1. Tittle: The Reports of Alexander Hamilton

2. Author: Jacob E., Cooke

3. What kind of childhood did this person have?

Alexander Hamilton had a rough and tough childhood. Born on the West Indian Island of Nevis as the illegitimate son of James Hamilton (a Scottish trader) and Rachel Faucett Lavien. Hamilton underwent a lot as a child. He had to face his mother's death at the age of twelve and his dad's bankruptcy, which forced him to go live with some folks that accepted to take him in.

4. What kind of education?

Born to a poor family, Hamilton never had the opportunity to engage in any educational practice while still living with his parents. It wasn't until he moved into the counting home of David Beckman and Nicholas Cruger at saint Croix where he exhibited a precocious ability to comprehend the complexities of commerce and accounting. As time went on, he was later able to enroll at a grammar school at Elizabeth, in New Jersey (1772-1774) and then entered King's College (Today Columbus University).

5. Who raised this person?

Hamilton lived with his parents up to the age of twelve. He then moved with David Beckman and Nicholas Cruger at Saint Croix. They took care of Hamilton as if they were his real folks until the age of 23 which is when he married Elizabeth Schuyler, daughter of General Philip John Schuyler, a member of an influential New York family.

6. Who inspired of influenced this person?

Hamilton inspired himself. His urge to be heard and recognized gave him the every to keep on voicing his thoughts for the need of a strong central government in order to foster the development of a great and powerful American nation. He first entered the revolutionary movement in 1774 with a speech at a public meeting, urging the calling of a general congress of the colonies.

7. What obstacles have this person overcome?

At the Annapolis Convention, where people met to discuss matters not covered by the Articles of Confederation, Hamilton was unable to play a significant role. His desire for a strong centralized federal government, including a president for life was not shared by the other conventional delegates, and his two fellow delegates from New York were Anti-Federalists who were able to outvote him on every measure. For this reason, Hamilton then turned his energies to securing the ratification of Constitution in New York. For this Hamilton requested the help of John Jay and James Madison in writing the essays that were published under the tittle of The Federalist.

8.What has this person done for the community, for society?

Alexander Hamilton was a captain of artillery and served with distinction in the battles of Long Island, White Plains, Trenton, and Princeton. Furthermore, Hamilton got to become General Washington's aide-de-camp and personal secretary. Adding to this, "He also drafted the resolution that led to the assembling of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787."

9. What do you admire about this person? What's the difference between this person and you?

I admire Alexander Hamilton's ability to pursue what he wants. Although he was born to a poor family and had not gotten the same education as some of his colleagues, Hamilton turned to the direction of his studies concentrated on them hard and got to become one of the most prominent lawyers in New York City.

Although we have many similar qualities as the one previously mentioned, I believe that the difference between Hamilton and me is that I am not really into politics and strong centralized government. I do like the law aspect, but I guess that to understand Hamilton's drive to pursue centralized government one would also have to view and study the time aspect of it all.

10. If this person came to your house for dinner, what would you prepare? Why?

I would first, ask my mom to cook because after he tries my cooking I wouldn't want him to take me to trial and charge me with attempt of murder by food poisoning. Hey! Some people just aren't as talented in the kitchen as others. Secondly, if I was going to make my mom cook, I would ask her to cook some Spanish food simply because a little cultural diffusion never hurt nobody. That, and because I like Spanish food. Besides, Hamilton is a lawyer; he would eat anything that is home cooked.

11. What exactly did you enjoy or not about this biography?

I liked the vocabulary and sentence structure that the author used because it was easy to understand and follow. The content of the biography was also very good. It was deeply detailed and pointed many of Hamilton's up and downs.

12. Why would you or not recommend it?

I would say that it is good material if an individual is having trouble in understanding what The Federalist papers are and from where they originated. The biography will explain this information in detail right from the backbone. It will talk about it's purpose and why it came about.