Alexander Hamilton was born january 11, 1755 in Charlestown, Nevis. His parents,  Rachel Faucette and James Hamilton,  were not married at the time. His father left the family in 1766 and his mother soon passed 2 years later.  Hamilton was now an orphan and spent his adolescence on the Danish possession of St. Croix.  Locals recognized His remarkable intelligence after he published an eloquent letter describing a hurricane that the island, and raised money to send him to school in the British North American colonies. When Hamilton arrived to mainland America in late 1772 he initially applied to College in New Jersey, but attended King's College in New York city. He wrote several pamphlets in 1774 and 1775. In 1775, Hamilton drilled with a volunteer company of militia, and was made captain of an artillery company in March of 1776. which was the end of his young years and the start of his middle.