Alexander Hamilton

No. Thomas Jefferson was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence. Five men from the Constitutional Convention were delegated as a committee to write it. In addition to Thomas Jefferson they were John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert R. Livingston, Roger Sherman.

1) As a illegitimate child, Hamilton was not allowed to attend school, and was mostly self-educated.

2) Made manager of a shipping company on St. Croix at age 14.

3) Wrote essays and reports for his local newspaper, that so impressed the community that they took up a colection to raise money for him to attend college in New York.

4) Became a lawyer and published the first manual on civil legal procedures in America.

5) Wrote more of the Federalist Papers than any Founder; he is the author most-cited by the Supreme Court in making it's decisions.

6) Founded the New York Post - the oldest, continuous daily newspaper in America.

7) Volunteered to serve in the Conintental Army, and quickly promoted to Washington's cheif assistant - largely responsible for organizing, equipping, and supplying the Revolutionary Army.

8) Made the first Secretary of the Treasury - the 2nd most powerful office in the US -by Washington.

9) Issued his Report on Manufactures which was used as a basic guide for US trade relations from 1790 - 1975.

10) Helped found the Bank of the United States.

11) Commanded a battalion at the Battle of Yorktown. There he personally led a charge against a British stronghold, and even climbed upon the shoulders of his own men to attack the enemy.

12) Represented New York in the Constitutional Convention.

13) Founded the New York Manumission Society - One of the first anti-slavery groups in America.

It's not ture, it's true!

The duel between Vice President Aaron Burr and former Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton took place in Weehawken on July 11, 1804. Hamilton died the following day, and a new running mate was chosen for Pres. Jefferson for the 1804 election.

--- he was a Constitution signer, and the sole signer from New York, going against the political grain of his own state.

--- he wrote 51 of the 85 Federalist Papers, devised the Papers, and recruited Jay and Madison.

--- he was the nation's first Secretary of Treasury, and as such he drew up policies in use today. He got the nation out of debt; by 1795 the nation had an excellent credit abroad. Without Hamilton's work Jefferson would have been unable to carry out the Louisiana Purchase.

--- he established the US Customs Service, the US Coast Guard (its later name), the US Mint, and the First National Bank of the US, which was the forerunner for the Federal Reserves

--- he was a part of the court case Croswell v People, which involved libel, and his argument in the case greatly influences how we try libel cases (truth and intent protect you)

--- he helped to establish the New York Evening-Post

Not bad, considering his origins.

(There were earlier a few answers, but I took the liberty of condensing them into a neater list.)

Hamilton wanted a strong central government, but Jefferson believed that it was the right of the people to rule their economy.

Some modern scholars believe that the historical record confirms Hamilton as a "steadfast abolitionist"; others see him as a "hypocrite.". For example, Hamilton returned an escaped slave to a friend. Hamilton's first polemic against King George's ministers contains a paragraph which speaks of the evils which "slavery" to the British would bring upon the Americans. One biographer sees this as an attack on actual slavery; such hostility was quite common in 1776. During the Revolutionary War, there was a series of proposals to arm slaves, free them, and compensate their masters. Freeing any enlisted slaves had also become customary by then both for the British, who did not compensate their American masters, and for the Continental Army; some states were to require it before the end of the war. In 1779, Hamilton's friend John Laurens suggested such a unit be formed under his command, to relieve besieged Charleston, South Carolina; Hamilton wrote a letter to the Continental Congress to create up to four battalions of slaves for combat duty, and free them. Congress recommended that South Carolina (and Georgia) acquire up to three thousand slaves, if they saw fit; they did not, even though the South Carolina governor and Congressional delegation had supported the plan in Philadelphia. Hamilton argued that blacks' natural faculties were as good as those of free whites, and he forestalled objections by citing Frederick the Great and others as praising obedience and lack of cultivation in soldiers; he also argued that if the Americans did not do this, the British would (as they had elsewhere). One of his biographers has cited this incident as evidence that Hamilton and Laurens saw the Revolution and the struggle against slavery as inseparable. Hamilton later attacked his political opponents as demanding freedom for themselves and refusing to allow it to blacks. In January 1785, he attended the second meeting of the New York Manumission Society (NYMS). John Jay was president and Hamilton was secretary; he later became president. He was also a member of the committee of the society which put a bill through the New York Legislature banning the export of slaves from New York; three months later, Hamilton returned a fugitive slave to Henry Laurens of South Carolina. Hamilton never supported forced emigration for freed slaves; it has been argued from this that he would be comfortable with a multiracial society, and this distinguished him from his contemporaries. In international affairs, he supported Toussaint L'Ouverture's black government in Haiti after the revolt that overthrew French control, as he had supported aid to the slaveowners in 1791 - both measures hurt France. He may have owned household slaves himself (the evidence for this is indirect; one biographer interprets it as referring to paid employees), and he did buy and sell them on behalf of others. He supported a gag rule to keep divisive discussions of slavery out of Congress, and he supported the compromise by which the United States could not abolish the slave trade for twenty years. When the Quakers of New York petitioned the First Congress (under the Constitution) for the abolition of the slave trade, and Benjamin Franklin and the Pennsylvania Abolition Society petitioned for the abolition of slavery, the NYMS did not act. Historian James Horton concludes that Hamilton's racial views, while not entirely egalitarian, were relatively progressive for his day.

