Philip Schuyler

in this position hamilton found congenial occupation for his pen in the great mass of letters reports and proclamations which issued from headquarters these communications many of which still survive while bearing the impress of washington's clear directing mind bear also the mark of the skill and logic of the younger man hamilton rendered valuable service after the surrender of burgoyne in persuading gates to detach a part of his forces to aid washington On this occasion, although he had in his pocket a positive order from Washington, he displayed a tact and diplomatic skill which were unusual in his dealings with men.

It fell to the lot of Hamilton to meet Andre while a prisoner in the hands of the Americans, and his letters regarding the affair to Miss Schuyler, who afterwards became his wife, are among the most interesting contributions to this pathetic episode of revolutionary history.

hamilton's quarrel with washington about which much has been written came after nearly four years of service over a trivial delay in obeying a call from the general washington rebuked his aid for disrespect to which hamilton hotly retorted i am not conscious of it sir but since you have thought it we part washington endeavored to prevent the execution of his project but hamilton would not be reconciled and returned to service in the line he led his men with great impetuosity upon one of the british redoubts at yorktown and carried the position in ten minutes with much more promptness than the french to whom the other redoubt had been assigned while the war was still in progress hamilton was looking ahead with a constructive genius which afterwards found such wide opportunities in the cabinet of washington he addressed a letter in seventeen eighty to duane a member of congress in which he made a remarkable analysis of the defects of the articles of confederation and urged that congress should be clothed with complete sovereignty and made suggestions regarding its powers which were afterwards embodied to a large extent in the constitution addressed an anonymous letter to robert morris early in the same year treating of the financial affairs of the confederacy he discussed carefully the paper currency and the causes of its depreciation and proposed to restore soundness to the finances by gradual contraction of the volume of paper a tax in kind and a foreign loan which was to form the basis of a national bank when the clumsiness and helplessness of the system of government by committees was finally appreciated by the continental congress in seventeen eighty one and several executive departments were established hamilton was suggested by john sullivan to washington for head of the treasury department washington replied that few of his age have a more general knowledge and no one is more firmly engaged in the cause or exceeds him in probity and sterling virtue robert morris was chosen for the treasury but hamilton opened a correspondence with him regarding the work of the department which established a firm friendship between the older and younger man hamilton desired the unification of the debt and the creation of a national bank for the combined objects of cementing the union and putting the finances of the country upon a stable basis.

a national debt he wrote if it is not excessive will be a national blessing a powerful cement of union a necessity for keeping up taxation and a spur to industry whether all these benefits fall within the economic effects of a debt may well be doubted but the second advantage assigned was undoubtedly one of the chief motives of hamilton in recommending its creation The Bank of North America was established by Morris upon a much more modest scale than was proposed by Hamilton.

so strong was the sentiment that the constitution must be accepted in some form that its opponents in the state convention did not venture upon immediate rejection fortunately their course in fighting for delay only tended to make it clearer that new york would stand alone if she failed to ratify while the dream of independent sovereignty or the leadership in a federation which should dictate terms to the surrounding states was not without its attractions to the more ambitious of the opposition leaders there was a darker side to the proposition which was much less attractive independence for new york meant a heavy burden of taxation for a separate army and navy for guarding long frontiers on the east north and south for supporting an extensive customs service along the same frontiers for maintaining ministers at foreign courts and consuls in the leading cities of the world and for meeting all the other expenses of a sovereign nation it was fortunate for the state and the country that the leader of the opposition to the constitution in the new york convention was a man of a high order of ability whose mind was open in an unusual degree to the influence of logical reasoning this man was melancthon smith who is accorded by chancellor kent the great authority on american law the credit of being noted for his love of reading tenacious memory powerful intellect and for the metaphysical and logical discussions of which he was a master It is as much to his credit as that of Hamilton that he finally admitted that he had been convinced by Hamilton and that he should vote for the Constitution.

