American History Trading Card Game

To say I’m a history buff is an understatement; I’ve taken every advanced proficient class my school has offered on world and U.S. history, along with regularly reading about historical events and people on my free time. It’s my favorite and most knowledgeable subject. So when my AP class started a “history trading card game”, I started sweating with excitement (my teacher was about to call the nurse).

We received a “pack” of 9 cards that students from past-AP classes created. The topics on the cards ranged from the Puritans to the Platt Amendment. Some of them look really nice.

Others, not so much.
The main objective of the trading card game is to collect the most cards that are correlated to each other. The more cards that are related, the higher your grade will be. So if you’re dealt a pack with the TVA and Dr. Francis Townsend, it would be wise to collect cards associated with the New Deal.

Alexander Hamilton is one of my favorite historical figures and one of the brightest minds America has produced. Along with his key work in mapping the U.S. Constitution, Hamilton’s economic philosophies would become touchstones of the modern American capitalistic economy. And as wrong it sounds, I’m fascinated by the infamous Hamilton-Burr duel and everything surrounding it (Burr’s name is not to be spoken of in this household). He’s also one of two men to be featured on U.S. currency without being President, which is pretty cool. My love with the Founding Father made it natural for me to be an Alexander Hamilton super-collector (I actually own quite a few real baseball cards related to Hamilton, but that's a different post for a different date). My fate as a Hamilton collector was sealed when I pulled this card.

Not the best looking card, but none-the-less, it has the handsome Hamilton on it. Since my Hamilton cards would be limited, I decided to branch out and collect Thomas Jefferson as well. Although Jefferson and Hamilton were on different sides of the spectrum when it came to political philosophies, both were Founding Fathers and big players in the development of the U.S. Constitution and the United States government in whole. I traded worthless garbage like the Credit Mobilier scandal and Warren G. Harding for these two cards.

Hopefully my Hamilton/Jefferson collection will continue to grow. My friend has a duel-relic of the two men numbered to 25 that I’m just drooling over. Until then, remember…

“Those who stand for nothing fall for anything.” – Alexander Hamilton