After the war of independence and the declaration signed by the founding fathers; America was at a crossroad when it came to their government stability. Some American aristocrats believed in a society that had a stable government, and others believed in the people’s will. The rising men during this period of forming a government in the late 18th century were Hamilton and Jefferson. Jefferson went on to become the 3rd president of America in 1801 but this essay will analyze how Hamilton’s ideas and politics would influence Jefferson’s tenure and America as a whole. Hamilton’s outlook of good government and capitalism would seep into America. Hamilton’s notion of government stems from the likes of Thomas Hobbes and Machiavelli, intellectuals …show more content…
Alexander Hamilton proved to be essential for America by persuading the likes of Washington, Maddison, and Jefferson in forming a bank for government finance. Alexander pushed for America to pursue economic growth and stabilize the new government of America. Hamilton was an advocate for taxes and industrial growth to solidify the national government. Stated in the Columbus Law Review, “Congress passed the first markedly protective tariff only in 1816, but Hamilton had laid the official base for the policy in 1791”. It was Hamilton’s perseverance and theories that led for Congress to pass the first official tax. This example visualizes how impactful Hamilton was for America not only as a political thinker but as a lawmaker. Hamilton focused on taxation but would receive much backlash due to past experiences with taxation. Hamilton would overcome the people who were against it, and the Congress would gain taxing powers.Other federalists and elites would approve Hamilton's idea of taxation, the opposing force like Jefferson would have to lean on taxation during his presidency. Hamilton lost to Jefferson, but his work and ideas triumphed Jefferson’s reign. Protective tariffs, funding programs, and spending for national interest were all entwined with Hamilton’s notion of a strong government. In Burr, Hamilton, and Jefferson: A Study in Character, Kennedy stated in his studies that as a …show more content…
Merrill described in The Anticapitalist Origins of the United States, “ Hamilton as the champion of a new liberal society based on equality of opportunity and Jefferson as a defender of a tradition-bound, hierarchical order”. This quote from Merrill’s research demonstrated what some historians depicted Hamilton and Jefferson as. Hamilton was an elite who took laws from the British empire and shaped them into the American legislature. Alexander kept the spirit of America intact while also producing an economic surplus and building a strong military. Jefferson led with agrarian ideologies, like limiting trade with foreign powers but establishing trade networks within the United States. These new policies and regulations under Jefferson did not advance the United States’ capita especially when he advanced the Embargo Act in 1807. This declined the trade and profit for America, a quote in the History of Congress displayed the how effective this law was, “Since that law had passed, information had been received that evasions were already practised under it; information had been received, that, as cost-wise commerce was permitted by the embargo, merchants were giving up their registers and taking out licenses”. The Embargo Act could be seen as a derailment of capitalism and foreign affairs, some individuals believed this was a
Although it can be argued that Thomas Jefferson’s government policies were better than Alexander Hamilton’s, Hamilton, overall, had the better policy because of his persistence to progress, his federalist beliefs, and his understanding of the issues with Jefferson’s trust in the common man’s morals. Thomas Jefferson can be described as a leader who lived in the present*, whereas Alexander Hamilton had his vision set on the future of the country. He saw America’s strength lying in its commerce, and saw industry, trade, and manufacturing as forces of progression. In order to fuel the nation’s success in the global marketplace, a strong federal government would be needed. Hamilton supported a powerful central government because he recognized that
Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States, was more of a significant figure than Alexander Hamilton due to his accomplishments, such as reinforcing the freedom of speech. Thomas Jefferson was one of the American founding fathers, an author of the Declaration of Independence, a Democratic Republican, and the third president of the United States. Alexander Hamilton, on the other hand, was also one of the founding fathers, a secretary of the treasury, a Federalist, and an analyst of the economic and political weaknesses. Both of them were presidential candidates, however, they had major differences between themselves. As resulted from the conflict, Jefferson had won the election.
History 201 In the three-letter correspondence between Thomas Cooper and Thomas Jefferson, the two influential men argue whether a British or American government is superior. Thomas Cooper delicately argues for the successes of the British government due to its capability to function as one of the leading nations of the world while Thomas Jefferson argues vehemently for the prosperity of the American society because it maintains safety and happiness for the country and for the individual. Both men’s claims are supported by sufficient evidence throughout the letters.
The difference between the two were Hamilton’s vision was about manufacturing, banking, and unification and Jefferson’s idea was on farming and individuality of the states and the people. Hamilton’s was right that its was important for the U.S. economy to have a national banking systems, we have this today. Jefferson thought that we would not have any need for a national banking systems. Our country went more in favor in Hamilton,
Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton two great leaders that played a major role in United States history, both helped to shape America. Who would be the best out of the two? Jefferson and Hamilton shared different views. Alexander Hamilton who was a federalist he did not believe in the people and favoured and strong government. Jefferson an anti-federalist the opponent of Hamilton, believed in the people and favored a weak government.
