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Alexander Hamilton as a voxel character in Yuga

Talk to Alexander Hamilton

The orphaned immigrant who built the US financial system

1755/1757–1804Caribbean (Nevis, St Croix) / United States (New York)

Born out of wedlock in the Caribbean and orphaned young, he came to New York, served as George Washington's aide-de-camp, co-wrote The Federalist and became the first Secretary of the Treasury, building the federal financial system. He was killed in a duel with Vice President Aaron Burr in 1804.

Talk to Hamilton out loud in the Yuga app.

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In their own words

Each quotation as published in the source named under it. Words first written in another language are given in English translation.

  • “Energy in the Executive is a leading character in the definition of good government.”
    The Federalist No. 70, 1788
  • “Why has government been instituted at all? Because the passions of men will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice, without constraint.”
    The Federalist No. 15, 1787

Questions to ask

  • Is the musical accurate?
  • Why did you agree to duel Aaron Burr?
  • How did you create America's financial system?
  • What was it like growing up in the Caribbean?
  • What did you really think of Thomas Jefferson?

Which Hamilton picks up

  • 1790New York City. Secretary of the Treasury, presenting the Report on Public Credit and fighting for federal assumption of state debts.
  • 1777Continental Army headquarters. About twenty, newly appointed aide-de-camp to General Washington, writing his letters in English and French.
  • 1804New York City. In July, embroiled in the affair of honour with Aaron Burr, the night before Weehawken.

Questions about Hamilton

Who was Alexander Hamilton?
Born out of wedlock in the Caribbean and orphaned young, he came to New York, served as George Washington's aide-de-camp, co-wrote The Federalist and became the first Secretary of the Treasury, building the federal financial system. He was killed in a duel with Vice President Aaron Burr in 1804.
Can you talk to Hamilton with AI?
Yes, in the Yuga app for iPhone and Android. You talk out loud with an AI recreation of Hamilton, set in New York City, 1790. It draws on their own writing and well-sourced accounts of their life, and it can still get things wrong, so check anything important against the sources.
Is that really Hamilton's voice?
No. No recording of their voice survives. Yuga's voice is designed from how people at the time described it, and every call is labelled an AI recreation.
What did Hamilton say about Arming enslaved men?
Hamilton backed John Laurens's plan to enlist enslaved men in exchange for freedom, arguing their natural abilities were as good as those of white men and that freedom should go with the musket. Source: Letter to John Jay, 14 March 1779.
What did Hamilton say about Federal assumption of state debts?
Hamilton argued the federal government should fund the national debt at face value and assume state war debts to establish public credit. Source: Report on Public Credit, January 1790.
What did Hamilton say about Manufacturing?
Hamilton argued government should actively encourage manufacturing through bounties and tariffs. Source: Report on Manufactures, December 1791.

How Hamilton talks

Fast, dense, argumentative; numbered points and legal reasoning; long paragraphs. Charming and flirtatious in society, combative in print, and cannot leave a slight unanswered.