CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · People & Ideas

Archibald Alexander (politician)

American politician and Continental Army officer (1756–1822)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
People and ideasInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 30, 2026
Entity authorityQ4786195 ↗
Source-derived summary

Archibald Alexander (1755 – September 12, 1822) was an American medical doctor and politician from New Castle County, Delaware, near the city of New Castle. He was a veteran of the American Revolution and a member of the Democratic-Republican Party who served in the Delaware General Assembly.

Early life

Alexander was born in 1755 in Virginia into an Ulster-Scots family and moved to New Castle County, Delaware, when he was a small boy. He attended Newark Academy and studied medicine under Matthew Wilson. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church.

During the American Revolution, Alexander first served in the state militia but soon after joined the 10th Virginia Regiment of the Continental Army as a surgeon. After two years, he left the army to serve as a privateer out of Norfolk. Eventually his ship was captured and he was taken prisoner, serving out the remainder of the war in a prison ship in New York Harbor.

Career

After the war, Alexander returned to New Castle County and practiced medicine. He was also active in the Democratic-Republican Party and was its first candidate for Governor of Delaware in 1795.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Archibald Alexander (politician)” as american politician and Continental Army officer (1756–1822). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Archibald, Alexander and politician.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1755, 1822, 1795—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1756. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Archibald, Alexander and politician providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Archibald Alexander (politician)”, the useful work is to connect “american politician and Continental Army officer (1756–1822)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 30, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4786195. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1755, 1822 and 1795.

Critical limits

A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Archibald Alexander (politician)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Archibald Alexander (politician) primary sources, Archibald Alexander (politician) archive and Archibald research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Archibald Alexander (politician)”?
  2. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
  3. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Archibald Alexander (politician)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.