The honor to be an American

As we celebrate the 250th birthday of the United States, I think it is particularly important to appreciate the tumultuous history our country has endured and the great progress that has been made in that time. Yesterday, I posted about John Adam's enthusiasm over the Declaration of Independence, a document that had the potential to have him hanged for treason. Today, I would like to look at another avid witness to history, James Alexander Hamilton. As the son of one of the best known founding fathers, James was well placed to observe and impact the course of history through its early formative decades.

Miniature of James Alexander Hamilton by Aimee Thibault, 1837

In the year of James’ birth, 1788, the United States elected its first congress under the Constitution. During his lifetime, he observed the original thirteen states begin as a loosely connected confederation of separate governments and grow into thirty-eight states forming a unified nation. All this occurred under the leadership of nineteen different presidents, most of whom James knew personally. He watched this amazing transformation as Americans decided what laws they would live by and just how united the states would be. The Rebellion, as James called the Civil War, tested that unity and America's dedication to equality. Even before the outbreak of war, divisiveness had threatened many times to tear the country apart.

In 1824, four men competed for the presidency, all nominally claiming to be Democratic-Republicans as it was the only major national party at the time. In 1832, South Carolina passed the Ordinance of Nullification, claiming that federal laws were not binding on the state. Western expansion, the annexation of Texas, and Indian Removal were all issues that seriously divided Americans before they finally went to war over slavery.

Though slavery was outlawed in James' home state of New York in 1827, James had traveled down the Mississippi to New Orleans and spent much time in Washington DC and witnessed the horrors of slavery firsthand. Though he was in his seventies at the outbreak of war, he wrote to General Winfield Scott to offer his services. When offered the opportunity to advise President Lincoln, James wrote a draft of an Emancipation Proclaimation.

James A Hamilton understood the most serious problems the United States faced and the darkest stains within its history, yet when he traveled abroad from England to Italy to Russia and many places in between, James wrote, ‘In all my wanderings, I have met with nothing that has equalled my appreciation of my own country, its Government, and People.’

He had been to Rome and explored the Vatican library, helped write a new constitution for France at the request of George Washington Lafayette, and appreciated the beauty and history of the Old World. So, what made James so proud to be an American?

While admiring Italian villages, he wrote home to his children about how they would benefit from a new form of government, and he was appalled at the limitations they lived under, including a restriction on taking water from the sea, 'lest by evaporation salt should be made.' While recognizing the problems and failures of the United States, James observed the alternatives and was happy to be a part of a nation that strove to make itself better. When he was asked during a dinner in London if he was an American, James replied, 'Yes, sir, I have the honor to be an American,' though he knew the man intended to examine him upon the subject of slavery.

James died in 1878, having observed a period of astonishing transformation in the United States. He was not proud of everything that had happened and did not support every president the country had up to that point, but his patriotism and dedication to be a part of positive change never wavered. Perhaps that is a lesson for us all as we celebrate 250 years of American progress.

Explore America's exciting history with nonfiction and fiction, a great way to celebrate America at 250! You can find all of my books on Amazon, contact me to order signed copies, or request from your favorite independent bookstore.