IV 
108TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 471 
Recognizing and honoring the life and legacy of Alexander Hamilton on 
the bicentennial of his death because of his standing as one of the 
most influential Founding Fathers of the United States. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 12, 2004 
Mr. PASCRELL submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
referred to the Committee on Government Reform 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Recognizing and honoring the life and legacy of Alexander 
Hamilton on the bicentennial of his death because of 
his standing as one of the most influential Founding 
Fathers of the United States. 
Whereas Alexander Hamilton dedicated his life to serving his 
adopted country as a Revolutionary soldier, aide-de-camp 
to General George Washington, Representative to the 
Continental Congress, member of the New York State 
Assembly, first Secretary of the Treasury of the United 
States, and Inspector General of the Army; 
Whereas Alexander Hamilton was a poor teenage immigrant 
to New York from the West Indian Islands of Nevis and 
St. Croix;
•HCON 471 IH 
Whereas in the early days of the Revolutionary War Alex-
ander Hamilton was commissioned as a captain and 
raised and trained his own New York artillery regiment 
and served valiantly in the battles of Long Island and 
Manhattan; 
Whereas Alexander Hamilton quickly captured the attention 
of General George Washington who made him his aide- 
de-camp and confidant throughout the most difficult days 
of the Revolutionary War; 
Whereas in 1781, Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Hamilton of 
the Continental Army led a bold attack of New York 
troops during the siege of Yorktown, the decisive and 
final battle of the Revolutionary War; 
Whereas in 1782, Alexander Hamilton was elected as a mem-
ber of the Continental Congress from New York; 
Whereas as a private citizen Alexander Hamilton served 
many philanthropic causes and was a co-founder of the 
New York Manumission Society, the first abolitionist or-
ganization in New York and a major influence on the 
abolition of slavery from the State; 
Whereas Alexander Hamilton was a strong and consistent ad-
vocate against slavery and believed that Blacks and 
Whites were equal citizens and equal in their mental and 
physical faculties; 
Whereas Alexander Hamilton was one of the first members 
of the founding generation to call for a convention to 
drastically revise the Articles of Confederation; 
Whereas Alexander Hamilton joined James Madison in An-
napolis, Maryland in 1786 to officially request that the 
States call a constitutional convention;
•HCON 471 IH 
Whereas Alexander Hamilton was elected as a delegate to the 
Constitutional Convention of 1787 from New York, where 
he played an influential role and was the only delegate 
from New York to sign the Constitution; 
Whereas Alexander Hamilton was the primary author of the 
Federalist Papers, the single most influential interpreta-
tion of American constitutional law ever written; 
Whereas Alexander Hamilton was the most important indi-
vidual force in achieving the ratification of the Constitu-
tion in New York against the strong opposition of many 
of the delegates to the ratifying convention; 
Whereas Alexander Hamilton was the leading voice of the 
founding generation in support of the controversial doc-
trine of judicial review, which is the backbone for the role 
of the Supreme Court in the constitutional system of the 
United States; 
Whereas on September 11, 1789, Alexander Hamilton was 
appointed by President George Washington to be the first 
Secretary of the Treasury; 
Whereas as Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton 
salvaged the public credit, created the first Bank of the 
United States, and outlined the basic economic vision of 
a mixed agricultural and manufacturing society sup-
ported by a strong financial system that would underlie 
the great economic expansion of the United States for the 
next 2 centuries; 
Whereas Alexander Hamilton was the leading proponent 
among the Founding Fathers of encouraging a strong 
manufacturing base for the United States in order to cre-
ate good paying middle-class jobs and encourage a society 
built on merit rather than class or skin color;
•HCON 471 IH 
Whereas in pursuit of this vision Alexander Hamilton found-
ed The Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures 
which in turn founded the town of Paterson, New Jersey, 
one of the first industrial centers of the United States; 
Whereas Alexander Hamilton proposed and oversaw the cre-
ation of the Coast Guard for law enforcement in terri-
torial waters of the United States; 
Whereas in 1798, President John Adams called upon Alex-
ander Hamilton to raise an army in preparation for a 
possible war with France and, as Inspector General of 
the Army, he trained a powerful force of well-equipped 
soldiers who were able to help deter war at this vulner-
able stage in the founding of the United States; 
Whereas throughout the founding era Alexander Hamilton 
was the leading advocate of a strong national union led 
by an efficient Federal Government with significant pro-
tections for individual liberties; 
Whereas on July 11, 1804, Alexander Hamilton was fatally 
wounded in a duel in Weehawken, New Jersey at the 
hands of Vice President Aaron Burr; and 
Whereas Alexander Hamilton died in Manhattan on July 12, 
1804, and was eulogized across the country as one of the 
leading visionaries of the founding era: Now, therefore, 
be it 
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That Congress— 
(1) honors the great importance of the life and 
legacy of Alexander Hamilton to the United States 
of America on the bicentennial of his death;
•HCON 471 IH 
(2) recognizes the tremendous significance of 
the contributions of Alexander Hamilton to the 
United States as a soldier, citizen, and statesman; 
and 
(3) urges the people of the United States to 
share in this commemoration so as to gain a greater 
appreciation of the critical role that Alexander Ham-
ilton had in defense of America’s freedom and the 
founding of the United States. 
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