Alexander Hamilton was one of George Washington's trusted advisers during the American Revolution, and the first Secretary of the Treasure of the United States. Hamilton was born in 1757 in the West Indies, and was orphaned at the age of 11. However, his cleverness showed early, and his employers pooled their money to send him to university. Either that, or they just wanted him out of the building. Hamilton moved to New York in 1773 and began attending King's College (later Columbia University). By 1774, he was writing pro-rebel articles - not really in the spirit of attending somewhere named after the King - and by 1775 he'd joined the volunteer militia. Again... probably not exactly what his sponsors had in mind when they sent him there.