It all started with Clark and Miles photocopying money to play with. Now, just to let you know, my internet research would indicate it's ok to let them do this. They're poorly made black and white copies and not quite the right size and only printed on one side. There is nothing about their "bills" that would even approach realistic looking.
Humorously, one ehow site I was reading about the legalities of making prop money had a paragraph at the bottom. In part it said, "If you don't have real money available to copy, you can go to the "Money Instructor" website.." How sad that a person wouldn't have actual money to copy.
Back to Clark and Miles's money. Or maybe a question to you first. Whose picture is on the ten dollar bill?
Alexander Hamilton.
Another question. Who was he? Was he a U.S. president?
Think. Think. Think.
No, he wasn't a president.
Then who was he?
Trent looked it up. Alexander Hamilton was the 1st Secretary of the Treasury. He served under George Washington.
When you heard the name Alexander Hamilton what came to mind? Duel? With whom?
Aaron Burr, of course.
Ok....often in a duel one guy lives and one guy dies. Who was the survivor of that duel?
Aaron Burr. Did you know that Burr was the sitting vice-president of our country at the time? They tried charging him with murder for that, but the law about duels was kind of sketchy at the time (and on its way out), so he went back to finishing his term as vice president. Thomas Jefferson dumped him from the ticket when he ran for the next term.
Alexander Hamilton was what you might think of as a serial dueler. He'd been in ten shotless duels (I guess there were other ways of finishing a duel without inflicting gunshot wounds...). Hamilton's oldest son Philip died in a duel at the age of 19. (Philip was defending his dad because a lawyer gave a speech saying that Alexander Hamiliton wasn't opposed to overthrowing the Jeffersonian presidency by force. Whoa!! *That* was scandalous enough to DIE about????? Apparently people giving speeches were taken more seriously back then than they are today.)
People might think today's political system is bad. That whole duel thing between Burr and Hamilton stemmed from some political disagreements that spilled into personal affronts. Nowadays politicians can sharply disagree with their opponents, but generally everybody walks away with their lives!
One thing I didn't realize about Hamilton is when he died in that duel: he left behind a houseful of children. His oldest had died three years previously; the other seven were 2, 5, 7, 12, 16, 18, and 20.
His widow Elizabeth survived him by fifty years. For fifty years that woman stood by her man (who was long gone in death), defending his reputation which he himself had thrown away with extramarital affairs and scandals in his 49 years of living.
So, you might've thought you were looking at the face of an austere individual with exemplary qualities just because he lived "back then" and made it onto the ten dollar bill. Oh, I'm sure he made substantial professional contributions to society. I mean, only the faces of so few can be on our currency, right? Hamilton's personal life was a bit of a train wreck. Who knew?
~Colleen
