Hamilton vs. Jefferson
During a cabinet meeting concerning the idea of the first bank of the United States, federalist Alexander Hamilton and anti federalist Thomas Jefferson debated the real issues of introducing the U.S. bank. Hamilton believed the bank would improve the nation’s credit and pay off the nation’s debts, while Jefferson believed that it was a way for the North to profit. This situation was important because during that time federalist and anti-federalist had issues agreeing with some concepts of the Constitution, and the northern states were in more debt than the southern states. This gave Jefferson reason to believe that concept of the first bank of the United States
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When the idea of the first U.S bank was proposed in 1790 the antifederalists believed that the banks should be primarily controlled by the states according to the 9th Amendment, while federalist believed that those kinds of powers should be held by the government. In one of his letters Hamilton stated, “If all the public creditors receive their dues from one source [the government]…their interest[s] will [be] the same. And having the same interests, they will unite in support of the fiscal arrangements of the government.”1 This showed that Hamilton, and the federalists, believed that if financial matters were controlled by one bank more loaners would support the government. The political parties’ opposing views on topics such as this made the process of approval more …show more content…
He also feared the U.S bank would create a financial monopoly that would undermine state banks4. The idea also interfered with Jefferson’s idea of the United States being a primarily agriculture society, but Hamilton supported his argument with facts about England’s public debt policy and how it helped them form an empire, and fight and pay for their wars5. Hamilton inferred from this, that a financial structure with public debt included is what the nation needed to boost its
It would collect all tax revenues. Farmers, and Americans in general opposed of this. Washington asked his secretary Thomas Jefferson for his opinion. Jefferson pointed out the flaws he saw in establishing the national bank. “To give it the sole and exclusive right of banking under the national authority… is against the laws of monopoly… to grant it a power to make laws superior to the laws of states… is wrong.”
The United States faced many problems during Washington’s administration. Washington was responsible for setting a firm foundation after the new government was formed. Washington could’ve easily set up a monarchy. But, by opposing this form of government, Washington set the U.S. up on the path to becoming a democracy instead of a nation ruled by dictators and strongmen. One of the first challenges Washington faced was the argument between Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton over a bank for the nation. Hamilton created the bank because he wanted to increase the power of the national government, but Jefferson opposed the idea because he believed it was unconstitutional, would benefit wealthy merchants, and it gave the national government
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
Hamilton believed that the government should be near-monarchical in order to keep human error in check. He was opposed to the cheap sale of western land, and believed that the Constitution was meant to be loosely interpreted, and most of his ideas required this view. His policies were highly centralized, focussed on helping merchants and utilized the doctrine of mercantilism and government controlled economic development, in order to legitimize the US on a global scale and make the economy succeed. Hamilton devised a plan that would help the US economy prosper through public credit, creating a national bank and raising revenue through tariffs. Looking globally, as many Federalists did, Hamilton recognized that the US would need loans from other countries, but needed to show that it could return these loans first. He suggested that Congress pay back the money that had been acquired during the Revolutionary War. He also created a national debt to pay back other holders, and assumed the state war debts, which would favor the upper class creditors. In addition to this, Hamilton persuaded Congress to create the
One of Jefferson’s and Hamilton’s first disagreements began with the idea of a National Bank. Hamilton suggested that the government should create the Bank of the United States Jefferson protested because this was not allowed by the Constitution. Hamilton opposed the view of Jefferson and stated that the Constitution’s writers could not have predicted the need of a bank for the United States. Hamilton said that the right to create the Bank of the United States was stated in the “elastic” or the “necessary and proper” clause in which the Constitution gave the government the power to pass laws that were necessary for the welfare of the nation. “This dilemma revisits the ever lasting dispute between the “strict constructionists” (Jefferson) who believed in the strict interpretation of the Constitution by not going an inch beyond its clearly expressed provisions, and the “loose constructionists” (Hamilton) who wished to reason out all sorts of implications from what it said”. Just a few years later, under President Jefferson, the federal government of the United States
There have been many controversies since the United States declared independence in 1776. One of the many domestic issues that divided American citizens was developing the First National Bank in the late 1700s. Hamilton was in favor, while Jefferson opposed and American citizens chose their side based on what they believed what was best for the country. Hamilton proposed a Report on a National Bank in December of 1790 announcing what the National Bank would include. Hamilton’s proposal included, “The bank’s stock would be worth $10,000,000. 20,000 shares would be sold privately at $400 per share ... 5,000 shares or $2,000,000 of bank stock would be bought by the U.S. government. The bank would be run by a 25-man board of directors - 20 chosen by the shareholders and 5 by the government. The bank’s president would be elected by the board of directors. Notes and bills (money) issued by the bank would be redeemable on demand ... and would be accepted by the U.S. government for all payments due. The bank’s charter would run for 20 years and would be subject to renewal by Congress. The bank would be allowed to establish branch offices in other cities; its main branch would be in Philadelphia, the nation’s capital” (http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/teachers/lesson_plans/pdfs/unit3_ 4.pdf). Although the first part of the bank bill, establishing a national mint, did pass with ease, supporters and opposers debated the rest of the bill, which included the development of
He wanted tariffs and business protections. However, Jefferson and his republicans, favored a simple agrarian economy, specifically approving the ‘yeoman’ farmer to which they needed the government to support the interest of the common man. Although Hamilton despised the violence and the social disruption of the French Revolution, Jefferson admired France’s republican revolution. Hamilton wanted Congress to establish a national bank, selling some of its stock to individual citizens as this would be good for investors in the bank to which, predictably, Jefferson thought was
Jefferson opposed Hamilton’s view on a national bank claiming his desire “to protect against the invasions of the legislature… [in] the States and state legislatures” (194). Jefferson and the Republicans believed that problems without a national bank could be solved by state’s banks. Another point of tension lies on the question of manufacturing. Hamilton ardently encourages support for manufacturing claiming, “Manufacturing establishment not only occasion a positive augmentation of the produce and revenue of society, … they contribute essentially to rendering them greater than they could possibly be” 181. Arguing for principles Adam Smith promoted like the division of labor shows Hamilton’s understanding of manufacturing and his desire to see Americans prosper in the workforce.
