The People on our Money

-


"Underfunded, understaffed, looked down on by the regular navy, despised by the merchants who paid the tariffs, the Revenue Marine was no one’s darling.
Well, except maybe Alexander Hamilton, he’d loved his revenue cutters that brought money into the Treasury, but look what happened to him, Washburn thought. Irritate the wrong people and there you are, worm food."

--Smuggler's Bride

I was thinking about the plan to put a new face on the US $10 bill, the bill now bearing the likeness of first Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton. I'm glad they're not talking about replacing Mr. Hamilton. Much as I love the idea of a woman gracing our currency in 2020, the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote, it would be a mistake to overlook Hamilton's contributions to the nation.

In addition to heading the Treasury, Hamilton was a founding member of the Anti-Slavery Society, founded the US Coast Guard (aka the Revenue Marine aka Revenue Cutter Service) and co-wrote the Federalist Papers. He had a vision of the country moving away from an agrarian society of landed gentry and small freeholders to one of industry, bolstered by hardworking immigrants. It was the kind of foresight that carried us into the 21st century, and still drives us today.

I've always wondered what Hamilton would have made of his life had it not been tragically cut short by the stupid duel with Aaron Burr. We'll never know, but at least having his face on the $10 reminds Americans that our Founding Fathers were more than presidents, sometimes they were leaders in planning for the future.

If you'd like to know more, I highly recommend Pulitzer Prize winning author Ron Chernow's excellent biography of Alexander Hamilton.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Do you have permission to waltz?

-
Image
"Would you care to dance as well?” Light-footed Captain St. Armand was standing behind Daphne, smiling down at her, but before she could answer Alexander said, “Mrs. Murray was about to favor me with a dance, Captain St. Armand.” “I was?” “Indeed you were,” Alexander said, helping Daphne to her feet. She cocked her head to the side, listening to the music. “That music is in waltz time, Dr. Murray. Do you know the waltz? It is my favorite!” “Then it will be my favorite also.” Daphne looked up at him as he took her into his arms, a quizzical grin on her face. “What a charming thing to say, Dr. Murray! I vow, you are becoming quite the gallant.” Alexander said nothing to this, concentrating on the music. Yes, he'd waltzed when ashore. On occasion he'd been invited to balls and assemblies, even a surgeon being a useful man to have when the navy was expected to provide gentlemen at entertainments. But he'd never felt the music, the dance had never mattered so mu...
Read more
-
Image
HOW I SPENT MY SUMMER VACATION Worldcon (Denvention3) was fantastic. I arrived Wednesday in plenty of time for my 4:00 panel, Survival Tips for New Writers. The other panelists were David Coe and this year's Campbell Award winner, Mary Robinette Kowal, and along with the audience I picked up tips from them on how to improve my work habits. On Thursday I had a full day of panels. How do Ebooks Change Writing--an Ebook Writing Primer was intriguing, and moderator Dave Howell worked hard to keep us focused on the topic and not wandering off into weird ebook stories. We talked about interactive ebooks with hyperlinks, but also about how many readers seem content with ebooks simply being an exact copy of a print book delivered through different media. Aaaargh! The Pirate Panel was just what you might expect from the title, an exploration of why we like pirates so much, and where pirate history and mythology collide. The other panelists--David Riley, MistyMassey and Linda Donoh...
Read more
-
Book Reviews--Dearly Devoted Dexter Dearly Devoted Dexter Jeff Lindsay 2005, Doubleday Dexter Morgan, the serial killer who only takes out the trash, is back in a novel that picks up where Darkly Dreaming Dexter ended. In that first novel we learned how Dexter’s foster father saw early what the boy was and channeled his social quirks into a more acceptable outlet. Oh, Dexter still likes to torture people to death–that will never change–but thanks to his cop dad Dexter has a mission–to only use his talents on really, really bad people. Specifically, other serial killers. Dexter works for the Miami PD as a blood spatter specialist and he cheerfully goes through his life, as he puts it, pretending to be human and letting his dark friend come out to play every now and then. Dexter’s sister is a Miami cop and while she has a pretty good idea what he’s up to, she leaves him alone to do his thing. The problem is, Dexter’s doing a little too good a job of passing for human. So much so that t...
Read more