the mayor of New York City, 1784–89, and as the U.S. district judge for New York, 1789–94.
54.4 appointing a dictator] On December 27, 1776, Congress granted Washington extraordinary powers for a six-month period, including the authority to raise troops, appoint officers, requisition supplies, and arrest persons suspected of disloyalty.
54.9 The confederation] The Articles of Confederation were proposed to the states by Congress on November 15, 1777, but their ratification was not completed until March 1, 1781.
56.5 United provinces] The Netherlands.
70.9 Liberty Pole] A tavern in Englewood, New Jersey.
70.22 amiable woman] Margaret (Peggy) Shippen Arnold (1760–1804), Benedict Arnold’s wife.
72.8 Andre’s request to be shot] After being condemned as a spy, André asked to be executed with honor by a firing squad, rather than be hanged. Washington denied his request, and André was hanged on October 2, 1780.
73.16 To Margarita Schuyler] Hamilton wrote this message as a postscript in a letter from Elizabeth Hamilton to her younger sister.
74.17–18 Mr. Tilghman] Lieutenant Colonel Tench Tilghman (1744–1786), an aide-de-camp to Washington.
75.6 1. that] The text printed here is taken from Hamilton’s draft. The numerals probably indicate the order in which Hamilton planned to arrange the sentences in the final version of the letter.
75.21–23 Mr. Humphrey’s . . . Mr. Harrison] Lieutenant Colonel David Humphreys (1752–1818) and Lieutenant Colonel Robert Hanson Harrison were aides-de-camp to Washington.
78.7 The Continentalist No. III] Hamilton wrote six “Continentalist” essays; they were published on July 12, July 19, August 9, August 30, 1781, and April 18, July 4, 1782.
79.23 two of them] Georgia and South Carolina.
79.24–25 General without an army] Major General Nathanael Greene (1742–1786) led a numerically weak army in a successful campaign against the British in the Carolinas in 1781.
82.3–4 war with the Dutch] Britain declared war on the Netherlands on December 20, 1780.
81.31 Empress Queen] Maria Theresa of Austria died on November 29, 1780.
83.32 temper . . . of the army] On January 6, 1783, a delegation of officers from the Continental army encampment at Newburgh, New York, presented a memorial to Congress protesting its failure to pay them and asking that officers receive several years’ full pay in lieu of the lifetime pensions at half pay granted them in 1780. The memorial warned that further inaction “may have fatal consequences.”
