The Itinerarium of Dr. Alexander Hamilton, 1744‪.‬

Alexander Hamilton was born in Edinburgh, Scotland; graduated in 1737 from medical school and immigrated to Maryland in 1739. During this time colonial America was an evolving society. The Itinerarium of Dr. Alexander Hamilton is a primary source from which we gain insight to the societies and towns that formed the new English colonies in America around the 1740s.


Dr. Hamilton joined his brother John, also a physician, in Maryland where he lived since 1720. He settled in Annapolis, where he became popular. Being a doctor did not prevent him from suffering of tuberculosis, which lead him to think that he would never get married. As a bachelor he embarked in a four month tour totaling 1,624 miles departing from Annapolis, visiting Maryland, Portsmouth, and New Hampshire. Dr. Hamilton travels transport us to life in the New England society of the mid eighteenth century.


The influence of the European Enlightment was immense, even in America. New ideas, the printing press, the numerous industrial advances, and the steam machines, were mobilizing many to meet in public places and talk about what the present and future held for them in the horizon. Hamilton was enlightened with appreciation; however, he spent time observing other people's behaviors.