Number 7: Alexander Hamilton's Secret Attempts to Control American Foreign Policy

This volume is concerned with the effort of Alexander Hamilton (designated as “Number 7” in the dispatches of a British secret agent) as Secretary of the Treasury, aided by powerful support in the Senate and House of Representatives, to guide American foreign policy toward a closer connection with Great Britain. The book shows that Hamilton revealed secret cabinet discussions to a British intelligence agent, failed to inform Washington and Secretary of State Jefferson of his discussions with the British agent, and finally under impact of the war crisis informed them falsely. Hamilton committed “almost the gravest offense of which a cabinet officer can be guilty in his role of responsible advisor to the head of a state,” says Professor Boyd. The text of this volume, except for the Foreword, the concluding passages, and a few additional documents, is contained in Volume 17 of The Papers of Thomas Jefferson.

Originally published in 1964.

The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.