Alexander Hamilton and the early Abolition Movement: The complexity behind Alexander Hamilton and his viewpoints on slavery and abolition.
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2019-08-15
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en
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Alexander Hamilton’s increasing popularity makes him an interesting subject to research. Recent media have portrayed him favorable, yet by looking more closely at certain issues one would realize that his character is more complex. One of these issues is slavery. Hamilton had a complicated youth in the West Indies, and his involvement with slavery played a large part in his upbringing. After moving to America, Hamilton became involved with the Revolutionary movement, and later with the Federalist Party and Washington’s Cabinet. This thesis will look at how his upbringing, his personal relationships, and political ambitions influenced Hamilton’s stance on slavery. My thesis question will therefore be: “To what extent can the fact that Alexander Hamilton acted as an abolitionist be traced to political reasons, rather than to moral ones?”. By researching this, I will be able to assess to what extend Hamilton truly can be considered an abolitionist, and find out what ulterior motives Hamilton could have had for his actions and policies concerning slavery and abolitionism.
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