With President George Washington leading the nation, there were two visionaries who helped shape our nation. Their opposing views aide in understanding where the Government stood and the economic visions of these two men in the 1790’s. Alexander Hamilton vision of leading the nation was to push the country forward, organizing, and more modern. Thomas Jefferson was an agrarian who believed in keeping order and only that congress should only take action when absolutely necessary. On December 14, 1790 Hamilton, the Secretary of the Treasury’s Report on a National Bank was introduced.
While Hamilton went about his ideas in a more industrialized way, Jefferson was very individualistic in his beliefs, and favored an Agrarian America. Hamilton and Jefferson’s differences of ways in eliminating the national debt were showed through their general belief system. While their motives were similar, these two men were nonetheless different, and overall shared very few similarities, and often exposed their gaping differences. It is known that Hamilton’s ideas were the more favorable idea’s and were in turn placed into effect, but some to this day wonder what America would be like today, had Jefferson’s ideas been more
After a fiercely fought revolution, the newly independent American nation struggled to establish a concrete government amidst an influx of opposing ideologies. Loosely tied together by the Articles of Confederation, the thirteen sovereign states were far from united. As growing schisms in American society became apparent, an array of esteemed, prominent American men united in 1787 to form the basis of the United States government: the Constitution. Among the most eminent members of this convention were Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, James Madison, and Thomas Jefferson. These men, held to an almost godly stature, defined the future of the nation; but were their intentions as honest as they seemed?
Jefferson v. Hamilton There are many conflicts in the early years of the American politics. There are two famous political parties during the early years of American Independence, and their ideologies were completely opposite. Thomas Jefferson was the third American President from 1801-1809. Alexander Hamilton was the founder of Federalist party and President Washington elected him as a first secretary of the treasurer.
Jefferson presented his golden points about the rights of states and how a republic would keep the fire of personal liberty and virtue alive. He favored strong state and local government with the dream of farmers being able to control their fate. He also believed a centralized government would just result in another in a problem similar to the one America had with Great Britain. Meanwhile, Hamilton just rambled on about having a strong, powerful federal government that would give the people more opportunities.
Alexander Hamilton was one of the key people in the ratification and debate on the constitution, and his philosophies helped shape present America, which is surprising as Hamilton “ famously called ‘democracy’ a ‘disease’ and a ‘poison. ’”(Martin 21) This is not necessarily because he believed in a monarchy or other system of government, but because of his lack of faith in the public, his beliefs that the educated should rule, and the direction the American government took with the inclusion of the Bill of Rights. Although this ideology placed too much faith in the educated, it did consider real problems with a government created by and for the people. Unlike Jefferson who often left affairs more in the hands of the people, and time than his own actions, Hamilton felt that the people should simply vote for officials and then
Leaders of the Philadelphia Convention met between May and September of 1787 to address the problems of the failing Articles of Confederation. The result of the convention was the creation of the United States Constitution. This new Constitution left the public opinion split between two parties known as the Federalists and the Republicans. The Federalists who were mostly made up of the wealthy, well educated ratified the new Constitution; on the other hand Republicans also know as Antifederalists were generally farmers and lower class people and they apposed the new Constitution. The Federalists and Republicans had many contrasting views including their perspectives on government power, economy, and foreign affairs.
John Lauritz Larson the professor of history at Purdue University explores the captivating consequences that result from the market revolution in early America. With a passion for the matter and creative thinking, his research leads him to unanticipated consequences that plunge Americans with the transition to capitalism that relates economic change to the liberty and self-determination of individuals. According to Larson, there are remnants that are still relevant in history today. The mass industrial democracy that is placed in the modern United States bears very little resemblance to the past which was a simple agrarian republic. All because of the market revolution, the transformation resulting in the tangled foundation we know today
Each one had their own view of how to do this, but it was a main goal of both politicians. Alexander Hamilton was a founding father and leader of the Federalist party. Hamilton wanted America to be just like Great Britain. He believed that in the best interest for the country, the government should be run by elite people with lots of money. Hamilton was The United States Secretary of Treasury, during this time, and proposed many of his reform ideas to Congress.
The first National Bank, he displayed his brilliance as an economist. He also outlined a plan to create the capital required to kick start a prosperous economy and introduced government tariffs, subsidies, and awards to encourage American Manufacturing. According to John Steele, Alexander Hamilton can take all the credit for creating an economy that went on to become one of the strongest in the world. This article discusses essential information that support my point of view. Many points in history have lead to this.