In the winter before their terms ran out, Adams and the federalist congress worked together to pass the judiciary act 1801. This law added 21 positions to the roster of the federal judges.

As a way to help pay of America's debt

~Improved Answer;; Well Hamilton needed to come up with a way to pay of for the dept America was facing at the time... Also it was somthing George Washington asked him to do; Hopee I could help Kandee Conelly.

No they were poor

Hamilton's financial plan is significant not only for its attempt mostly successful to restore the nation's credit

Small Farmers, cause Alexander Hamilton's policy supported big business owners :P

Alexander Hamilton Church was born in 1866.

its easier to ask what they didnt disagree about (;

but they isagreed about the national bank mostly. Jeffeson declaredit unconstitutional, buyt Washington went for it. Jefferson was a Democratic- Republican and Hamilton was a Federalist, so they did not see eye to eye on most things.

yes he did wear a wig like most people in the 1700s-1800s

Alexander Hamilton believed that a major role of the federal government was to support and encourage trading with other countries.

I believe that Alexander Stephens was a practicing Roman Catholic ... I am researching the question myself, and came across this website from a google search. Will check back in if and when I am able to determine for sure. Deo Vindice :)

Hamilton supported greater federal power. (study island)

He argued there are both implied and expressly enumerated powers, and that both types of powers are delegated to the national government.

