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Opposing Views Of Alexander Hamilton And Thomas Jefferson

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Both Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson had many differentiating views on many different topics. During the time period when they had been living, America was just starting out as a country. It took many years for America to become a successful and powerful country, but during the time period when Hamilton and Jefferson had been alive, the country had yet to run smoothly and orderly. Since America had been just starting out as a country, many important decisions had to be made. Alexander Hamilton had been born on the island of St. Croix in the Caribbean, but at a young age a hurricane had struck the island, causing Hamilton to write a vivid description of the storm impressing anybody who read it. The island’s leaders recognized this young …show more content…

Hamilton sided with the Federalist Party, who wanted wealthy and educated men to run the country and a strong federal government. On the other hand, Jefferson sided with the Democratic-Republican Party. This party wanted to limit the powers of the federal government and give majority of the power to the states and the people. They didn’t want just a specific type of group/people to rule the country. Hamilton and his party thought that the citizens were selfish and only cared for their well being, so therefore Hamilton did not trust any form of government that gave too much power to the people. Hamilton also believed that having educated and wealthy men, like himself would help America flourish. He wanted to see America become prosperous and number one and having these type of men would accomplish that. Federalists also assumed that states’ rights weren’t as important as national power and unity. This party thought that if the power was left in the hands of the people, the country was going to be doomed. Therefore, the Federalist wanted a solid form of government. However, Jefferson thought the opposite, along with the Democratic-Republicans. He wanted a majority of the power to be in the people's’ hands. The Democratic-Republicans argued that having a strong federal government was like a monarchy; this was their biggest fear. They did not want to leave all the power to the government, …show more content…

One thought that the people only cared for themselves and were selfish, while the other thought that the people were smarter than that and could make intelligent decisions for the country. Hamilton’s view of human nature was shaped by past wartime experiences. During the war, Hamilton had witnessed the selfishness of people. He believed that the people only cared for themselves and were only interested in goals that would benefit themselves at the end of the day. He didn’t trust any form of government that dedicated too much power to the people. By leaving the power to the people, he thought this would lead to confusion and miscommunication between the people and the government. And furthermore many Federalists had agreed with Hamilton. Unlike Hamilton, Jefferson believed that the people were wiser than that. Jefferson knew that the people were capable of making decisions that not only benefited them, but the rest of the country as well. Jefferson had a great faith in the goodness of people's’ hearts and their sharp minds, but that faith was mostly dedicated to people who worked with soil (farmers, planters, etc). He believed that citizens could make smart decisions too rather than people who worked in the government. Even though both men had contrasting views on human nature, they both had wanted the country to be ran by people like

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