This result was only reached, however, after a long and sometimes acrimonious struggle in which Hamilton was on his feet day after day explaining and defending each separate clause of the Constitution.

not only in its real meaning but against all the distorted constructions put upon it by the most acute and jealous of critics but events had been fighting with hamilton state after state had ratified the new document and news of their action had reached new york nine states the number necessary to put the constitution in force were made up by the ratification of new hampshire june twenty first seventeen eighty eight still new york hesitated and hamilton wrote to madison our chance of success depends upon you symptoms of relaxation in some of the leaders authorise a gleam of hope if you do well but certainly i think not otherwise virginia justified his hopes by a majority of eighty nine against seventy nine for ratification june twenty fifth seventeen eighty eight the news reached new york on july third the opposition there though showing signs of relenting was still stubborn conditional ratification with a long string of amendments was first proposed jay firmly insisted that the word conditional must be erased finally on june eleventh he proposed unconditional ratification melancthon smith then proposed ratification with the right to withdraw if the amendments should not be accepted hamilton exposed the folly of such a project in a brilliant speech which led smith to admit that conditional ratification was an absurdity other similar proposals were brought forward but they were evidently equivalent to rejection by indirection which would have left new york out of the new union finally samuel jones another broad-minded member of the opposition proposed ratification without conditions but in full confidence that congress would adopt all needed amendments with the support of smith this form of ratification was carried by the slender majority of three votes july twenty sixth seventeen eighty eight by this narrow margin it was decided that new york should form a part of the union and that the great experiment in representative government should not begin with the two halves of the country separated by a hostile power commanding the greatest seaport of the colonies hamilton thus played an important part in winning the first great battle for the constitution ratification was only one of many steps which remained to be taken before the new government was in working order hamilton hurried back to the federal congress and carried an ordinance fixing the dates and the place for putting the new government in operation when he returned to new york he was beaten for reelection to congress and governor clinton and his party retained such a firm grip upon the legislature that a deadlock occurred between the federalist house and the opposition senate new york was unrepresented in the first electoral college and had no senators at the meeting of the first congress The state elections which followed resulted in defeat for the Federalists in the election of the governor, but they carried the legislature and elected two senators, General Schuyler and Rufus King.

King had recently come from Massachusetts, and Hamilton's insistence that he should be chosen caused a breach with the Livingstons, which contributed to the defeat of Schuyler two years later and the election of Aaron Burr.

Through the doorway of this house passed many of the foremost leaders of the revolution who paused in their travels up the Hudson to enjoy the lavish hospitality of the general and his wife.

Known as The Pastures, this house was the home of Major General Philip Schuyler.

In the drawing room in December 1780, the Schuylers' daughter, Elizabeth, was married to Alexander Hamilton.

One of the wedding guests was the Marquis de Lafayette.

Philip Van Rensselaer has a revolution connection.

He was the commissary of stores for the Northern Department under Major General Philip Schuyler.

But we don't want to just talk about that.

We're really digging into the ideas, the founding ideas of expressed in the Declaration of Independence, these ideas of freedom and equality that articulated in that document, and how they were understood at the time, who they applied to at the time, and how, you know, generation by generation, access to those ideals are expanded through advocacy.

Thus it happened that soon after taking over the command, Washington was busy with a plan for the conquest of Canada.

Two forces were to advance into that country, one by way of Lake Champlain under General Schuyler, and the other through the forests of Maine under Benedict Arnold.

Schuyler was obliged through illness to give up his command, and it was an odd fortune of war that put General Richard Montgomery at the head of the expedition going by way of Lake Champlain.

Montgomery had served with Wolfe at the taking of Louisbourg and had been an officer in the proud British army which had received the surrender of Canada in 1760.

Not without searching of heart had Montgomery turned against his former sovereign.

Meanwhile he was having increasing difficulty in feeding his army, and through sickness and desertion his numbers were declining.

By the 13th of September he had taken a decisive step.

He made a bridge of boats and moved his whole force across the river to Saratoga, now Schuylerville.

And also, great line.

So in real life, Philip Schuyler had many sons.

Like he had, they had 15 children.

So there were a bunch.

in this position hamilton found congenial occupation for his pen in the great mass of letters reports and proclamations which issued from headquarters these communications many of which still survive while bearing the impress of washington's clear directing mind bear also the mark of the skill and logic of the younger man hamilton rendered valuable service after the surrender of burgoyne in persuading gates to detach a part of his forces to aid washington On this occasion, although he had in his pocket a positive order from Washington, he displayed a tact and diplomatic skill which were unusual in his dealings with men.