This is a lecture from my U.S. history class at Miracosta college. Posted by: Arturo Arevalos, my history teacher.
It would be hard to imagine how Americans could govern themselves without political parties constantly vying for the voters' support by formulating alternative policies and offering different leaders to deal with the vital public business. Yet these institutions for democratic decision-making did not exist at the birth of the Republic. Those who designed the Federal Constitution in 1788 made no provision for parties and indeed the founding fathers increasingly denounced groups seeking political power as "factions-scheming, narrow, selfish elements pursuing goals contrary to the common good, the bane of all experiments in free government". Nevertheless in the decade immediately following the adoption of the federal constitution, modern political parties began to appear in the United States. For over a decade the Federalists and the Jeffersonian Republicans competed for power. Federalist dominance during the 1790s generated a strong Republican counter-attack that captured the national government in 1801 and steadily overcame opposition in the states. Rarely has partisan conflict engendered so much fear, hatred and bitterness as in the 1790s. Each party accused the other of desiring to subvert the established order and of harboring dangerous partiality for foreign nations and alien ideologies. Each denounced the other as factious and challenged the legitimacy of opposition. It seemed for a while that the worst fears of the framers of the Constitution were realized: the nation was torn apart by corrosive rivalries that were destroying the unity indispensable for national survival. Charles Beard was the most influential exponent of an economic interpretation of American history. For him it unlocked the secret of the origin of American political parties. He argued that rivalry between conservative merchants, capitalists and other large property owners and radical mechanics, workers, planters, and small farmers shaped American political experience. Those radicals who opposed the Constitution did so because they believed it served the interests of the wealthy. They became known as Anti-Federalists and later Jeffersonian Republicans. Conservative supporters of the Constitution believed it served their interests and sought to reap the rewards under the banner of the Federalist Party. For a decade the Federalists ruled for the benefit of merchants, manufacturers and holders of public securities until the rural masses led by some planters organized the Republican Party as a vehicle for recapturing government from the moneyed aristocracy. Success came in the revolution of 1800 when Thomas Jefferson, champion of agrarian democracy, was elected President. It is argued that class conflict gave rise to the two-party system. We begin by customarily separating American political history into three periods, using changes in party names as the basis of division. According to this scheme, there have been three great party alignments since the formation of the Constitution: Federalist versus Republican/Democrats 1789-1816, Whigs against the Democrats 1830-1856, and Republicans against Democrats 1856-present. These alignments have been merely phases of one broken conflict originating in the age of George Washington and continuing to our own time (the only difference is that what once Republicans argued for is now being placed at the steps of Democrats who wish to rid themselves of this new stigma- that of supporting a strong centralist government). The first of these alignments was connected more or less directly with the contest over framing and adoption of the Federal Constitution. Authorities generally agree that the main support for the Constitution came from merchants, manufacturers, government bondholders and other people of substantial property interests. The opposition came mainly from inland farmers, debtors and less prosperous families of the country. The feelings aroused by the contest over the Constitution had not disappeared when the first administration was organized in 1789 with Washington at the helm. It was the economic measures of Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury, which in time divided the country into two parties. Seven of his policies deserve attention. The first was the funding of the national debt. All the old bonds, certificates and other evidences of indebtedness issued by the Continental Congress during the Revolution were called in. New bonds for face value given to the holders angered some Americans for this benefited only a handful. The assumption of the revolutionary debts of the states was the second issue. The Federal government called in the revolutionary debts of the states and issued new federal bonds; that is, the Federal government assumed the obligations of the states and added them to the general debt of the nation. Thus the common people, not the wealthy, paid for the war. These two operations, funding and assumption, deeply affected the purses of the masses. Before Hamilton began his work, the old bonds and notes issued during the Revolution had been selling at from ten to twenty cents on the dollar, because the national government and several states had failed to meet their obligations. During the dark days of uncertainty a large part of this paper had been bought at low prices with a view to profit making. In the end, funding and assumption increased the value of the depreciated securities to the amount of forty million dollars. To raise the money to pay the interest on the debt, the federal government had to lay heavy taxes on the people, most of who were farmers, not bondholders. The third cause was the passing of protective tariffs. This measure was for the protection of American industries by the imposition of custom duties on imports coming into competition with American products. Hamilton openly favored an elaborate system of protectionism. Although his plans were not adopted in full, the first revenue bill passed in 1789 was mildly protective and in time other protective features were added. Consumers always pay more when tariffs are added, while manufactures charge higher prices without fear of foreign competition. This angered the masses. The idea of a United States Bank was the next measure. Under Hamilton's leadership, Congress chartered a banking corporation. Three-fourths of its securities were new federal bonds. It was empowered to issue currency and do general business. Who was allowed to hold these bonds and who made handsome profits only angered the masses against the privileged elites. A sound national currency benefited one class at the expense of another. Under the new Constitution, the states had to stop issuing paper money. The gold and silver coin of the United States now provided by law became the money of the country, with the notes of the U.S. Bank circulating on parity. Can you figure out how a sound national currency helps one class at the expense of another? Hamilton favored American shipping to encourage the construction of an American Merchant Marine. Congress provided that the tonnage duties on foreign-built and foreign-owned ships should be five times as high as the duties on American ships. In line with this, other concessions were made to native shipping, especially that engaged in the China trade. Once again the masses would pay for the huge gains of the few owners of American shipping. The seventh measure, the creation of a national defense, which could be used against the people of the United States, really angered the public (one might argue it was the creation of our modern National Guard which gives the executive branch of a state or nation the power to use an army against the people). In creating a navy and a standing army, Congress had more in mind than the mere defense of the country against foreign foes. The navy was useful in protecting commerce on the high sea and the army in suppressing uprisings such as had occurred in Mass. in 1786. In other words, economic factors as well as patriotism were involved in the process. Who paid for the military, and who served in the forces and who benefited were questions which when answered angered the masses. In foreign affairs, most Americans stood with France. But when the wars of the French Revolution broke out in