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September 27, 2007
U.S. Senate Subcommittee holds hearing on "Alexander Hamilton Boyhood Home Act" The National Parks Subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Energy Committee conducted a hearing Thursday on S. 1969, the Alexander Hamilton Boyhood Home Act, federal legislation to study the feasibility of designating Estate Grange and other sites on St. Croix as a unit of the National Park Service. The bill’s sponsor, Senator Orrin Hatch said, "Alexander Hamilton is one of the most fascinating figures of our country’s early history". "He fought beside General George Washington in the Revolutionary War, was a leader in the Constitutional Convention, and served as our country’s first Secretary of the Treasury. His entries to the Federalist Papers have long been inspirational to me in my public service. Recognizing his boyhood home in the Virgin Islands is an appropriate way to honor his patriotism and his contributions to America". In his written testimony, Gov. John P. deJongh Jr. noted that St. Croix had a profound effect on Alexander Hamilton’s fundamental ideas. "Leading scholars have credited Alexander Hamilton’s experiences on St. Croix for his financial acumen and his vision of America as a world industrial and commercial power." "Leading scholars agree that his mother’s literary interests, including her extensive collection of books, inspired Hamilton’s intellectual curiosity and writings." "Scholars also agree that his first hand observations about the horrors of slavery on St. Croix inspired his abolitionism, and creation of the Manumission Society, which inspired the end of slavery in the state of New York." Richard Brookhiser, the noted historian wrote that on St. Croix, "Hamilton learned how trade and credit spanned international borders, how your own backyard could be plugged into the international economy. He learned about opportunity in his own life, and potentially the life of others. Brookhiser wrote "the New York Evening Post, a paper he founded in 1801, is also still in business. "My Arguments," Hamilton wrote in Federalist #1, "will be open to all and may be judged of by all." It was his credo, and he adopted it on St. Croix. Dan Wenk, the Deputy Director of the National Park Service, testifying on behalf of the Department of the Interior, expressed the Bush Administration’s support for the legislation. deJongh expressed his appreciation to Senator Hatch and to the other co-sponsors of the legislation. "This legislation reflects a growing awareness of the significant role of the Virgin Islands in the foundation of the Republic. This site will be a magnet for the development of historic tourism on St. Croix, as well as a valuable resource for local Virgin Islanders." |