It fell to the lot of Hamilton to meet Andre while a prisoner in the hands of the Americans, and his letters regarding the affair to Miss Schuyler, who afterwards became his wife, are among the most interesting contributions to this pathetic episode of revolutionary history.

hamilton's quarrel with washington about which much has been written came after nearly four years of service over a trivial delay in obeying a call from the general washington rebuked his aid for disrespect to which hamilton hotly retorted i am not conscious of it sir but since you have thought it we part washington endeavored to prevent the execution of his project but hamilton would not be reconciled and returned to service in the line he led his men with great impetuosity upon one of the british redoubts at yorktown and carried the position in ten minutes with much more promptness than the french to whom the other redoubt had been assigned while the war was still in progress hamilton was looking ahead with a constructive genius which afterwards found such wide opportunities in the cabinet of washington he addressed a letter in seventeen eighty to duane a member of congress in which he made a remarkable analysis of the defects of the articles of confederation and urged that congress should be clothed with complete sovereignty and made suggestions regarding its powers which were afterwards embodied to a large extent in the constitution addressed an anonymous letter to robert morris early in the same year treating of the financial affairs of the confederacy he discussed carefully the paper currency and the causes of its depreciation and proposed to restore soundness to the finances by gradual contraction of the volume of paper a tax in kind and a foreign loan which was to form the basis of a national bank when the clumsiness and helplessness of the system of government by committees was finally appreciated by the continental congress in seventeen eighty one and several executive departments were established hamilton was suggested by john sullivan to washington for head of the treasury department washington replied that few of his age have a more general knowledge and no one is more firmly engaged in the cause or exceeds him in probity and sterling virtue robert morris was chosen for the treasury but hamilton opened a correspondence with him regarding the work of the department which established a firm friendship between the older and younger man hamilton desired the unification of the debt and the creation of a national bank for the combined objects of cementing the union and putting the finances of the country upon a stable basis.

national debt he wrote if it is not excessive will be a national blessing a powerful cement of union a necessity for keeping up taxation and a spur to industry whether all these benefits fall within the economic effects of a debt may well be doubted but the second advantage assigned was undoubtedly one of the chief motives of hamilton in recommending its creation The Bank of North America was established by Morris upon a much more modest scale than was proposed by Hamilton.

the federalist deals in an argumentative spirit as earnest as that of any puritan divine with political principles paramount in our history and it is so wisely thoughtful that one may almost declare it the permanent basis of sound thinking concerning american constitutional law like all the educated writing of the eighteenth century too it is phrased with a rhythmical balance and urbane polish which give it claim to literary distinction while the written arguments of hamilton in the federalist have survived for a hundred years and been consulted by foreign students in the formation of new constitutions a more severe task was imposed upon him at the meeting of the state convention called to consider the report of the convention at philadelphia it was in some respects the hardest task ever set with any hope of success before a parliamentary leader indeed to the superficial observer there would have seemed to be no hope of success when in the elections to the state convention the supporters of governor clinton chose forty-six delegates and left on the side of hamilton only nineteen of the sixty-five members but this statement of the case gives a somewhat darker color to the situation than the real facts there was a strong and growing body of public sentiment for the constitution in new york city and the counties along the hudson which even led to the suggestion that they should join the union in any event and leave the northern counties to shift for themselves it was generally recognized moreover that however strong the objections were to the constitution the choice lay practically between this constitution and none between the proposed government and anarchy so strong was the sentiment that the constitution must be accepted in some form that its opponents in the state convention did not venture upon immediate rejection fortunately their course in fighting for delay only tended to make it clearer that new york would stand alone if she failed to ratify while the dream of independent sovereignty or the leadership in a federation which should dictate terms to the surrounding states was not without its attractions to the more ambitious of the opposition leaders there was a darker side to the proposition which was much less attractive independence for new york meant a heavy burden of taxation for a separate army and navy for guarding long frontiers on the east north and south for supporting an extensive customs service along the same frontiers for maintaining ministers at foreign courts and consuls in the leading cities of the world and for meeting all the other expenses of a sovereign nation it was fortunate for the state and the country that the leader of the opposition to the constitution in the new york convention was a man of a high order of ability whose mind was open in an unusual degree to the influence of logical reasoning this man was melancthon smith who is accorded by chancellor kent the great authority on american law the credit of being noted for his love of reading tenacious memory powerful intellect and for the metaphysical and logical discussions of which he was a master it is as much to his credit as that of hamilton that he finally admitted that he had been convinced by hamilton and that he should vote for the constitution this result was only reached however after a long and sometimes acrimonious struggle in which hamilton was on his feet day after day explaining and defending each separate clause of the constitution not only in its real meaning but against all the distorted constructions put upon it by the most acute and jealous of critics but events had been fighting with hamilton state after state had ratified the new document and news of their action had reached new york nine states the number necessary to put the constitution in force were made up by the ratification of new hampshire june twenty first seventeen eighty eight still new york hesitated and hamilton wrote to madison our chance of success depends upon you symptoms of relaxation in some of the leaders authorise a gleam of hope if you do well but certainly i think not otherwise virginia justified his hopes by a majority of eighty nine against seventy nine for ratification june twenty fifth seventeen eighty eight the news reached new york on july third the opposition there though showing signs of relenting was still stubborn conditional ratification with a long string of amendments was first proposed jay firmly insisted that the word conditional must be erased finally on june eleventh he proposed unconditional ratification melancthon smith then proposed ratification with the right to withdraw if the amendments should not be accepted hamilton exposed the folly of such a project in a brilliant speech which led smith to admit that conditional ratification was an absurdity other similar proposals were brought forward but they were evidently equivalent to rejection by indirection which would have left new york out of the new union finally samuel jones another broad-minded member of the opposition proposed ratification without conditions but in full confidence that congress would adopt all needed amendments With the support of Smith, this form of ratification was carried by the slender majority of three votes, July 26, 1788.

