Why did Hamilton and Jefferson argue over?

Answer 1

They had very, very, very contradictory ideas toward it. It really wasn't money, but what they thought the government should DO with the money.

Alexander Hamilton, who really had more say as Secretary of the Treasury, believed that the national debt needed to be paid off, and paid off fast, and in doing so, the state debt had to be assumed by the government. He also argued for a national bank, a US mint, and, most importantly, that the US needed to become a manufacturing-based nation.

Thomas Jefferson, who had much less influence as Secretary of State but was also friends with the very influential James Madison, believed that the national debt could wait. He opposed Hamilton's financial policies with a vengeance. Assumption terrified him and Madison, who also thought that a national bank was unconstitutional -- they were very strict constructionists who thought the constitution had to be taken literally - and also that the US should stay an agricultural nation based on farming with a majorly undiversified economy.

While Hamilton was Secretary of the Treasury he faced fierce oppositions to his policies and even was called the worst name of all - a monarchist. But in the long run, after several bitter fights with Jefferson over money, since they had such radically different ideas, he would win out.

Answer 2

Hamilton believed in loose construction of the Constitution, which means that the government can take reasonable actions that the Constitution does not specifically forbid. Jefferson believed in the strict construction of the Constitution, which means that people who favor it think that the federal government should do only what the constitution specifically says it can do.

Answer 3

The disagreement led to the development of the nation's first two political parties, Democrat and Republican.