SAMPLE: Alexander Hamilton BiographyDue: 3/23/15
The 3MP for US History 1 CP will be to write a biography on a US Historical figure of the Federalist or Antebellum period. The biography must be written in the format shown on the 2nd/3rd pages. All of the items must be included in order to receive the maximum grade.
Person / Life Span / Primary Life's Work / StudentJames Madison
James Monroe
John Quincy Adams
Henry Clay
Daniel Webster
John C Calhoun
Meriwether Lewis
Mad Anthony Wayne
Thomas Hart Benton
Eli Whitney
Daniel Boone
Sarah Grimke
Abigail Adams
Dorothea Dix
Sojourner Truth
William Lloyd Garrison
Horace Mann
Robert Fulton
DeWitt Clinton
Washington Irving
James F. Cooper
Edgar Allen Poe
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Francis Scott Key
Stephen Foster
2. Complete the biographical sketch similar to the one shown below on Alexander Hamilton.
3. Work must be in your own words (except quotes) and express thoughtful summaries of the figure.
Rubric:
2 Point Deductions: Each grammar error, each incomplete sentence.
5 Point Deductions: Each incorrect fact; Incorrect Filename (filastname3MPbiographymmddyyy.docx); Missing Category: Born, Died, Parents; Each Image (last page) missing
10 Point Deductions: Education not complete; Work experience does not cover entire life; each day late; Less than 7 facts in the Principal Life's Works category (10 each)
15 Point deductions: Incomplete or inaccurate submission in the Most famous For category; Missing any category other than Born, Died and Parents.
25 Point Deduction: Principal Life's Work: Must be thorough and include at least seven items listed from most to least important.
Born: January 11, 1755 in Charleston, Nevis, British West Indies
Died: July 12, 1804 in NYC following a duel with Aaron Burr
Parents: His parents were Rachel Buck, a French Huguenot and James Hamilton, a Scottish farmer
Most Famous for: Hamilton was a leading Federalist thinker and writer, a Founding father, author and First Secretary of the Treasury.(Your words)
Education: Hamilton was denied a formal education because of his illegitimate birth, but was privately tutored by a female teacher. He learned Greek and Latin early on, and after leaving the islands in 1772, attended school at the Elizabethtown (NJ) Academy . In 1773, Hamilton applied to Princeton, but was rejected, but was accepted to study at Kings College (Columbia University in NYC). (Your summary)
Work Experience: Hamilton clerked in a local office in St Croix after his mother died in 1768. When he was 13 years old he wrote a paper describing the hurricanes season in the Islands which brought him to the attention of a wealthy benefactor. Hamilton was sent to the US, where he attracted the attention of George Washington. From 1775 until1783, Hamilton was an officer in the US Army, serving directly under George Washington. After the War, Hamilton was a successful attorney, writer, Congressman and member of the Constitutional Convention. Hamilton would serve as Secretary of the Treasury under two Presidents, and crafted the Federalist Plan which has aided the US since its "birth" in 1789. (Your summary)
Principal Life'sWork:YOUR SUMMARY OF SEVEN MOST IMPORTANT ACHIEVEMENTS FROM MOST IMPORTANT TO LEAST IMPORTANT. ONE ACHIEVEMENT PER PARAGRAPH.
Hamilton's 1st published work in the US was "A Full Vindication of the Measures of Congress" in 1774 defending the actions of the First Continental Congress.
Hamilton played a vital role in the Revolutionary War, serving as an aide de camp to George Washington, helping the Americans at valley Forge and successfully leading troops in the Battle of White Plains and Yorktown.
After the war, Hamilton was elected to Congress in 1782, and left to found the Back of New York in 1784. In 1786 he called for delegates to meet in Annapolis MD to discuss replacing the Articles of Confederation. In 1787, as a New York Assemblyman, Hamilton was selected to attend the Constitutional Convention. There he was instrumental in shaping the Constitution as a Federalist document. After the Constitution was signed and submitted of ratification, Hamilton convinced John Jay And James Madison to co-author the Federalist papers, to convince New Yorkers to ratify the new Constitution.
Hamilton was tapped by George Washington to function as Secretary of the Treasury. Hamilton promptly wrote several key documents for Congress, outlining many of the new components of the Federal Government: Report on the Tariff, Report on Manufactures, Report on Credit and others. Hamilton founded the Bank of the US, created the Coast Guard and Customs Service to collect the tariff, established a permanent, national debt and established the Society of Useful Manufacturing in Paterson, NJ to model an industrial future for the US. Although never elected President, Hamilton was considered one of the most influential Founding Fathers.
Images:
Two Quotes by Person / Two Quotes about Person
I go further, and affirm that bills of rights, in the sense and to the extent in which they are contended for, are not only unnecessary in the proposed Constitution, but would even be dangerous. They would contain various exceptions to powers not granted; and on this very account, would afford a colorable pretext to claim more than were granted. For why declare that things shall not be done which there is no power to do?
Industry is increased, commodities are multiplied, agriculture and manufacturers flourish: and herein consists the true wealth and prosperity of a state. / "He knows everything sir. To a mind like his, nothing comes amiss." (R Morris to GW, 1789)
"If Washington was the Father of His country, and Madison the Father of the Constitution, then Alexander Hamilton was surely the Father of the American Government." Sen Henry C Lodge, 1920
Birthplace or Childhood Home / Tombstone
Home / Epitaph