Alexander Hamilton, the man whose image graces our ten-dollar bill, was born out of wedlock in 1755. A number of his political opponents made sure to remind the world of the circumstances of his birth. Perhaps foremost among these opponents was John Adams, who appeared to harbor a special dislike for Hamilton. Adams had a special expression that he came up with for Hamilton: "bastard brat of a Scotch pedler.”
Yet I loose all Patience, when I think of a bastard brat of a Scotch Pedler, daring to threaten to undeceive the World in their Judgment of Washington, by writing a history of his battles and Campaigns.
—Letter to Benjamin Rush, 25 January 1806
Shall I replace on the Shoulders of Washington the burthens that a bastard Bratt of a Scotch Pedlar, placed on his Shoulders, and he Shifted on mine?
—Letter to Thomas Jefferson, 12 July 1813
When Perfidy and Treachery, Imbecility, Ignorance Fanaticism and Fury Surrounded Us; all, Puppets danced upon the Wires of a Bastard Bratt of a Scotch Pedlar.
—Letter to John Quincy Adams, 20 May 1816
According to the technical sense of the word, Hamilton was indeed a bastard. Whether he was a brat is, however, subject to debate.