Exam #2 – Question #2: Hamiltonianism
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Exam #2 – Question #2: Hamiltonianism
Alexander Hamilton is among the major founders of the United States Constitution and fought in the American Revolutionary War. His significant role as a founding father helped maintain the American nation’s independence from Great Britain and secure the United States government (Leidner, 2019). His ambitions as a politician to represent the people of the United States began a long time in the 17th century. Historical research indicates that Hamilton was a political philosopher and federalist who supported constitutional ratification. Research indicates that at the start of his political career, he became a colonial protest supporter against the British imperial policy. Through this, he drafted several pamphlets for almost a year, attacking the ideologies of outspoken loyalist Samuel Seabury. As an author, Hamilton wrote Federalist papers arguing for ratifying the United States Constitution (Hamilton et al., 2008). And up to date, his true legacy remains in the political history of the United States since he built and pushed for the success of the newly independent United States since he acted as a driving force. Since he participated in the Revolutionary war as Washington’s right-hand man, who appointed him as his first treasury secretary. A position he significantly utilized and articulated various political ideologies that have had great impacts on American life. For instance, the first secretary of the Treasury under the Washington regime sought to create a strong financial foundation for the United States and gave the central government more power. He also inspired and led to the formation of the first Federalist Party (Leidner, 2019).
However, in the philosophical comparison between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson, who served as the secretary, Hamilton’s influence on the Washington administration and the future of America significantly differentiated. Based on the philosophical perspective, Hamilton and Jefferson differed significantly because Hamilton was a Federalist, a believer in the natural aristocracy of wealth Hamilton wanted a strong central government run by the well-educated and wealthy elite. And he was acting as an example to show that the government wanted to be strong by creating a strong financial foundation for the United States. He was indicating his opinion that government should emphasize property rights and security since wealthy elites should run it (Federici, 2012). In contrast, Jefferson was a Republican who argued that the concentration of power in the central federal government would contribute to autocracy. And as a champion of the ‘common man, ‘ Jefferson claimed that independent farmers, self-reliant and sturdy, should have a central voice in government affairs. Indicating that he wanted the ‘common man’ to run the nation. This a clear expression of his opinion that government should be democratic and emphasize liberty which will make people contented with the form of government arguing that free people will be able secure property. Their political and ideological differences led to the origin of the two-party political system in the United States. Because Hamilton strongly opposed Jefferson’s ideology that a government should be democratic and entirely elected and run by the people with less taxation and military (Gargarella, 2010).
Despite being founders of the United States, Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson had different opinions concerning human nature. The federalist essay that Hamilton wrote in reflection of his opinion on human nature highlights the dangers of the motives of men as represented in republics and represented as superior kings. He argued that confederation would bring more harmony to the state. To affirm his opinion on human nature, he shared his colleague Madison’s ideology on distrust of human nature and believed in individuals’ capability to overcome alleged deficiencies with a motive. However, this significantly differed from Thomas Jefferson’s opinion on human nature since he believed that the nature of a man is generally good (Scott, 2008).
When Alexander Hamilton was serving as the secretary of the Treasury, he faced significant problems, one of them being the large economic national debt. He recommended that the central government take up the federal government and the states’ outstanding debt through his assumption plan. This means that he called upon the central government to repay federal and state debts since he advocated for the government to account for all bonds before 1789 by the federal and state governments (funding plan). And he planned new bonds that were to be used to clear old debts. Hamilton’s debt plan program that he initiated showed significant success, indicating that Americans were willing to repay their debt. This motive impressed local investors and made the United States attractive to foreign investors. Hamilton’s next plan was to create a Bank of the United States to serve as a government-owned central Bank, modeled after the Bank of England. The bank he proposed to be created was to hold government funds, lend funds (loans) to the government and borrowers, and collect taxes or revenues (Hamilton, 2021). This plan received criticism from republicans arguing that the bank was unrepublican since it would encourage corruption. Republicans further criticized the creation of the bank on constitutional grounds. But Hamilton defended that criticism by claiming or arguing that Congress had the power to create since the constitution empowers and approved that federal government authority had the power to do anything that would help carry its constitutional functions. Moreover, Hamilton, in his plan to help American manufacturers, proposed to Congress to pass a tariff on tax and subsidies to protect the manufacturing industry from imported goods from other nations. For instance, he wanted a protective tariff imposed on imported goods to make them more expensive than locally manufactured goods (Hamilton, 2021).
References
Federici, M. P. (2012). The political philosophy of Alexander Hamilton. JHU Press.
Gargarella, R. (2010). The Legal Foundations of Inequality: Constitutionalism in the Americas, 1776–1860 (Vol. 8). Cambridge University Press.
Hamilton, A. (2021). Selected Writings. Courier Dover Publications.
Hamilton, A., Madison, J., & Jay, J. (2008). The federalist papers. Oxford University Press.
Leidner, G. (2019). The Leadership Secrets of Hamilton: 7 Steps to Revolutionary Leadership from Alexander Hamilton and the Founding Fathers. Sourcebooks, Inc..
Scott, K. A. (2008). Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton: A Defining Political Debate. Universal-Publishers.