By this narrow margin, it was decided that New York should form a part of the Union, and that the great experiment in representative government should not begin with the two halves of the country separated by a hostile power commanding the greatest seaport of the colonies.

hamilton thus played an important part in winning the first great battle for the constitution ratification was only one of many steps which remained to be taken before the new government was in working order hamilton hurried back to the federal congress and carried an ordinance fixing the dates and the place for putting the new government in operation when he returned to new york he was beaten for reelection to congress and governor clinton and his party retained such a firm grip upon the legislature that a deadlock occurred between the federalist house and the opposition senate new york was unrepresented in the first electoral college and had no senators at the meeting of the first congress The state elections which followed resulted in defeat for the Federalists in the election of the governor, but they carried the legislature and elected two senators, General Schuyler and Rufus King.

King had recently come from Massachusetts, and Hamilton's insistence that he should be chosen caused a breach with the Livingstons, which contributed to the defeat of Schuyler two years later and the election of Aaron Burr.

Resolved unanimously, that in token of the sincere grief of this society for the premature and untimely death of General Alexander Hamilton, and the high sense they entertain of his distinguished services to his country, as a soldier and a statesman, of the eminent virtues which adorned him as a man, a friend, and a citizen, and the high respect in which he has justly been held by our sister society of the City of New York, of which he was one of its first members, that they at every meeting of the society for six months shall appear with an appropriate badge of mourning.

Resolved, that the Reverend John McDonald, Mr. Pearson, Mr. Ramsey, and Dr. McClellan be a committee to prepare a respectful message of condolence to General Philip Schuyler, the venerable and afflicted father-in-law of our dear deceased brother, expressive of the sympathy of this society with him and his family in their irreparable loss, and that they convey the same in the most delicate manner to the General.

General Philip Schuyler.

Sir, the President and members of the St. Andrew's Society of the City of Albany beg leave with mingled sensations of grief and indignation to tender you their sincere and respectful condolence on the untimely death of Alexander Hamilton, a distinguished son of your family, an early member of the American St. Andrew Societies, and the ornament and pride of the American people.

You, sir, have been long acquainted with his singular merits and with the amiable qualities of his heart.

The roads were usually dirt roads, and they would tend to become very muddy a lot of the year.

Down in Albany, General Schuyler, remember Philip Schuyler? He issued a call for volunteers to stop the British.

He had about 3,000 Continentals and about 1,500 Militia.

He wrote a letter to Congress asking for more troops.

Well, where have we heard that before? When the revolution broke out, he sided with the rebels.

Washington made Horatio Gates his adjutant general.

Washington, of course, as we saw, sent him north to assist Philip Schuyler.

But Gates and Schuyler quarreled.

And what is especially interesting is that Hamilton has been both loved and hated across the American political spectrum.

On the political left, some have criticized him as the father of American capitalism, the champion of banking and the face of Wall Street.

Yet others on the left have admired his belief in an energetic national government, capable of tackling the country's biggest challenges.

And the same is true on the political right.

And on St. Croix, the Hamilton family would struggle financially, and James Hamilton would eventually abandon his wife and two sons.

This does seem like pretty despicable behavior on the part of James Hamilton, which it is, but he may have actually done this to save Rachel from charges of bigamy because she's still legally married to another man.

Alexander Hamilton doesn't actually ever seem to hold a- any ill will toward his father, and they do correspond with one another in the future.

Alexander even began sending money to support James in the 1790s, but James would never answer his son's call to visit him in person.