Paul Hamilton Prepares the Navy for 1812
Paul Hamilton was the third Secretary of the Navy in the United States.
Hamilton’s biggest success was increasing the Navy’s power leading up to the War of 1812.
Note: Paul was from South Carolina and is in no way related to Alexander Hamilton. Sorry to disappoint you.
Paul Hamilton
When financial insecurity forced Paul Hamilton to drop out of school as a teenager, he decided to sign up for the Army.
It just so happens that this Army was the Continental Army, and he fought in the Revolutionary War throughout the South. Most notably, he was commanded in the swamps by Francis Marion.
South Carolina Politics
After the Revolution, the now-20-something Paul Hamilton was able to continue his schooling.
He quickly became a successful politician and was elected to the South Carolina Assembly for seven years before making his way into the State Senate.
Further impressing his constituents, Hamilton was elected in 1799 to the position of Comptroller.
Governor
After five years as Comptroller, Hamilton was selected as Governor of South Carolina.
During the two years he occupied this office, Paul successfully led a drive to resist a Federal Government attempt to tax the importation of slaves.
The primary argument he made was that since the importation of slaves was set to end soon anyway, adding a tax would put an extreme burden on those plantation owners who were already making big changes to their operations.
Secretary of the Navy
In 1809, Hamilton was confirmed as the 3rd Secretary of the US Navy.
He spent five years working for the Madison Administration in the office, though he was frustrated by the President’s seeming indifference to his ideas.
Paul was able to push through the Naval Hospitals Act of 1811 which first established a board (consisting of the Secretaries of Navy, Treasury and War) that oversaw the means of caring for “sick and disabled seamen”.
Resignation
Hamilton’s main goal while acting as Secretary of the Navy was preparedness.
At a time when a powerful Navy was essential to both securing the nation’s coasts and protecting its world trade, Paul saw his position grow in importance.
This was fortunate, as much of his actions set the Navy on course for the beginning of the War of 1812.
Hamilton, however, seeing his relationship with Madison strained and knowing the President needed a war-time Secretary he could trust, resigned his position as the War of 1812 began.
If you’d like to learn about the early NAVY, check out these articles:
Lambert Wickes - The Continental Navy’s Most Successful Captain
Samuel Elbert Plays David to the British Navy’s Goliath - The Battle of Fredrica River
Esek Hopkins - Commander of the Continental Navy
The War of 1812 is often considered to be overlooked in American history.
The war was extremely important, as documented in ‘The War that Forged a Nation.’
If you’d like a copy you can get one through the Amazon affiliate link below (you’ll support this site, but don’t worry, Amazon pays me while your price stays the same).