Europe, the Washington administration, largely inspired by Hamilton, sympathized with England as opposed to France. It looked as if the United States had abandoned the French. It was the French who helped the United States obtain its independence and many Americans disliked the Federalists. Now these measures were not excursions in theory. They were acts of power involving the pocketbooks of groups, affecting the distribution of wealth and the weight of classes in politics. Certainly six of them bore directly upon the economic interest of citizens (which six do you think?). Under these laws, large sums of money were paid to holders of government bonds who had been receiving little or nothing; people who were moderately off one day found themselves rich the next. Under these laws, stockholders in the U.S. Bank earned handsome profits on their investment, protected manufacturers entered upon a period of prosperity, and merchants and moneylenders were enabled, by the sound national currency system, to carry on their operations safely in all parts of the country. Under these laws heavy taxes were collected to pay the interest on the bonds to maintain a new government. Were these things done for the beneficiaries at the expense of other classes, notably the farmers, or did the increased production caused by the operations more than cover the cost? On this point economists disagree and historians cannot answer the question mathematically. In any event, however, a considerable proportion of the American people came to the conclusion that the Federalist measures and policies enumerated above in part transferred money to investors, merchants, manufacturers and the capitalistic interests in general at the expense of the masses, a majority of whom were farmers and planters. In time the citizens who took this view of the Hamiltonian programs were called Anti-Federalists and later Democrat/Republicans under the leadership of Thomas Jefferson who once stated that the "cultivators of the earth are the most valuable citizens. They are the most vigorous, and they are tied to their country and webbed to its liberty and interests by lasting bonds." In logical relation he had a low opinion of commerce and industry, which created urban masses. "The mobs of great cities" he asserted, "add just so much to the support of pure government as sores do to the strength of the human body." Holding such opinions, Jefferson set out to enlist a large following in his struggle against the capitalistic measures of Hamilton. He made his strongest appeal to the agriculturalists of the country. And when his party was fully organized he took pride in saying that the whole landed interest is Republican. Appealing to the farmers and the masses in general against the large capitalistic interest, Jefferson's party inevitably took a popular, that is, a democratic turn. This was in keeping with his theories, for he thought that kings, clergy, nobles and other ruling classes of Europe had filled their countries with poverty and misery and kept the world in turmoil with useless wars. The common people, he reasoned, if given liberty and left alone would be happier under their own government than under any ruling class. Thus his party became a democratic-republican form of government. Economic issues alone did not create the new party. The Anti-Federalists also had ideological differences, which helped formulate the second party. At the center of the theoretical expression of the Anti-Federalist opposition was increased centralization of power in the national government. The Anti-Federalists believed that a republican government could only work for a relatively small territory and a relatively small and homogeneous population. Associated with the argument regarding size was the assumption that any people who were to govern themselves must be relatively homogeneous in interest, opinion, habits and mores. They also argued that the way Federalists had set up the national government precluded the common person from running for office for it was too highly elevated and distinguished. They wanted a government run by the common man not just a government of the rich. Plus associated with a government of the rich was the argument that the Constitution did not deal with human nature. Anti-Federalists chided the Federalists for their excessive confidence in the future virtue of elected officials and criticized the Constitution for its failure to provide adequate protection against the operation of "Bad Drives." Absolute power corrupts Absolutely if there are no safeguards. It is to be noted that this dreadful lust for power was regarded as a universal characteristic of man, which could be controlled but not eradicated. They charged the authors of the Constitution failed to put up strong barriers to block this corruption. They were also upset at the exclusion of religious tests as dangerous and impolitic. For without such, they supposed pagans, deists and others might obtain offices among us and that the senators and representatives might all be pagans, etc. They wanted a more rigid system of separation of powers, more numerous and more effective checks and balances than the Federalists. And they argued that their biggest fear was with the Senate more than the Presidency. They wanted the Senate checked. The power to recall should be made easier. The Anti-Federalists also wanted the Constitution to have a bill of rights for the security of the common man's liberties. They therefore argued for a bill of rights as well as making the Constitution easily understood by the common man. The Constitution was far too brief. They wanted a constitution, which was detailed and easy to read. Finally, they too shared with the authors of the Federalist Papers the fear of parties and factions. Paradoxically, their differences with the Federalists created the two-party system. It was a system that existed since the beginning of the revolution within the revolution and was made possible by Hamilton's economic programs and their ideological differences. The two-party system was created with the third presidential election. In this election, the party alignment was complete. Jefferson, the leader of the Republicans, was roundly denounced as an atheist; Adams, the Federalist, was condemned by his opponents as the Monarchist. So sharply drawn was the contest that Adams was chosen by the narrow margin of three electoral votes. This only unified the Republicans as the second party. The two-party system was created and from 1801 to 1829 presidents calling themselves Republican occupied the White House. Although the Federalists would suffer a lingering death and after 1816 would disappear from the national theater, the precedent of two national parties had been established. The philosophical and economic issues that divided the two parties then are still debated today.

Hamilton established the first National Bank of the U.S. to assume state debts. Hamilton used his loose constructionist views to ensure that America had a strong national government. Most Republicans have his view, that the government which governs the least governs the greatest.

People often change thir beliefs and cannot choose right. He believed masses of people were ignorant and should be governed, not govern.

Yes he did.

Hamilton supported a looser interpretation of the Constitution so that the central government could be strengthened at the expense of the state's rights.

He believe that the government should be allowed to use the implied powers and the elastic clause from the Constitution to his advantage.

Purchase territory from Spain

Vice-President Aaron Burr killed his political rival Alexander Hamilton in a duel in Weehawken, NJ, resulting from a published letter that implied Hamilton had made derogatory comments about Burr's character. Hamilton allegedly intentionally fired into a tree; Burr shot Hamilton in the abdomen, damaging internal organs and severing his spinal cord. Hamilton died the next day, July 12, 1804.

he made a national bank

thomas jefferson didn't approve of it because of strict interpretation-if it's not in the constitution, then you can't do it

alexander hamilton got it approve because of loose interpretation- finding loopholes to get things done--he used the part that said that if it is necessary, then it is fine (in the constitution)