Society hosted this event. Its about half an hour. Now i have the pleasure of introducing Joann Freeman. She is a long history with the museum and long we are Alexander Hamilton. Now 25 years ago, john herzog approached a young Woman Working at the library of congress where the hamilton papers are lodged, and this woman not even a grad student had already cure rated an exhibit on hamilton. It became one of the earliest exhibits and of course, that was Joann Freeman. Her history with hamilton from early age, it was very extensive. We have many hamilton residents in the audience, but how many have rather them and several times . Joann has. Her research took her to the grange in scotland as well as the others. And while she was at st. Croix, she emersed herself in the culture by living there for several weeks. She is so much experience that she went and fired a black powder dualing pistol, and she did this at a gun range mind you, calling this quote unquote oddly satisfying, not much of a kick, but a nice full pop and a dramatic puff of spoke soon after. So when joann, we have a historian thats capturing the mood and the moment of what it was like several hundred years ago, and this actually extends to her phd work which was done at the university of virginia of all places. So in jefferson country. Thats e mercying yourself in a different culture. Joann pulled that trigger in research for her book affairs of honor, National Politics in the new republic which won the best book award from the society of his or it yans to the early american republic. It also receives high praise from her peers. Joseph ellis called that book quote unquote a landmark work. And when her editor volume, writings appeared, Atlantic Monthly published it in, was published Atlantic Monthly ranked it as one of the best books of the year. Thats just a sampling of her work. She has numerous articles in peer review journals. Appeared in a host of documentaries on pbs and the history channel. A number of radio programs including the bbc and npr. Library of congress, the treasury department, and colonial williamsburg. And recently she assisted the hamilton grange when had it reopened here in new york. So its no wonder that joann was ranked as one of the nations top young historians. In conclusion, i quote words from 212 years ago, quote unquote, it is my duty to exhibit things as they are, not as they ought to be. Well thats very good advice for a historian, and Joann Freeman explains not as it ought to be, but as it was. Who said those words . Of course Alexander Hamilton. Its my pleasure to introduce our keynote speaker, Joann Freeman. [ applause ] thank you. Thank you, very much for that very gracious introduction. I have to say im really pleased and honored to be here speaking to you today. Particularly at the end of what was an event filled weekend, celebrating and commemorating Alexander Hamiltons life and accomplishments and particularly to be speaking here at Trinity Church where hamilton was laid to rest 210 years ago today. Now my subject today is Alexander Hamilton as a man of honor. And i suppose rather perversely im going to start by telling you what im not going to be talking about today before i launch off on what i am going to be talking about. Im not going to be talking about what an honorable man hamilton was, although he certainly was an honorable man, but instead what i want to talk about is what honor as it was understood in the 18th century meant to hamilton in a concrete way and how it shaped his thoughts and actions over the course of his life. And i want to do that in three parts. First, ill talk about how the concept of honor shaped hamiltons sense of himself, particularly as a young man. Then ill talk about how the concept of honor shaped his politics and policies. And finally ill talk about how the con set of honor led him to the dualing ground and the dual that ultimately ended his life. Now at this point, im very tempted to say that in todays world, we really dont understand or appreciate honor all that much. Now, i see a lot of people nodding yes, its not quite true, somewhat true, but it is true that we dont understand honor today as someone like hamilton did in the 18th century. To an 18th century gentleman, his honor, his reputation, his character was like a concrete possession. His most valued possession worth fighting for, worth dying for. It really represented the essence of who a man felt himself to be. For politicians, honor was even more important. In the 18th century before being a politician was seen as a job with job skills, men gained Political Office based on their reputation. On what people thought of their character, not based on job skims. So clearly, a mans personal honor was even more important to someone who held or was hoping to hold Political Office. Men who were viewed as honorable were trusted with power. Now hamilton clearly invibed this concept already as a very young man, even as a boy. As an early letter that he wrote shows very well. And i have to say, as a historian, i sometimes think the history bugs when i find a particularly wonderful piece of ed. Im going to mention a few today in the course of my talk. And this letter that im going to quote from is one of the pieces of ed that you sort of thank the heavens for because its kind of evidence that brings a person or an idea to left in literally a sentence. And the letter that im about to quote to you is actually the first letter that we know of that hamilton wrote. It was written when he was a teenager, ill legitimate child living on st. Croix in the west indies. Working as a shipping Company Clerk to support himself, and absolutely yearning