This would give the federal government a strong amount of power and relied on the trust of the federal government would take care of the people. Hamiltonianism was also focused on urbanization society, creating factories, cities, and later roads to further develop technological advancements quickly, opposing the rest of the world. Hamilton and Jefferson disagreed on the idea of a national bank like the English. Jefferson opposed this as he wanted to separate ourselves from the old country and not let the central government keep hold of everyone’s money, as he thought it was giving them too much power and influence. Hamilton was very trusted among his peers and Washington alike and wanted what was best of the country, he wanted to establish cities very early and create efficient commerce
Hamilton also proposed to pay off the foriegn debt and to issue new bonds to replace the old bonds. One of the most significant things Hamilton did was propose the idea of a national bank that would be funded by the federal government and private investors, and that would also issue money and handle all government funds. During the XYZ affair, the Federalists prefered to fight the French than to pay or negotiate, as the Republican position confirmed. The Federalists also agreed with and helped pass such laws as the Naturalization Act, the Alien Act, and the Sedition Act.
Gordon sums up the American economic history in six chapters of his book. He explains that the United States had taken on huge debts following to the American Revolution. In order to pay such debts back, Hamilton created the federal bank and convinced the Congress to issue federal bonds. This way the federal government could make interest payments on time, build credit and keep the inflation from rising. Hamilton thought that the national debt could be a useful tool in order to create capital for the new industries. In his book, Gordon also recalls that soon after the 1812 War the seventh President of the United States cleared the government debts thanks to surpluses deriving from high tariffs. Then, he explains that the introduction of the first Federal income tax in America during the Civil Was turned out to be crucial in order to investigate how to distribute the tax
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. Hamilton believed that America would flourish only if we were involved in heavy manufacturing and commerce. He believed a strong federal government could solve many of the new country’s financial problems including establishing a stable currency. He therefore established a national bank similar to the one in England to consolidate the states debt under the federal government and enacted protective tariffs to increase American manufacturing. He also knew the importance of promoting domestic manufacturing so the United States would no longer have to rely on imported manufactured goods. Jefferson was the complete opposite. He believed that it was essential that the citizens of the new country would grow their
The First Bank of United States – 1791 to 1811. Mr. Hamilton urged Congress to adopt the model he had come up with, which included one national bank that would hold the federal government’s deposits and would lend to the government and business. Though there was much opposition, the proposal was accepted but the bank’s charter was given a 20 year limit. The bank, known as First Bank or Bank of United States, helped to bring the economy of the country together. However, it was a private institution where foreigners owned 70 percent of the bank and this concerned the citizens of the United States. When the charter was up for renewal it was rejected and the bank was closed in 1811. ("First Bank of the United States" 1-16)
In addition to saving the integrity of the Federalist-dominated Supreme Court in the case of Marbury v. Madison, John Marshall also promoted certain Federalist principles, including the idea of a strong national government. From the years when the Constitution was being created, Alexander Hamilton fought for the creation of a national bank since he believed it was “necessary and proper” for the growth and development of the United States (“The Marshall Court”). As Hamilton and the Federalist Party had hoped, a national bank was created and one of its branches was placed in Baltimore, Maryland. State legislators from Maryland were not satisfied with the progress the bank was making because the negligent behavior of its bank officials was bringing the bank under (Newmyer, 295). To save their citizens from having to deal with the bank’s faulty leadership, the legislators attempted to drive the branch out of the state by placing a tax on all the banknotes issued by the bank. When the tax was purposely left unpaid, Maryland sued the cashier of the bank--James McCulloch. In the state courts, Maryland won its case,
The bank was not a central bank; it just held an account for the government and had little control over the fiscal policies in each state. However, the state banks still resented the power that the bank had. This is extremely hard to comprehend when comparing the power of the First Bank and the current Federal Reserve System.