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
Not only did their differences in the way Jefferson and Hamilton were brought up differ, especially their ideas and views on government and the Constitution. Jefferson, our first Secretary of State had differing ideas on government that Hamilton. Jefferson said about the Constitution, “…I like the organization of the government into Legislative, Judiciary, and Executive…” This quote states that he favors a more viewpoint in which he favored a small government and states’ rights. Today, he would have been part of the Republican Party. He also believed that the Majority should always be victorious, and that the nation should stick to an agricultural lifestyle. Since he favored the Constitution and wrote a majority of it, there were things that upset him when he was
Two of the greatest American Political figures during the revolutionary era of the U.S were Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson. Despite being such icons and both being revered by historians today, they were actually rivals. This could have been due to the conditions they were born and raised into, the same conditions that would shape their political outlooks as well. To see how their life developed how and why they became such iconic political figures, we must analyze both Hamilton’s and Jefferson’s lives up to the point whence their careers turned to politics.
Federalists wanted a strong Federal government, however the Democratic Republicans opposed it. The original members of the Democratic Republicans said that, “People would only be safe if ordinary people were in government.” They believed that the people would know what's right and they would make a lot of good decisions. The Federalists however wanted the government to be powerful. Hamilton wrote, “The people are turbulent and changing; they seldom judge or determine right.” He is right because our founding fathers agreed that if the people were angels there would be no need for a government , guess what we are not angels so we will make mistakes. To help make the people make better decisions Hamilton believed they needed a government above them. The Democratic Republicans also wanted the states to have more power and not the Government, as you can imagine there were more disagreements.
The main reason that rise to conflict between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson is their contradict ideas about the government. As a federalist supporter, Hamilton find favor in a strong central government, meanwhile, Jefferson believe in a limited government. Because his fear of mod rules, HaMilton distrusted that a government should be ruled by everyone. He acknowledge that a strong central government
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.
The two different visions of assembly of Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton conveyed understandings of American power and the American people. For Hamilton, America's quality lay in the business industry. His America was one of delegates, specialists, speculators and banks. His party anticipated those would help these people battle in an overall business focus. Hamilton was suspicious of state governments, obliged as they were to slim neighborhood interests.
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
Someone who was polar opposite of Alexander Hamilton in their views was Thomas Jefferson, a member of the Democratic - Republican Party. Jefferson was in favor of a smaller central government with more power to the states. He perceived that it was unconstitutional to have the federal government to have so much influence on daily life. Jefferson thought that agriculture should be the backbone of the economy. He also did not support the idea of a central bank, Jefferson thought that the U.S. should pay off all of its debt and stay out of business affairs.”Those who labor in the earth are the chosen people of god…..for substantial and genuine virtue”(Document D). Thomas thought that America should be the voice of ALL of the people so he wanted the common people to be able to have more of an influence in the government. Jefferson did not trust the wealthy people in government and thought that the more down to earth farmers and commoners would keep them in check. A very prominent difference in Hamilton and Jefferson was their views on the constitution. “Powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution,
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.
Jefferson, as a Republican, believed in a society that distrusted the rich and that was run by farmer-citizens. He was a strong supported of not the upper class but, "the people". A defender of human liberty, Jefferson believed in a minimum of government and favored power at the local level. Jefferson also believed that if people were given the opportunity, they would be decent and reasonable. Jeffersons supporting party disagreed with many of the things that Hamilton and the Federalists proposed and passed as laws, including the idea of the national bank. Madison, in fact, argued on behalf of the Republicans that the federal government had no righ to establish a federal bank because it was not among the enumerated powers of Congress found in the Constitution. The Republicans also ignored the Naturalization Act, nor
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.
Developing a country and its principals comes with many debates, arguments, and many decisions to be made. In the end of the eighteenth century the Founding Fathers of the newly established America dealt with the difficulties of creating a country with strong political, social, and economic power. With the writing of the Articles of Confederation the country had now developed a national government, but was weak and ineffective. The top leaders of the country knew the flaws of the Articles and gathered together to rewrite the draft. When these decisions makers met in Philadelphia for the Convention the Constitution of the United States was written. This Constitution developed the foundation of the American governmental system. Along with
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.