Alexander Hamilton And Thomas Hamilton

Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson were key Founding Fathers of America who contributed to its freedom and independence. Both men were influential leaders of their time whose visions for the future of the country were clearly contrasting. Hamilton believed for a strong federal government and an economy based on banking. While Jefferson desired for a nation to be controlled by the states and its people. Their competing visions for the United States are still in debate until this day. Although Jefferson’s ideas were significant to America, many of Hamilton’s philosophy still holds in today’s government.

Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson represent the polarizing ends of the political spectrum in the early days of the United States government. Traditionally, Hamilton has been viewed as being in favor of a strong central government and a loose interpretation and application of the United States Constitution while Jefferson favored a weak central government and a strict interpretation of the Constitution (Foner, 2008).

Conflicting views and contrasting ideologies have always existed throughout the history of United States politics. Alexander Hamilton, who led Federalist Party, believed that a powerful central government was necessary while Thomas Jefferson, who led the Jeffersonian Republican Party, favored an agrarian nation with most of the power left to the states. Although Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson were similar in that they both harbored good intentions and tried to keep the best interests in mind for the future of the United States, their policies were drastically different. Without doubt, both of their contrasting ideas served a vital role in forming the government.

Alexander Hamilton was one of the most influential figures to shape American finances. He made his contribution through the The Hamiltonian Economic Program. The goal of his plan is to improve the American economy through three steps. The first is to pay off the nation’s national debt in order for states to focus on business. This way maximum profit can be achieved. The second step is to place tariffs on imported goods to gain money. Lastly is to create a national bank in order to regulate money flow and currency. However, Thomas Jefferson strongly disagreed with Alexander Hamilton’s views which was evidently seen in the political parties, the Democratic Republicans and the Federalists. One of the main differences between the two is regarding the type of government America would have. Hamilton favored a strong federal government while Jefferson favored a small local government.

Although both men were important in the Revolution and in the establishment of the United States, they did not coordinate until Washington chose Hamilton to be the Secretary of the Treasury and Jefferson to be the Secretary of State. From the beginning, the two men harbored

In the history of America, Thomas Jefferson, the Secretary of State, and Hamilton, the Secretary of the Treasury, were two of the greatest leaders of our country. Although they both lead the country, that's where the similarities end as they had opposing views on everything. Jefferson was a republican while Hamilton was a federalist. Jefferson had been opposed to all of Hamilton's ideas, such as his financial plan, his interpretation of the powers of the government, his foreign policy, and his vision for the future of America. Jefferson was against Hamilton's views because his financial plan would ultimately destroy democracy in America, his interpretation of the powers of

Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton were very different in their methods to try and develop America as a nation. The two were very much alike because they both were avid Americans, and wanted to see the nation succeed. Both men were very involved in the U.S. Government and tried to voice their opinions on

Whose side would you have been on in the 1790s, Thomas Jefferson’s or Alexander Hamilton’s? Both of these men served under George Washington in the first presidential cabinet, yet they had very different views of what government should be (Davis 86). My objective in this research essay is to inform the reader of why there was so much controversy between these two founding fathers, and to determine which side had the better views for our newly forming country.

Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton were completely at odds in their vision on how America was to develop. Hamilton wanted to concentrate power in a centralized federal government with limited access and Jefferson wished to diffuse it among all the eligible freemen of the time. Alexander Hamilton feared anarchy and distrusted popular rule while Jefferson feared tyranny and thought in terms of liberty and freedom.

     Hamilton and Jefferson had very different opinions. This undoubtedly caused them to debate heavily during the times they served this position in the government. However, it also gave Washington a wide range of ideas coming from his closest advisors.

The United States began as a weak, newborn nation that grew into a large, self-supporting country with a governing body unique to this time period. As the government grew and the nation prospered, the rise of leaders and political figures came about and with this, conflicting principles and ideology spawned, thus creating the first of the political parties; the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans. Although the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans ideology and stances on the power of the federal government, domestic economic policies and the group of constituents they represented differed vastly, members of both parties often compromised their own beliefs for the nation’s best interest as a whole.

Though both Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson served as members of President Washington’s cabinet, the two held very different views on the newly founded U.S. government, interpretation of its constitution, and the role of the “masses” in that government. These conflicting views would develop in two political parties, the Federalists led by Hamilton and the Democratic-Republicans led by Jefferson. Although both political parties presented enticing aspects, Hamilton’s views were much more reasonable and fruitful when compared Jefferson’s views; idealistic and too strict in reference to the constitution.

The argument between Federalists and Anti-Federalists might seem long gone to American citizens, but still their philosophical foundations shape the teams, scope and size of the battlefield. These philosophies go back to two lone men, Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson. Both fought aggressively for a government based on their ideas, and both did make portions of the now-standing American government. This essay will outline the political, social and economic philosophies of both men, how their philosophies influenced the government today, and a closing opinion.

Alexander Hamilton’s vision came closer to becoming a reality in the 1820’s. By the 1820’s, the Embargo Act, War of 1812 and the Panic of 1819 played a very important role in the reshaping of our countries economic development and scope and power of the American government. The conflict between Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton visions was necessary and made a huge impact on the American development. The main topics of conflict between Thomas Jefferson was the type economy, how much of a role the government played in the lives of the people and how they felt about slavery and the growing black population in America.

Alexander Hamilton was an immigrant from the Caribbean who came from a poor family; his parents died at a young age, leaving him to care for himself. Hamilton was born in 1757, and America gained its freedom in 1776. In the years between Hamilton’s birth and the year America gained its freedom, Great Britain was in control of America’s rules, and the citizens living there. Through many treaties and protests, a war ultimately formed between America and Great Britain. The war was America’s effort to secede from Great Britain’s power. With the great amount of help that came from Hamilton after America won the war and wrote The Constitution, America was able to lead themselves into a flourishing country. There are many parallels between Alexander Hamilton and America, these parallels being that they both came from nothing to something, and had to teach themselves how to be free and how to work their way to the top. This meant that our country and Hamilton learned a lot about themselves and their place in the society that we have, which led them to ultimately lose their innocence and come of age.