The Jewish Founding Father: Alexander Hamilton's Hidden Life and the Politics of Faith

CONSTITUTION DAY 2019 LECTURE

Prof. Andrew Porwancher, University of Oklahoma

Alexander Hamilton’s meteoric rise from Caribbean obscurity to American founder has long captivated historians and, more recently, Broadway audiences. Yet a crucial aspect of Hamilton’s life has remained submerged for centuries: the balance of evidence suggests that he was Jewish. Drawing on untapped sources, Professor Porwancher will make the case for Hamilton’s Jewish upbringing and explore Hamilton’s role in making religious liberty a bona fide American principle.

Andrew Porwancher is the Wick Cary Associate Professor at the University of Oklahoma where he teaches constitutional history. He has held fellowships at Oxford, Princeton, Texas, and Yeshiva. He is now completing his third book, The Jewish Life of Alexander Hamilton, under contract with Harvard University Press. After earning degrees from Brown and Northwestern, he completed his PhD at Cambridge.