

He continually supported their relationship to gain regular blackmail money from Hamilton. Over the course of those months, while the affair took place, James Reynolds was well aware of his wife's unfaithfulness. Some conversation ensued from which it was quickly apparent that other than pecuniary consolation would be acceptable." The two began an illicit affair that would last, with varying frequency, until approximately June 1792. He later recounted, "I took the bill out of my pocket and gave it to her. Once Hamilton arrived at the boarding house at which Maria was lodging, she brought him upstairs and led him into her bedroom. Hamilton did not have any money on his person and so he retrieved her address to deliver the funds in person.

In the summer of 1791, 23-year-old Maria Reynolds allegedly approached the married 34-year-old Alexander Hamilton in Philadelphia to request his help and financial aid by claiming that her husband, James, had abandoned her. My real crime is an amorous connection with his wife, for a considerable time with his privity and connivance." Background Hamilton responded by writing, "The charge against me is a connection with one James Reynolds for purposes of improper pecuniary speculation. In 1797, Hamilton publicly admitted to the affair after his political enemies attacked and accused him of financial corruption during his time as the Treasury Secretary.

When he discovered the affair, Reynolds' husband, James Reynolds, subsequently blackmailed Hamilton over the affair, who paid him over $1,300 about a third of his annual income, to maintain the secrecy. It involved Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, who conducted an affair with Maria Reynolds from 1791 to 1792, during the presidency of George Washington. The Hamilton–Reynolds affair was the first major sex scandal in American political history. Alexander Hamilton at around the time of the scandal, 1792
