HamAlong Pt 3: Hamilton had RBF syndrome

This week's reading goes into the details of his lawyering days and in true fashion, kicks butt at it. He also becomes frenemies with Burr, though it's mostly 90% friends, 10% enemies at this point. He establishes the Bank of New York, and it blows my mind that his stock is still traded on the New York Stock Exchange. And if that wasn't enough, he lobbies for abolition and then writes a bunch of papers that basically form the structure of America's governing system. NBD.

There is hope for those of us who have RBF syndrome! Fellow lawyer William Sullivan describes Hamilton: "When at rest, it had rather a severe and thoughtful expression, but when engaged in conversation, it easily assumed an attractive smile." Yes, RBF'ers, we too can be high-functioning contributors to society despite our RBFs.

Badass name of the week: Meet Hercules Mulligan  Bacon Face   BALTHAZAR DE HAERT, Hamilton's law partner. 

A Grave, Silent, Strange Sort of Animal. The title of the chapter. Also how Burr describes himself in the third person. What a weird dude. Hamilton and Burr's paths continue to weave as they take to the courtroom. It's interesting to note that while they both grew up as orphans and found themselves making their own way into the world, they went about it in completely different ways. Burr is all about aristocracy while Hamilton feistily earns his street cred through meritocracy. Burr is quiet, cold, and calculating, while Hamilton is loud, hotheaded, and results-oriented. Hamilton writes pages and pages and can speak in the courtroom for hours on end, while Burr is a man of few words.

How do you spell 'kryptonite', young Hamilton? It's not spelled "W-O-M-E-N", HAMILTON. Last week, I wrote about Mrs. Arnold "crazying" her way out of imprisonment, promptly pivoting, and laughing all the way to her BFFs. I'm sure that Hamilton's career consisted of a bunch of other important cases (Rutgers v. Waddington), but the ones that kept sticking out pertained to the ones involving those "weak women" in need of his "protection". 

Burrrrrr, you cold, cold man. Not sure I like this guy. I mean, given what happens, I'm not going to end up liking this guy anyway, but there's no reason to hate him from the start, right? However, the supporting evidence of his douchebaggery pile up right away. While Hamilton is known for his over-the-top love letters to his wife (and others. he's a flirty one), Burr responded to one of his wife's letters by saying that it was "truly one of the most stupid I had ever the honour to receive from you." Damn, son. 

"Hi Pot, meet Kettle." Hamilton and abolitionism isn't exactly a black and white issue. It's difficult to be an abolitionist when you have slaves, huh. His committee dismays just about everyone (plantation owners and founding fathers with slaves *coughJeffersoncough* and such) and his petition was probably verbose per usual so... tl;dr. His plan gets scrapped. :(

Sassy, much? Hamilton was said to have joked that they didn't need "foreign aid" when Benjamin Franklin suggested they open the convention sessions with prayer. Eliza would've dragged to church by the ear if she heard that.

@Publius - I tried reading this chapter, but even reading the summaries of The Federalist felt as long as reading the original 51 out of 85 installments. I skimmed it. #sorrynotsorry

... and then I ran out of steam.

Until next time, HamAlongers!