Angelica Hamilton was born in New York City on September 25, 1784, the second child and eldest daughter of Alexander Hamilton and Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton. She was named for her maternal aunt, Angelica Schuyler Church. Through her mother she belonged to the large, wealthy Schuyler family of New York; through her father she was connected to one of the new nation’s most ambitious lawyers and statesmen. Her early childhood unfolded while Hamilton was helping design the federal government. The Hamilton household moved between New York, Philadelphia, and family residences as Alexander’s legal and political work required. Angelica grew up among numerous siblings and within an extended network that included the Schuylers and Churches. Her parents valued education. She learned reading, writing, French, dancing, and music, becoming especially accomplished at the piano. Alexander Hamilton took pride in her intelligence and musical ability and corresponded about securing suitable instruments and instruction. Angelica was particularly close to her elder brother Philip. Family letters portray the children as affectionate, lively, and conscious of their father’s public position. Their mother provided stability while Alexander’s work and political controversies frequently occupied him. The family enjoyed social prominence but also endured intense partisan attacks, financial uncertainty, and public scandal. By adolescence Angelica was considered an intelligent and talented young woman, but her life changed catastrophically in 1801. Philip was mortally wounded in a duel with George Eacker and died at nineteen. The shock produced a severe and lasting mental collapse in Angelica, who was then seventeen. Family accounts suggest that she ceased to understand fully that Philip had died and sometimes continued to speak of him as living. Before this tragedy, Angelica’s early life had been one of affectionate family relationships, elite education, music, and movement through the political society of the early republic. Her later disability should not erase that earlier identity. She had been a gifted daughter whose parents expected a cultivated adult life, and her breakdown reveals the devastating private consequences that the culture of dueling brought to the Hamilton household.