Alexander Hamilton as Attorney

The extraordinary success of the Broadway musical “Hamilton” has spiked renewed interest in the accomplishments of the actual Alexander Hamilton (1757-1804). And indeed, Hamilton was a genuine military hero in the Revolutionary War, George Washington’s unofficial chief of staff, author of two-thirds of the “Federalist Papers,” the nation’s first Secretary of the Treasury, and the leading architect of the Early Republic’s market economy. His accomplishments as an attorney have attracted less attention, but legalists in particular might remember that in his era, he was New York City’s pre-eminent attorney.

When Hamilton returned to New York City after the defeat of the British in 1781, he qualified for a veteran’s exemption from the requirement that aspiring attorneys complete an apprenticeship. He studied law on his own for only six months, concentrating his studies on Lord William Blackstone’s “Commentaries on the English Common Law.” He then passed an oral bar examination and was admitted to practice in 1782.

The New York City bar of the 1780s consisted of between 40 and 50 attorneys, and most of them had offices near the southern tip of Manhattan. An instant leader of the bar, Hamilton took an occasional criminal case pro bono, but it was his civil practice that proved especially rewarding and lucrative. He represented merchants, wealthy testators, and maritime insurance companies and proved to be particularly talented in the courtroom. According to his biographer, Ron Chernow, he “had a melodious voice coupled with a hypnotic gaze, and he could work himself up to a towering passion that held listeners enthralled.”

Hamilton put aside his practice to serve as Secretary of the Treasury in Washington’s first cabinet, but he returned to practice during the Adams and Jefferson presidencies at the turn of the nineteenth century. Wealthy clients reportedly besieged him in his Manhattan offices at 12 Garden Street. He remained spellbinding in New York City courtrooms, and, in addition. he frequently argued before appellate judges in Albany. He proved able to speak extemporaneously for hours, all the while uttering grammatically correct sentences and perfectly formed paragraphs. On one occasion, he delivered a six-hour oral argument without flinching.

Hamilton also tutored dozens of apprentices and inspired three of the four sons who survived him to become attorneys. But despite a distinguished career as an attorney he never gave his ultimate allegiance to the law. To be sure, he venerated the Constitution and believed deeply in Blackstone’s version of property rights, but, perhaps because he had overcome a hard-scrabble youth in the West Indies, he attached the greatest importance to reputation and standing. If somebody insulted him, it became a matter of honor, and honor, in his opinion, had to be protected at all cost.

While technically illegal, dueling was common among elite men of the time, and at least sixteen duels took place in New York City between 1795 and 1807. Philip Hamilton, Hamilton’s favorite son, died painfully in one of those duels, and Hamilton himself was involved in duel preliminaries six times and also served as a second on three occasions.

In the early summer of 1804, Hamilton accepted Aaron Burr’s request for a duel, and Hamilton‘s determination to preserve his honor led to his death. Always the conscientious attorney, he asked that the date for the duel be set a few weeks later so that he could tend to lawsuits his clients had pending. Then at dawn on July 11, 1804, he crossed the Hudson by boat with his second and a physician, took his position on a New Jersey bluff, and was killed by Burr’s pistol shot.

The dispute could have been resolved with suits and counter-suits for libel, and Hamilton, father of eight children, could have lived another twenty-five years. But unfortunately, he subscribed to a set of principles prioritizing honor and using dueling fields rather than depending on the common law and relying on the courts. The tragic irony is that New York City’s leading attorney did not believe enough in the law. He excelled in practice but never developed the jurisprudence that could have saved him.

 

This Post Has 4 Comments

  1. james welch

    Hamilton fired high and away from Burr with the first shot, because of his moral precepts. Burr did not aspire to the same principles and hit Hamilton in the stomach with the second shot. As a result his life was shortened, because he did not want shoot Burr.

  2. David Papke

    Reports on the Hamilton-Burr duel are conflicting. Before the actual duel, Hamilton told acquaintances that he would “throw away his fire,” that is, intentionally miss Burr, but there is no reason to think that Burr knew of this plan. At the dueling grounds in Weehawken, meanwhile, Hamilton asked and received permission to put on his spectacles, an act that might seemed consistent with a determination to shoot Burr.

