Hamilfacts Part 5: Non-stop Edition

Non-stop Edition: Hamilton was a prolific writer and the song Non-Stop from the musical sums it all up (link to listen below). Of all his writing, none is more significant than the Federalist Essays. Hamilton had the idea to collaborate with several other founding fathers to write a series of essays that would be anonymously published in defense of the constitution. We take for granted the role of the constitution today, but it was touch and go for a while. It was not a foregone conclusion that the union and it's galvanizing document would stick together. Alex planned to write a planned total of 5 Essays all under the name pseudonymous name “Publius,” and joined by Madison & John Jay to round out the project. In the end, they wrote 85 essays in only 6 months. John Jay got sick after writing 5, Madison wrote 29, Hamilton wrote the other 51. Hamilton also served as an editor for the other two partners, all the while working full time. Today, the Federalist Papers totals about 450 pages in book format. Here’s the amazing thing; these documents are still used in legal proceedings to this day. They are often quoted and referenced in supreme & circuit court decisions. There is some debate of how influential they were at the time, but there is no question that they continue to shape our nation and the courts. 

 

The sheer volume of writings that Hamilton produced in his lifetime is staggering. He was probably really writing all the time (while on horseback, into the evening, early in the morning). Many observers of American history stand in awe of Alexander's influence, even Teddy Roosevelt was a huge Ham fan. This is what he had to say about Alex, “the most brilliant American statesman who ever lived, possessing the loftiest and keenest intellect of his time.” Hamilton’s keen intellect served the founding of our country well and provided a foil for the southern founding fathers, but that’s a story for next week.

 

 

Fun Fact – The last letter Washington ever wrote (2 days before he died) was to Hamilton.