Alexander Hamilton was born illegitimate in the Caribbean, orphaned as a teenager, and arrived in America with nothing. He became Washington's chief aide, designed the nation's financial system, founded the first national bank, and built the institutional framework that made the United States a viable country. Then he systematically destroyed himself through an affair he publicly confessed to, political feuds he could not resist, and a duel he walked into knowing he might die.

This episode traces Hamilton from his Caribbean childhood through the Revolution, the Federalist Papers, the creation of American capitalism, and the self-destructive streak that ended with Aaron Burr's bullet in Weehawken.

• Hamilton's orphaned Caribbean childhood and the hurricane letter that brought him to America
• His role as Washington's right han ...