Alexander Hamilton Experience

The Architect of American Finance—Meet Him in Person

Alexander Hamilton was not just a Founding Father—he was the architect of the American financial system. As the nation's first Secretary of the Treasury, Hamilton conceived and built the institutions that would underpin two centuries of American economic growth: a national bank, a funded national debt, a mint, a customs service, and a vision for a manufacturing economy that would eventually make the United States the most powerful nation on Earth.

This gallery brings Hamilton's story and legacy to life through rare artifacts, original documents and an experience you will find nowhere else in the world.

Alexander Hamilton Experience
  • Rendering of the Rendering of the "Alexander Hamilton Experience" exhibit.

Guest Curators

Richard Sylla is a professor emeritus of Economics at NYU Stern School of Business and one of the foremost financial historians in the United States. He has spent decades studying Hamilton's economic vision and its lasting influence on American and global finance. He is a trustee and former board chair of the Museum of American Finance.

Mark J. Higgins, CFA is the author of Investing in US Financial History and a leading authority on American capital markets. His work applies financial history to improve decision making in the present. It draws on three centuries of market cycles, from Hamilton’s founding vision to the complexities of today’s evolving investment landscape.

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What to Expect

Meet Alexander Hamilton — In Person

Our AI-generated Hamilton—developed in partnership with the Fidelity Center for Applied Technology—answers your questions about finance, the founding of the American financial system and his own remarkable life. Speak with him in dozens of languages, from Spanish to Swahili. He is always engaged and ready to make the case for why a strong financial system is the foundation of a strong nation.

Report on the Public Credit (1790)

Submitted to Congress on January 9, 1790, Hamilton's Report on the Public Credit laid out his vision for how the new nation should handle its war debts—and in doing so, established the philosophical and structural foundation of the American financial system.

Considered by many to be the economic equivalent of the US Constitution, it is among the most significant objects in our collection.

Other Rare and Original Documents

In addition to the Report on the Public Credit, the gallery features several of the Museum's most significant objects related to Hamilton, including financial documents, correspondence, his Society of the Cincinnati medal (on loan from his descendants) and historical replicas of the pistols used in his fatal duel with Aaron Burr.