Alexander Hamilton’s life is widely known as the basis for the hit musical Hamilton (2015). In the United States, Alexander Hamilton is remembered as a founding father, a delegate of the Constitutional Convention, one of the authors of the Federalist Papers, and the first secretary of the United States Treasury. A deeper dive into his personal life also reveals that he might have been bi. While he was known as quite the ladies’ man — notoriously having an affair with a married woman during his time as Treasury Secretary — letters between him and John Laurens, a young man under his command during the American Revolution, reveal Hamilton may have had affairs with men as well.
Alexander Hamilton was born out of wedlock in the British West Indies (today known as the Caribbean Islands) in the 1750s to Rachel Fawcett Lavien, who was of British and French Huguenot descent, and James Hamilton, a Scottish trader. Alexander’s father left his mother early in his life, leaving his mother in poverty. For this reason, Hamilton took his first job at the young age of 11. Shortly thereafter, his mother got sick and died at the age of 38.
Hamilton started working as an accounting clerk in a mercantile in St. Croix where he quickly impressed his employer. Through this experience, Hamilton was exposed to international commerce. Four years later, a ferocious hurricane hit the island of St. Croix, prompting Hamilton to write a piece about the devastation. His employer, with the help of a newspaper editor who had reviewed his piece on the hurricane, pooled their resources to send Hamilton to America for an education.
In 1773, at 16 years old, Hamilton arrived in New York where he enrolled in King’s College (later renamed Columbia University). While Hamilton was a brilliant student, he was drawn more towards politics than academia. In 1774, Hamilton wrote his first piece defending the patriots against the British loyalists, and he left school in 1775 to fight for the Continental Army.
It was during his time in the army that Hamilton met a young John Laurens while they both served on George Washington’s staff. Laurens, a soldier from South Carolina, had much in common with Hamilton and the two quickly became fond of one another, sharing many affectionate letters. In 1779, Hamilton wrote to Laurens:
Cold in my professions, warm in my friendships, I wish, my dear Laurens, it might be in my power, by action rather than words, to convince you that I love you. I shall only tell you that 'till you bade us adieu, I hardly knew the value you had taught my heart to set upon you. Indeed, my friend, it was not well done. You know the opinion I entertain of mankind, and how much it is my desire to preserve myself free from particular attachments, and to keep my happiness independent on the caprice of others. You should not have taken advantage of my sensibility to steal into my affections without my consent. But as you have done it and as we are generally indulgent to those we love, I shall not scruple to pardon the fraud you have committed, on condition that for my sake, if not for your own, you will always continue to merit the partiality, which you have so artfully instilled into me.
This letter in and of itself does not prove a love affair between the two men, as the writing style of the time was overly sentimental. However, the two men exchanged multiple letters loaded with such sentiment and sexual innuendo, as in the following bit of another letter.
If you should not readily meet with a lady that you think answers my description you can only advertise in the public papers and doubtless you will hear of many... who will be glad to become candidates for such a prize as I am. To excite their emulation, it will be necessary for you to give an account of the lover — his size, make, quality of mind and body, achievements, expectations, fortune, &c. In drawing my picture, you will no doubt be civil to your friend; mind you do justice to the length of my nose and don't forget, that I....
The next words are missing due to damage to the manuscript (the words have actually been cut out), but they are almost certainly explicitly sexual, as the “length of my nose” statement was a common euphemism of the time referring to the length of a man’s penis. Considering that John Laurens, as the letter implies, has knowledge of this physical trait of Hamilton, they have clearly at the very least seen each other naked.
It is likely that their fellow soldiers knew about the affair, as it was not exactly unheard of among the officers of the Continental Army. Frederick Wilhelm von Steuben, another member of Washington's staff, was widely known to have affairs with men and have even fled Prussia on sodomy charges.
The affair between Laurens and Hamilton most likely lasted until Laurens died in battle in August of 1782. Two years before Laurens died, Hamilton met his wife Eliza Schuyler. Eliza and Hamilton had a strong marriage, ultimately having eight children together — one of whom tragically died in a duel.
During his time as Treasury Secretary, Hamilton also had an extramarital affair with a married woman named Maria Reynolds which lasted over a year. When Maria's husband found out about the affair, Hamilton paid him over $1,300 to keep quiet. Hamilton publicly admitted to the affair in 1797 in what has become known as “The Reynolds Pamphlet” when Maria’s husband threatened to implicate him in his own plot to misuse funds for veterans of the Revolution.
In 1787, after the Revolution, Hamilton served as a New York delegate charged with assisting in changes to the Articles of Confederation — the first constitution of the United States — which were failing to keep the young country together. During that time, he wrote 51 of the 85 essays collectively known as the Federalist Papers defending the new constitution before the states were to decide whether to adopt it. The new constitution was ultimately adopted. When George Washington was elected president in 1789, he appointed Hamilton as Secretary of the Treasury, likely due to the fact that they worked closely together during the Revolution. Hamilton’s political career continued until 1804 when he was fatally shot in a duel with Aaron Burr.
Alexander Hamilton was certainly a controversial figure during his time but has now become widely regarded for his contribution to politics and for shaping the economy of the United States. And of course, we are all reminded of him every time we use a ten-dollar bill.