Debate over the Strength of Central Government

The creation of the first national bank in the United States was of utmost importance in setting precedence for how much power the constitution actually grants the government. The debate over whether to create a national bank raised many questions over the constitution that hadn’t been tested before. It also raised questions about what the government can do when the constitution has no written clause on a certain subject. In looking at the arguments from Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and Thomas Jefferson regarding a national bank, people can find out more about how some of the leading founders of the Constitution wanted to see the United States government run.

Following the affects of the weak Articles of Confederation set in place in 1777, a change in government was in order after the articles had proven their inability to control or tax the American people. The creation of The Constitution began a new era in American Government and set a new formation of laws and separation of power. The transition from the two very different systems of government was a turning point in American history and led to the type of Government we have to this day. After the Revolutionary War and America’s separation from England, it was now up to the American People to decide the kind of government they wanted. After winning the war, the last thing that they wanted, was to have another government that would abuse the

During the constitutional convention, two plans were proposed to solve the problem of state representation in the government. The first of the two plans was the Virginia Plan, proposed by James Madison and the second being the New Jersey Plan, proposed by William Patterson. Both plans consisted of three branches of government, executive, legislative, and judiciary. however, the New Jersey Plan allowed for multiple executives. Additionally, the Virginia Plan had a bicameral legislature, both houses based on state's’ population or its wealth. The New Jersey Plan, on the other hand, has a unicameral legislature, with its single house giving a single vote to each state

small states which means that the size of a state should have a input on whether it has more say in the government than one less of it size. One way that the documents show that this is in the constitution is when it says that the representatives should be put in service according to the amount of people in the state. It also shows another point when it says the senate should have two senators that are chosen to serve for a term of six years. Big states vs. little states protects against tyranny because it makes sure that the small states are not discriminated against because their size that they shouldn’t have the same amount of say as the larger states in what happens in the government around that serves

Fixing financial policies is very important. A national bank would establish financial policies. This bank is chartered under the Federal government. Hamilton believed in the need for banks to fix financial problems such as providing credit to people and to stimulate the economy. The Federalist party funding the old revolutionary wars debt and the state's debt. “The Senate passed it handily on January 20, 1791, and the House followed in early February” (pbs.org). This shows that hamilton's bank plan easily went through congress and it was passed. After all this information lets

Of the many plans to structure the government present the two that drew the most attention were the Virginia and the New Jersey Plans. Both of these plans were decimated by members of the convention for various reason. The plan from Virginia was viewed as a structure that would be more beneficial to larger states because it recommended an executive and judicial branches of government in addition to a two chambered congress with all representation based on the population of the state which was less beneficial to smaller states such as New Jersey. While the plan recommend called the New Jersey Plan would be just the opposite of the Virginia Plan since it called for a stronger national government to support the Articles of the Confederation with the ability to tax and regulate commerce between states. The New Jersey Plan also called for a single chambered congress and each state having one single vote. Deliberations lasted many weeks until finally

Hamilton wanted us to start to push our own goods. Industrialization was essential in his views. (Farless) He believed that a strong government would provide a good business that would allow industries to grow. He established a National Bank and funded the National Debt so that the United States would have a national credit that would standardize a national currency. Hamilton argued that the bank would provide stability to the specie-starved American economy by making loans to merchants, handling government funds, and issuing bills of credit; much as the

The largest dispute between these two plans was over the differing population sizes. The Virginia Plan called for representation to be determined by the population of a state. This meant the larger the population, the more representatives it would have. This satisfied the bigger states but left smaller states like New Jersey with less representation. Alternately, the New Jersey Plan pushed for each state to have equal representation. The Virginia Plan called for a bicameral legislative branch while the New Jersey Plan wanted a unicameral legislative. With a bicameral legislative each state's amount of votes would be based on their population. With a unicameral legislative each state would be entitled to only one vote. These quarrels eventually led to the two plans being examined, and certain ideas merged to fulfill the needs of both

The Federalist argument is one that is defined by a strong central government. Some federalists included Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay. These people were also the authors of the famous “Federalist Papers”, they wrote under the name “Publius”. These essays explored different aspects of federalist ideas about government. Some of their most famous works were Federalist Papers #51 and #10. In these, Hamilton explored the nature of man from their natural “ambitions” to the formation of “factions” (Federalist Paper #51, #10). These two papers focused on suggesting a means of controlling these things, including checks and balances and political parties. These papers were created very much in the line of federalist thinking. Federalist

On the other hand, delegates from less populous states favored the New Jersey Plan which declared that all states would have an equal amount of votes. This idea goes back to the Articles of Confederation giving each state one vote. Both ideas were strongly reinforced by their respective sides, but they needed to be combined together in a way that would satisfy both large and small states.

small state. Large state vs. small state mean they are try to balance power among them. In Document D, it states, “The number of representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand, but each state shall have at least one representative… The Senate of the United States shall be composed by the legislatures thereof for six years; and each senator shall have one vote.” These laws in the Constitution are to make sure that all the states have equal power and all state must have equal representation so that they can have a say in the government. If the Constitution was not existent, some states would have total control over other states because the smaller states didn't have a say. Large state vs. small state protects against tyranny because each state was able to have at least one or more

The first was called the Virginia plan, and was developed by James Madison. It proposed two houses, both based on population, which that the larger states had more say than the smaller ones. The second proposal was the New Jersey plan, proposed by William Patterson. This proposal wanted one house where all states got equal

This plan allowed for the larger states to have more representation in Congress, which would lead to more votes, more power, and eventually they would become a large group of tyrants. Document D explained how each state was able to have at least one or

Another matter the two men disagreed on was the establishment of a national bank. Hamilton wanted a national bank so he could forge a relationship between business and the federal government. Jefferson, on the other hand, thought that such a bank would encourage people to leave agriculture for guesswork and give business interests too much power in the federal government.

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