专八人文知识需知的美国名人--亚历山大·汉密尔顿

专八人文知识需知的美国名人--亚历山大·汉密尔顿

　　英语专八人文知识涵盖的知识面较广，考生们需要平时多积累小常识，这样在专八考试中才能游刃有余，新东方在线整理了专八人文知识需知的美国名人系列知识点供考生们参考。

　　亚历山大·汉密尔顿(Alexander Hamilton，1757年1月11日 - 1804年7月12日)是美国的开国元勋之一，宪法的起草人之一，财经专家，是美国的第一任财政部长。因政党恶斗而丧失生命的知名政治人物。

　　亚历山大·汉密尔顿从一个来自英属西印度群岛的私生子和无家可归的孤儿，一跃成为乔治·华盛顿最信任的左膀右臂，但后来卷入一桩性丑闻，在与副总统阿伦·伯尔的决斗中命丧黄泉。在美国的开国元勋中，没有哪位的生与死比亚历山大·汉密尔顿更富戏剧色彩了。在为美国后来的财富和势力奠定基础方面，也没有哪位开国老臣的功劳比得上汉密尔顿。虽然他也身为美国建国之父之一，却始终没能象别的人那样做上美国总统，而且在与其主要政治对手托马斯·杰斐逊(Thomas Jefferson)的竞争中更似乎是输得惨不忍睹，可孰料——历史的戏剧性就在于此——在其过世之后，他的政治遗产，包括“工业建国之路”和建立一个强有力的中央政府等等，却在此后的美国历史中起着越来越显著的作用。甚至一些影响了美国历史进程的总统，如林肯和西奥多·罗斯福(Theodore Roosevelt)，他们所施行的政策就是建立在汉密尔顿的遗产基础上的。

　　Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757 – July 12, 1804) was the first United StatesSecretary of the Treasury, a Founding Father, economist, and political philosopher. Aide-de-campto General George Washington during the American Revolutionary War, he was a leader ofnationalist forces calling for a new Constitution; he was one of America's first Constitutional lawyers,and wrote most of the Federalist Papers, a primary source for Constitutional interpretation. He wasthe financial expert of Washington's administration; the Federalist Party formed to support hispolicies.Born and raised in the Caribbean, Hamilton attended King's College (now ColumbiaUniversity) in New York.

　　At the start of the American Revolutionary War, he organized an artillery company and waschosen as its captain. Hamilton became the senioraide-de-camp and confidant to General GeorgeWashington, the American commander-in-chief. After the war, Hamilton was elected to theContinental Congress from New York, but he resigned to practice law and found the Bank of NewYork. He served in the New York Legislature, and he was the only New Yorker who signed the U.S.Constitution. He wrote about half the Federalist Papers, which secured its ratification by NewYork; they are still the most important unofficial interpretation of the Constitution. In the newgovernment under President Washington he became Secretary of the Treasury. An admirer ofBritish political systems, Hamilton was a nationalist who emphasized strong central government andsuccessfully argued that the implied powers of the Constitution could be used to fund the nationaldebt, assume state debts, and create the government-owned Bank of the United States. Theseprograms were funded primarily by a ariff on imports and a highly controversial whiskey tax.

　　Washington's staff

　　Hamilton was invited to become an aide to Nathanael Greene and to Henry Knox; however, hedeclined these invitations in the hopes of obtaining a place on Washington's staff. Hamilton didreceive such an invitation and joined as Washington's aide on March 1, 1777 with the rank ofLieutenant Colonel. Hamilton served for four years, in effect, as Washington's Chief of Staff; hehandled letters to Congress, state governors, and the most powerful generals in the ContinentalArmy; he drafted many of Washington's orders and letters at the latter's direction; he eventuallyissued orders from Washington over Hamilton's own signature. Hamilton was involved in a widevariety of high-level duties, including intelligence, diplomacy, and negotiation with senior armyofficers as Washington's emissary. The important duties with which he was entrusted attest toWashington's deep confidence in his abilities and character, then and afterward. At the points intheir relationship where there was little personal attachment, there was still always a reciprocalconfidence and respect.During the war, Hamilton became close friends with several fellow officers.His letters to the Marquis de Lafayette and to John Laurens, employing the sentimental literaryconventions of the late eighteenth century and alluding to Greek history and mythology, havebeen read as revealing a homosocial or perhaps homosexual relationship, but few historiansagree.

　　Constitution and Federalist Papers

　　In 1787, Hamilton served as assemblyman from New York County in the New York StateLegislature and was the first delegate chosen to the Constitutional Convention. In spite of the factthat Hamilton had been a leader in calling for a new Constitutional Convention, his direct influenceat the Convention itself was quite limited. Governor George Clinton's faction in the New Yorklegislature had chosen New York's other two delegates, John Lansing and Robert Yates, and bothof them opposed Hamilton's goal of a strong national government. Thus, while the other twomembers of the New York delegation were present, they decided New York's vote; and when theyleft the convention in protest, Hamilton remained with no vote (two representatives were requiredfor any state to cast a vote).Early in the Convention he made a speech proposing a President-for-Life; it had no effect upon the deliberations of the convention. He proposed to have an electedPresident and elected Senators who would serve for life contingent upon "good behavior", andsubject to removal for corruption or abuse; this idea contributed later to the hostile view ofHamilton as a monarchist sympathizer, held by James Madison. During the convention, Hamiltonconstructed a draft for the Constitution on the basis of the convention debates, but he neverpresented it. This draft had most of the features of the actual Constitution, including such details asthe three-fifths clause. In this draft, the Senate was to be elected in proportion to the population,being two-fifths the size of the House, and the President and Senators were to be elected throughcomplex multistage elections, in which chosen electors would elect smaller bodies of electors; theywould hold office for life, but were removable for misconduct. The President would have anabsolute veto. The Supreme Court was to have immediate jurisdiction over all law suits involvingthe United States, and State governors were to be appointed by the federal government.At theend of the Convention, Hamilton was still not content with the final form of the Constitution, butsigned it anyway as a vast improvement over the Articles of Confederation, and urged his fellowdelegates to do so also. Since the other two members of the New York delegation, Lansing andYates, had already withdrawn, Hamilton was the only New York signer to the United StatesConstitution. He then took a highly active part in the successful campaign for the document'sratification in New York in 1788, which was a crucial step in its national ratification. Hamiltonrecruited John Jay and James Madison to write a defense of the proposed Constitution, nowknown as the Federalist Papers, and made the largest contribution to that effort, writing 51 of 85essays published (Madison wrote 29, Jay only five). Hamilton's essays and arguments wereinfluential in New York state, and elsewhere, during the debates over ratification. The FederalistPapers are more often cited than any other primary source by jurists, lawyers, historians, andpolitical scientists as the major contemporary interpretation of the Constitution.

　　In 1788, Hamilton served yet another term in what proved to be the last time the ContinentalCongress met under the Articles of Confederation. When Phillip Schuyler's term ended in 1791,they began by electing, in his place, the attorney-general of New York, one Aaron Burr. Hamiltonblamed Burr for this result, and ill characterizations of Burr appear in his correspondence thereafter,although they did work together from time to time on various projects, including Hamilton's armyof 1798 and the Manhattan Water Company.

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