12 The Independent . the Diaspora ’ s Multicultural Voice February 28 2017
Travel
With a successful hip-hop musical named after him , Alexander Hamilton ’ s early life has become a topic of global interest -- like where was he born ?
The forgotten island
By Jonathan Knott
BBC
Nevis is less well-known than other Caribbean islands – and Nevisians prefer it that way . It ’ s only a few miles across the water from lively St Kitts . But here , the most cacophonous noise you ’ ll hear is the chirping of insects among the lush vegetation .
On the waterfront in Charlestown , the island ’ s laid-back capital , is a two-storey building with green window shutters and irregular brickwork . On the other side of a well-kept lawn is a brightly painted cafe , where shade and sea breezes offer respite from the energy-sapping heat . But what really draws the visitor ’ s attention is a plaque on the wall declaring that Alexander Hamilton , the US founding father who features on the country ’ s $ 10 bill , was born on this site in 1757 .
Hamilton ’ s life story has become increasingly well known since it became the subject of the phenomenally successful hip-hop musical named after him . After spending his early childhood on Nevis , his family moved to St Croix ( now part of the US Virgin Islands , but then under Danish rule ) in 1765 , where he effectively became an orphan after his father left the island and his mother died .
He gained work as a clerk , where his talents were recognised , and he received financial support from local businessmen to study in America . He enrolled at King ’ s College in New York City ( now Columbia University ), where he began legal studies , alongside writing political articles supporting the fast-developing revolution against British rule . In 1776 , without having graduated , Hamilton became an artillery commander in the Continental Army that fought the British , and the next year , was appointed as aide-de-camp to general George Washington , a role he served in for four years . From 1789 to 1795 , he served as Secretary of the Treasury in Washington ’ s cabinet .
Hamilton favoured strong central government ( his enemies accused him of being a monarchist ) and a modern industrial economy . Among his notable achievements were supporting the ratification of the US Constitution in essays known as the Federalist Papers , which are still used as a reference point by judges interpreting the constitution . He also established a national banking system . But the museum next to Hamilton House , as the building in Charlestown is known , is keen to point out smaller feats , even suggesting that he was responsible for the tradition of eating turkey on Thanksgiving .
Nevis is clearly proud of its link . But did Hamilton ’ s early experiences in this “ forgotten spot ”, as the musical calls it , leave their mark on him ?
It ’ s hard to imagine now , but the island was a hub of commerce in the 18th Century ; an important British colony covered with lucrative sugar
plantations . These now lie in ruin , and their elegant colonial houses have been turned into boutique hotels . But at the time they were home to wealthy planters , whose slaves toiled in the fields outside .
When he was born , Hamilton ’ s parents were clinging onto this privileged class by their fingertips . His mother , Rachel Faucette , had inherited a small plantation as well as the Charlestown property – but she led a troubled life , including being imprisoned by her first husband for alleged adultery . His father , James Hamilton , was from a propertied Scottish family . He came to the Caribbean in search of wealth , but suffered a string of business failures .
Adding to the family ’ s stigma , Alexander and his brother were born out of wedlock ( his parents never married because Rachel had not divorced her husband ). In 1759 , after Hamilton was born , her first husband obtained a divorce that allowed him , but not her , to remarry . Hamilton ’ s illegitimacy may have meant he was excluded from Christian schools . According to his son , John Church Hamilton , Alexander said he had been educated “ at the school of a Jewess ”, and fondly recalled reciting the 10 commandments in Hebrew when he was so small he had to stand next to her on a table .
There was certainly a sizeable Sephardic Jewish community on Nevis at the time . The island still has a Jewish cemetery just off Charlestown ’ s main street , where 19 mostly well-preserved graves are dotted around a small grassy enclosure , the oldest dating from 1679 ( archaeological research suggests there were at least 40 more burials that no longer have tombstones ). The rectangular slabs , lying horizontally , have
Alexander Hamilton ’ s house and birthplace now serves as Nevis ’ history museum
weather-worn inscriptions in Hebrew , Spanish and Portuguese , and are scattered with small stones placed by visitors , in accordance with Jewish custom .
At one point it was thought that a building behind the Nevis Island Administration offices was a former synagogue . This has now been disproven . But by analysing land records , researcher Michelle Terrell has identified the site where the synagogue did use to stand . Close to the cemetery , it formed part of a Jewish quarter in a less desirable part of town . Was this the location of the school Hamilton attended ?
Walking past the tin-roofed building that now stands there , I like the idea that Hamilton ’ s education began in this humble location . It ties in with the question of social status that runs through his life . His enemies would not let him forget his illegitimacy , for which he suffered what he called “ humiliating criticism ”. And it ’ s tempting to ask whether a sense of inferiority drove his determination to succeed . But alongside his ambition , Hamilton was sympathetic to less fortunate members of society , speaking out against slavery and joining the New York Manumission Society , which promoted the emancipation of slaves ( even though he himself probably owned slaves ).
There is more that we could speculate on . Can Hamilton ’ s pragmatic desire for national stability be traced back to his own unstable childhood ? Did his skills for influencing and manoeuvring develop to help him survive as an orphan ? Did his hot-headed streak , which eventually led to his death in a duel in 1804 in Weehawken , New Jersey , on a ledge overlooking the Hudson River , have its roots in the sometimes lawless world of the Caribbean colonies ?
What is certain is that Hamilton is hard to pin down . Some see him as an unprincipled social climber , while others believe he ’ s the encapsulation of the American Dream . Historians even dispute the year he was born , with some saying it was 1755 , not 1757 . And there is also disagreement about the location . We know that the current Hamilton House is a restoration . But some think that he wasn ’ t born on that site at all .
Richard Lupinacci , who owns The Hermitage hotel , a wooden former plantation house near the site of Hamilton ’ s mother ’ s estate , said that he had heard a different story from descendants of old planter families .
“ They said that he wasn ’ t born in Charlestown – he was born up here in the country in 1755 ,” he said . “ He would have lived in both places .”
Sitting beneath the building ’ s white-beamed ceiling in a room furnished with dark varnished chairs and tables and a patterned Persian rug , the history enthusiast told me that Hamilton ’ s family would have been welcome at the Hermitage , whose owners at that time were in the “ second tier ” of Nevis society . But Hamilton was probably ashamed of his childhood . “[ The Hamilton family ] were not in the upper echelon of the society here . It was very class conscious . He felt embarrassed and a bit disgraced . He doesn ’ t talk about happy times ,” Lupinacci said .
While Hamilton was keen not to dwell on his time in Nevis , it ’ s impossible not to wonder what effect it had on him . We may never know the full story . But there ’ s always the chance that there ’ s another twist .