Lost Chapters
Hamilton, Immigrant Scholar: Cobalt Character
Alexander Hamilton grew up in the Caribbean, born on the island of Nevis in 1755 or 1757 and raised on St. Croix. Abandoned by his father and orphaned by his mother's death, he worked as a merchant's clerk until a published letter about a 1772 hurricane led local backers to pay for his education in New York.
- Cost
- 2 crystals
- Type
- Character · Thinker
- Power / Health
- 2 / 2
- Color
- Cobalt (Thinkers & Dreamers)
- Rarity
- Uncommon
- Set
- Liberty & Lightning (Set 1)
On play: if you control a Founder, draw a card.
West Indian orphan whose hurricane of words and financial acumen helped build a treasury from nothing.
The real history
Hamilton was born on January 11 on Nevis, a British island in the eastern Caribbean, in either 1755 or 1757. The year is still debated, partly because his parents, Rachel Faucette and James Hamilton, were not married and no official record of his birth survives.
In May 1765 the family moved to Christiansted on St. Croix, a Danish colony. In January 1766 his father went back to Nevis alone. Two years later Alexander and his mother both fell sick, most likely with yellow fever. He recovered, but she died, and he and his brother James were left penniless. Alexander then lived with relatives.
While still a young teenager he became a clerk for the import and export firm of David Beekman and Nicholas Cruger, keeping records and accounts. In 1771 and 1772 he even managed the business while Cruger was away for his health.
On August 31, 1772, a devastating hurricane struck the island. Hamilton described it in a letter to his father, and the letter was published in the Royal Danish American Gazette. Local supporters, impressed by his writing, raised money to send him to school in North America. Sources disagree on exactly when he sailed, in late 1772 or in 1773.
He first applied to the College of New Jersey, now Princeton, but after studying at Elizabethtown Academy he entered King's College in New York City, now Columbia University. In New York he soon joined the protests against British policy, writing pamphlets in 1774 and 1775.
Sources
- People, Christiansted National Historic Site, National Park Service
- Alexander Hamilton, National Park Service
- Alexander Hamilton, George Washington's Mount Vernon
How the card plays
Hamilton, Immigrant Scholar costs 2 crystals and is a 2/2 Uncommon Cobalt Thinker. When he arrives, if you control a Founder, draw a card. He is not a Founder himself, so he does not count for Founder bonuses, but he is cheap and replaces himself.
Among the historical Leaders, Martin Luther King Jr. and Neil Armstrong can run him, since both lead Cobalt decks. Under Armstrong, his cheap draw helps you dig toward the cards you need.
Play a Founder first, then follow with him. John Jay, Constitution Drafter is a 3-crystal Founder with Guard, so it holds the line and turns on Hamilton's draw. As a Thinker he fits Writers Convention, which gives your Thinkers +2/+2 and draws you a card at the end of your turn while you control one. Frederick Douglass boosts your Thinkers when it arrives, making this small scholar a real attacker.
- Playable in decks led by Martin Luther King Jr., Neil Armstrong, and by any Traveler Leader whose colors include Cobalt.
- In the Dr. King starter deck (2 copies). Deck code:
LC2-BAABAQICAQMBBAEFAQYBBwEIAQkCCgILAQwBDQIOAg8BEAIRARICEwIUAhUBFgEXARgBGQEaARsBHAEdAR4B3v4 - In the Armstrong starter deck (2 copies). Deck code:
LC2-AQABAQECAQMBBAEFAQYBBwEIAgkCCgILAQwBDQIOAQ8BEAERARICEwIUARUBFgEXARgBGQEaARsBHAIdAR4BfQK1eQ - A deck holds up to 3 copies of this card.
Questions about Hamilton
Was Alexander Hamilton an immigrant?
He was born on Nevis in the Caribbean and moved to New York as a teenager, so he is often called an immigrant. At the time, though, both places were part of the British Empire.
Why is Hamilton's birth year uncertain?
His parents were unmarried and no official birth record survives, so historians weigh conflicting clues. The National Park Service uses 1755, and Mount Vernon gives 1755 or 1757.
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