Alexander Hamilton and the formation of the American government In the United States, at the end of the 18th century, the American colonies were struggling with their own identity. The Revolutionary War had won Americans collective freedom, but how best to exercise it was the subject of much debate. An American, Alexander Hamilton, felt the need for a common and strong economic and political basis for states. This ideology stemmed from both his childhood on the island of St. Croix and difficult events during the Revolutionary War, influences that would later be instrumental in his publication of the Federalist Papers. Hamilton's childhood on St. Croix was not that of a typical founder father. His mother took him and ran away from home after his father refused a divorce, putting a label on his mother and her family wherever they went. This constant feeling of inferiority instilled in Hamilton the drive to succeed, and his way of fueling this drive was constant study. In fact, when deciding on colleges after arriving in the United States, an important criterion was the college's willingness to allow him to cram the work into a shorter time frame thus allowing him to graduate sooner (Decarolis 125). As a result he would eventually become one of the most learned men in the nation; this, he believed, obliged him to publish The Federalist Papers and other works that displayed the ideology he had derived from his studies. St. Croix also had an impact on his political views later in life. The island was fueled by the slave trade and sugar plantations. On the surface one could see the basis of Hamilton's hatred of the institution, as a slave on a sugar plantation was subject to more inhumane treatment than any during that time (Decarolis 77). Also, the... center of the paper... eandt, Dennis. "The American Miracle". The New American, December 16, 2002: 27. Bigchalk Library. Proquest. Centerville HsLib.; Clifton, Virginia, May 14. 2005 www.library.bigchalk.com.Chernow, Ron. Alexander Hamilton. New York:Penguin Press, 2004.Cutler, Llyod N. “If it ain't broke… keep your amendments off my constitution.” Washington Monthly, September 1, 1997. Bigchalk Library. Proquest. Centerville HsLib.; Clifton, Virginia, May 12. 2005 www.library.bigchalk.com."Decarolis, Lisa M."A Biography of Alexander Hamilton. June 3, 2003. Department of Humanities. May 12th. 2005. http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/B/hamilton/hamilzz.htm.Harper, John. American Machiavelli: Alexander Hamilton and the Origins of United States Foreign Policy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Randell, Willard Sterne. Alexander Hamilton: a life. New York: HarperCollins, 2003.