to get out into the world to make something of himself. Writing to his best friend edward stephens, hamilton wrote, to confess my weakness, ned, my ambition is prevalent that i condemn the condition of a clerk or the like to which my fortune condemns me and would willingly risk my life, though not my character to exalt my station. Now think about that last phrase for a minute. Hamilton season saying he would willingly risk his life, but not his character to exalt his station. What hes talking about there is essentially honor. He would risk his life, but the not his honor to better himself. Now thats first of all something remarkable for a teenager to say. And it pretty much sums up a basic attribute of his life and personality. He was eager to make something of himself, he was willing to work hard even to risk his life to do it, but he would quite literally guard his honor, his character, his reputation with his life. Now that remarkable letter ends with yet another really interesting sentence. At the end of the letter, hamilton writes, i shall conclude saying i wish there was a war. And as odd as that sentence may seem, it actually makes perfect sense in the context of hamiltons letter because for someone without connections or money, fighting as an officer in a war was a fine way to earn reputation and honor. And it was hamiltons good fortune to come to north america just as the American Revolution was getting off the ground and became engaged with a struggle at a very early point. Believer in the cause of the colonies that was well aware of the fact that he might very well be walking into the war that would enable him to make his name. And he assumed that the best way to make that name for himself was through an act of glory on the battlefield. Now in the end of course, the most valuable boost to his reputation during his wartime battlefield, but at general George Washingtons headquarters because working besides washington who even at the time was known as the nations leading man or as some people called him, the first man, working by the his side was invaluable and countless ways as hamiltons later career would show. Even so, hamilton was bound and determined for his moment of battle field glory to really prove his reputation and in a sense to come away from the war with a concrete something in hand. So throughout the war whenever an opportunity for a field command came into view. Hamilton in true style put himself forward as the man for the job. But not until the battle of york town at the end of the war did he finally get his moment of battlefield glory persuading to capture a redoubt and supposedly, when washington told hamilton he was going to have this opportunity, one anecdote has it that he rushed back to his friend Nicholas Fish yelling, we have it, we have it. Which, i love because its just one of those wonderfully human moments that shows you people being people even in the middle of history unfolding. Hamilton was on his way, but with the launching, honor took on an entirely new meaning for him. For the rest of his life, in addition to concerning himself with the preservation of his personal honor, hamilton would be focussed on the new nations honor, on National Honor. The reputation of the young United States in the eyes of the world. Now as a brand new nation, the United States didnt have centuries of history and achievements and stability behind it. It had to prove its worth and status on the world stage. And in the context of the late 18th century, this was no easy task. Think for a minute about the world that the United States was trying to impress, the american constitution created a republic in a world of empires, monarchies, and monarchs. The United States was something new on the world stage. Although the founders look back to republics of the ancient world for guidance in essence, they were creating something new in the modern world. Something untried, untested, and fragile. And i think its really easy to forget how new and experimental the young nation was during its founding years. You can certainly hear it in the comments of a lot of people at the time. So for example, heres James Madison at the launching of the new government in 1789. He said quote, we are in a wilderness without a single footstep to guide us. Heres George Washington that same year, i walk on untrodened ground. And heres a senator, William Mcclay of pennsylvania who had the same exact feeling in 1889. He wrote the whole world sl a shell, and we tread on hollow ground every step. Now, those, if you think about it, those are three remarkably similar statements. Its almost like these three people woke up and conferred and said the shaky ground metaphor really, thats what it feels like to be founding a country. All three men are describing the exact same feeling. A feeling of not knowing where youre going. A fear that the ground is going to break beneath your feet at any moment. The new nation had a constitutional framework, but no one knew just what kind of nation was going to emerge from it. The stakes seemed extremely high to the people involved in it. Because they truly assumed that they were deciding for all time whether a republic was feasible in the modern world. And i think that Alexander Hamilton puts it best in the first paragraph of his first essay in 1787. I read this in some way in almost every class that i teach at yale because i think it captures the mood and the spirit so well. These are hamiltons words. It seems to have been reserved to the people of this country by their conduct and example tom decide the important question whether societys of men are really capable or not of establishing Good Government