    Everyone agrees that both men discharged their pistols. One observer claimed that Burr fired first and that Hamilton’s shot was the convulsive reaction to the wound in his abdominal area. Another observer insisted that Hamilton fired first and that Burr then spent a second or two steadying his aim. A souvenir seeker later recovered Hamilton’s bullet from a cedar tree about four feet to the side of where Burr had stood.

    Regardless of what actually happened in Weehawken, my major point for purposes at hand is that Hamilton’s firmest commitment was to the preservation of his honor. Even though he was the leading lawyer in New York city at the time, he believed serious insults among gentlemen should lead not to the courtroom but rather to the dueling grounds. Having overcome a terribly disadvantaged youth in the West Indies, he treasured the standing, prestige, and esteem he had received from his peers. According to Hamilton’s biographer Ron Chernow, “Everything in Hamilton’s life pointed to the fact that he would not dodge a duel or negotiate a compromise.”

    1. Gianna Russo

      One-two-three-four-five-six-seven-eight-nine
      There are ten things you need to know (number one!)
      We rowed across the Hudson at dawn
      My friend, William P. Van Ness signed on as my (number two!)
      Hamilton arrived with his crew
      Nathaniel Pendleton and a doctor that he knew (number three!)
      I watched Hamilton examine the terrain
      I wish I could tell you what was happening in his brain
      This man has poisoned my political pursuits!
      Most disputes die and no one shoots (number four!)
      Hamilton drew first position
      Looking, to the world, like a man on a mission
      This is a soldier with a marksman’s ability
      The doctor turned around so he could have deniability (five!)
      Now I didn’t know this at the time
      But we were near the same spot my (your) son died, is that why? (six!)
      He examined his gun with such rigor?
      I watched as he methodically fiddled with the trigger
      confession time? here’s what I got
      My fellow soldiers’ll tell you I’m a terrible shot (number eight!)
      Your last chance to negotiate
      Send in your seconds, see if they can set the record straight
      They won’t teach you this in your classes
      But look it up, Hamilton was wearing his glasses
      Why? If not to take deadly aim?
      It’s him or me, the world will never be the same
      I had only one thought before the slaughter
      This man will not make an orphan of my daughter (number nine!)
      Look him in the eye, aim no higher
      Summon all the courage you require
      Then count (one-two-three-four-five-six-seven-eight-nine, number-ten paces, fire!)
      I imagine death so much it feels more like a memory
      Is this where it gets me, on my feet, sev’ral feet ahead of me?
      I see it coming, do I run or fire my gun or let it be?
      There is no beat, no melody
      Burr, my first friend, my enemy
      Maybe the last face I ever see
      If I throw away my shot, is this how you’ll remember me?
      What if this bullet is my legacy?
      Legacy, what is a legacy?
      It’s planting seeds in a garden you never get to see
      I wrote some notes at the beginning of a song someone will sing for me
      America, you great unfinished symphony, you sent for me
      You let me make a difference, a place where even orphan immigrants
      Can leave their fingerprints and rise up
      I’m running out of time, I’m running, and my time’s up
      Wise up, eyes up
      I catch a glimpse of the other side
      Lawrence leads a soldiers’ chorus on the other side
      My son is on the other side
      He’s with my mother on the other side
      Washington is watching from the other side
      Teach me how to say goodbye
      Rise up, rise up, rise up, Eliza!
      My love, take your time
      I’ll see you on the other side
      Raise a glass to freedom
      wait!
      I strike him right between his ribs
      I walk towards him, but I am ushered away
      They row him back across the Hudson
      I get a drink
      I hear wailing in the streets (aaaah, aaaah, aaaah)
      Somebody tells me, “you’d better hide” (aaaah, aaaah, aaaah)
      They say Angelica and Eliza
      Were both at his side when he died
      Death doesn’t discriminate
      Between the sinners and the saints, it takes and it takes and it takes
      History obliterates, in every picture it paints
      It paints me and all my mistakes
      When Alexander aimed at the sky
      He may have been the first one to die
      But I’m the one who paid for it
      I survived, but I paid for it
      Now I’m the villain in your history
      I was too young and blind to see
      I should’ve known
      I should’ve known the world was wide enough for both Hamilton and me
      The world was wide enough for both Hamilton and me

  3. Joseph Biggica

    Ohio was the next stage after this duel…..Then the biggest ruin 1812……study these two…..Did Hamilton die ……Also study the embassy of the British at this time….

Leave a Reply to David Papke Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.