Alexander Hamilton had a love affair that almost cost him his political career.
Met a girl named Maria Reynolds in the summer of 1791.
At the time Hamilton was serving as the 1st Secretary of the Treasury in the Cabinet of George Washington.
Maria met Hamilton by simply knocking at his door.
She told him that she and her hubby had moved to Philadelphia from N.Y. and that once here her hubby left her for another woman.
Maria said she was broke and that she had heard he was a generous man who might be able to help her.
Hamilton said he didn’t have any cash on hand but if she left her address he would send some by messenger or bring it to her himself before the day was over.
That evening Hamilton took Maria $30.
Although she said she was broke she was living in a fine townhouse and when he arrived she led him to the bedroom. Hamilton claims nothing happened!
Hamilton was 36, Maria was 23.
Hamilton continued to see her throughout the summer of 1791.
He was able to do this because his wife and kids were spending the summer in N.Y.
After Hamilton’s family returned the affair continued.
During the winter Maria’s husband returned to her and they reconciled. However, Maria and Hamilton still carried on with the affair.
James Reynolds (Maria’s hubby) now call on Hamilton and asks for a job at the Treasury.
Hamilton told him he had no openings but he would be willing to help him find employment.
A short time later Reynolds called on Hamilton again and again he asked for a job. Hamilton said once again that he had no openings. Reynolds throws a fit and said that Hamilton had promised him a job.
Hamilton now began to suspect that he was going to be blackmailed by the Reynolds into giving Mr. Reynolds a position so Hamilton stops seeing Maria.
Things went fine for a while but in December, Hamilton came home and found a note from Maria stating that her Hubby knew about their affair and was now threatening to tell Hamilton’s wife.
In the note Maria asked Hamilton to come see her immediately.
The next day Hamilton got a letter from James Reynolds in which he claimed that Hamilton had ruined his marriage and therefore wanted “satisfaction”.
Reynolds now came to see Hamilton at the Treasury.
When Hamilton asked Renolds what it would take to make this go away, Reynolds evaded the issue.
After several more meetings, Reynolds finally told Hamilton that for $1000 he would leave town and leave his wife.
Although Hamilton was Sec of the Treasury he was not rich. However he agreed to pay and did so in two installments. (He kept all correspondence and receipts)
A month later Hamilton got another letter from Reynolds. He had not left Maria as he said he would and asked that Hamilton meet them both at their home.
What Reynolds proposed was that Hamilton could continue to see Maria but only as a friend. Right!
In no time Maria and Hamilton have resumed the love affair. Reynolds was aware of what was going on but would simply look the other way.
The catch was that Reynolds would now come on a regular basis to Hamilton for “loans”.
This arrangement continued on well into 1792.
Then problems arose. James Reynolds was arrested and imprisoned for his part in a scheme which swindled money from veterans of the American Revolution.
What Reynolds was doing was to obtain lists of Vets from the Treasury Dept. from corrupt workers in the Dept.
The Vets had been issued IOU’s for back pay. Reynolds would go to the Vets and buy the IOU’s which they thought were worthless for ten cents on the dollar.
Reynolds would then cash them in.
Reynolds got caught and now asked Hamilton to use his influence to get him out of jail. Hamilton said no way.
Reynolds now started to spread the rumor in the jail that he had evidence that could get Hamilton hanged.
Word got out to Hamilton’s political opponents and they now went to talk to Reynolds.
Reynolds showed them notes for the loans that Hamilton had given him and that was all it took to convince them that Hamilton was corrupt.
In Dec. 1792 3 members of Congress called on Hamilton and confronted him with the evidence.
Hamilton was mad at first but then realized he was in big trouble. He now gave a full confession of his love affair and how he was being blackmailed.
Midway through the confession the congressmen begged him to stop but he continued on producing the love notes and the receipts for the blackmail money. (The Congressmen didn’t want him to embarrass himself further.)
The Congressmen left convinced that Hamilton had committed no crimes and was himself a victim.
Before they left, Hamilton made them swear they would tell no one. Right!
Hamilton now broke off the relationship with Maria.
Needless to say the story did leak out and all the members of Congress soon knew about the affair. Although the public was still in the dark.
in 1795 Hamilton resigned as Sect of the Treasury and returned to his law practice in N.Y.
In 1800 the Federalist party wanted to run Hamilton for President. Somehow, however, the Democrats got their hands on the story of Hamilton’s affair and published it in a pamphlet.
The author, a man named James Cavendish stated in the pamphlet that Hamilton fabricated the affair story to cover up for his crooked dealings with Reynolds.
Hamilton now writes to the three Congressmen who had sworn not to tell and demanded to know who squealed.
the only one who didn’t write back was James Monroe. Hamilton confronted Monroe.
Monroe said he didn’t do it. Hamilton called him a liar and challenged him to a duel.
Had it not been for Monroe’s lawyer and Hamilton’s bro-in-law who were both at the meeting these to statesmen would have fought a duel.
Hamilton now decides the only thing to do is go public with the story of his affair.
Hamilton now wrote a pamphlet called “Observations”. which immediately became a best seller.
Hamilton’s wife and family remained loyal to him. The only one they hated was Monroe for squealing.
In publishing his pamphlet Hamilton sullied his name as a good husband, but saved his political career by being honest.
His picture on the ten dollar bill is a testament to that fact.
Now it is hard to believe, but the story does not end there.
Following the Louisiana purchase in 1803, New England and New York federalists conspired with Aaron Burr to secede New York and new England from the united states
Burr was to run for governor of New York then join New York with New England and form a new country.
Burr at the time was vice president of the U.S. under Thomas Jefferson.
When the secessionist plot went awry Aaron Burr blamed Alexander Hamilton, the leading federalist of the period and a long-time political enemy of Burr.
Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel.
In July 1804 at Weehawken New Jersey the vice pres of the U.S. Aaron Burr, shot and killed the leader of the opposing political party, Alexander Hamilton. Burr now fled to escape arrest. This would be like Vice President Pence shooting Chuck Shumer.
Burr now conspired with French and Spanish settlers to create a new country made up of Mexico, the western United States, and the Louisiana Purchase. He called on the commander of the western American army and governor of all of the Louisiana Purchase territory.
This man was James Wilkinson.
Wilkinson was himself a traitor to the U.S. In exchange for a pension, he provided military and political info to the Spanish.
When Jefferson sent Louis and Clark out west to see what they had bought, Wilkinson contacted the Spanish and suggested they hunt down and arrest the explorers.
Now Wilkinson joined up with Burr and betrayed not only the U.S. but also the Spanish in the plot to have Spanish settlers join up in Burr’s new country free from Spanish control.
When Wilkinson realized that burr ‘s plan was not going to work, he betrayed Burr and had him arrested in Mississippi in 1806 and sent him back to Washington to be tried for treason.
Unbelievably Burr was acquitted on the grounds that he had committed no overt act of treason. In other words, he was not successful in pulling off his plot.
This entire episode was known as The Burr Conspiracy.
Now folks, I’ll be the first to agree with you that our federal government is out of control. What I find fascinating is that we act totally surprised with each new wrongdoing reported every night on the evening news.
The difference between you and me, is that, knowing what I do about American history, nothing surprises me.
That is what scares me the most about our current situation.
I am amazed how “We the people” are convinced that our government can be fully trusted and when faced with unbelievable stories, we say. “It could never happen here.”
It has happened here, and could happen again. Study your history!