from reflection and choice or forever destined to depend on political constitutions on accident and force. The crisis from which we are are regarded as the era in which that decision is to be made and a wrong election of the part we shall act may deserve to be considered as the general misfortune of mankind. Think about the sense of responsibility that goes along with the statement. They believe theyre deciding for all time if you can put a bunch of men in a room, have them calmly complete a just form of government, and then put it in motion through a calm and slib rat process of ratification. Could this new experimental nation hold its own . And if so, how . Who were its friends . Who were its enemies . And what were the implications of making friends and enemies of Different Countries . Americans at the time really assumed that world empires, nations were hovering over the new republic sneering at its littleness and licking their chops. And i think the best example of American Fear is about what the world thought of them in these early years. Its summed up in hamilton document that is little known, but i think its a fascinating one. And its a draft, and it never left his desk and thats probably a good thing in the end. In 1796 with the french revolution raging, hamilton decided he would try to design a National Seal for the United States. And as i said, i think its a memo, he drew it up for himself and did nothing with it, but its fascinating, its a glimpse into the mind of hamilton, and i thinkening a lot of other people. This is the image he suggests for the National Seal of the new United States. He wanted a globe with europe on one side, and america on the other. And he wanted a giant with one foot standing in europe, and the other hovering over north america, and in north america, he wanted to figure in armor with a shield and a spear basically doing this. So for a National Seal, hes basically creating this image of america fending off this frightening threatening europe thats looming over it. Its a remarkable image. Not the most graphically wonderful image,ly also say that maybe graphic arts was not his forpay it and particularly when i looked at this again, i found something i hadnt noticed before, its a complicated image, and he talks about armors and shields and everything else. Then he says at the end, essentially to himself, you know if its not too complicated, we should add neptune in the ocean. Maybe a drink dent, he really was enthusiastic about the seal. But clearly what thats bringing to life is the idea that the United States was well aware of the watchful and even threatening attention of the world. So given that context, you can see how the new nations reputation, its National Honor in the eyes of the world would have mattered, not only to hamilton, but to the founding generation generally. And you can see hamilton worrying about National Honor right after the war. In a letter that he wrote in 1783, he urged him to treat them fairly as the war came to a close. Not to penalize them of their property because, as hamilton explained in this letter, it was a matter of National Honor. American treatment of loyalists after the war would say a lot about the character of the new nation and hamilton wanted the nation to start off on the right foot. So hamilton was thinking about National Honor almost from the launching of the new nation, but he really concerned himself with the preservation of National Honor when he became the nations first secretary of the treasury in 1789. Hamilton dealt with the new nations enormous war debts, so essentially, he was responsible for establishing national credit. Now hamiltons concern with National Honor makes sense if you think about the credit. Credit is essentially honor in another form. Credit, a person with credit is trust worthy, a person with credit has a reliable and upstanding character. A nations credit represents all of those things as well as its standing in the eyes of the world. And nations reputation. So credit and National Honor are very much bound together. And thats precisely how hamilton understood the idea of national credit. He assumed that hfs fundamentally bound up with National Honor. To hamilton, a nation with bad credit was a nation without honor. As he put it in an unfinished report that he wrote, defending his Financial System after he stepped down, bad credit, quote, prostraited the National Honor. Now given hamiltons utter conviction that bad credit meant national dishonor, and given how firmly he believed that his policies were best for the nation, and given how much he tied his own reputation to the founding of the nation, imagine how he felt when his policies were tampered with. So for example, in 1795 when congress didnt precisely follow his suggestions concerning the nations unsubscribed debt. Hamilton went wild as he put it in a letter to his friend rufus king. The unnecessary capricious and abombable assassination of the National Honor by the rejection of the propositions respecting the unsubscribed debt haunts me every step i take and affects me more than i can express. To see the character of the government and the country so sported with exposed to so indelible ablot puts my heart to the torture. Now listen to where he goes from there which is more interesting. He goes on to say am i then more of an american than those on american ground . Or what is it that thus torments me at a circumstance viewed by everybody else . Am afool or is there a constitutional defect in the American Mind . Now thats a remarkable statement, and it really shows you how National Honor was an intensely personal issue for hamilton, deeply felt personal that