The Economic Conflicts Of Alexander Hamilton

Another thing that Hamilton had done was fight through the revolution as George Washington's right hand man and he was able to, after fighting, fund the nation's federal debt. The writer states “great achievement was funding the federal debt at face value, which rectified and nationalized the financial chaos inherited from the Revolution” (history.com Para. 5). We can tell that he fought through the war, risking his life to help America and eventually help America, even more, afterwards. After going through a tough life so far he was able to also become the nation's first Secretary of Treasury, which deals with the nation's debt and credit which he helped create. It states in the article “As secretary of the treasury” (history.com Para. 5). This just simply shows that he was able to become the Treasurer. Hamilton in total was a very good man, nevertheless, he had cheated on his wife and kinda caused the death of his son helped form America and is very awesome.

3. What was Hamilton’s plan for debt reconciliation? Hamilton suggested funding the debt by selling government bonds, and further proposed that state debts be assumed by the national government. Why was Madison opposed to it? Madison believed that Hamilton's plan "was betraying the ideas of the American Revolution."

During the eight years under the Articles of Confederation, the national debt continued to grow. The country came up with solutions, but the states ignored them. A correspondent in the Independent Chronicle in 1787 plead, “How long are we to continue on our present in-glorious acquiescence in the shameful resistance that some of the states persist in, against federal and national measures?” (Humphrey 2003, 113). Printer Nathaniel Willis called the young country a “union in crisis” (Humprey 2003, 106). Lack of revenue and no way of forcing states to contribute was one of the major and most noted flaws in the Articles of Confederation (Henretta et al. 2010).

The year is 1772. A young and orphaned Alexander Hamilton writes passionately about a devastating hurricane that had passed through the island he calls home. This letter would be his ticket to New York City, a chance for him to escape his melancholy island life. That first piece was the beginning of a great figure, a founding father for the United States.

In 1789, George Washington appointed Hamilton as the first Secretary of Treasury. As the Secretary of Treasury, Alexander Hamilton devised plans that funded national debts, assumed the states’ Revolutionary War debts, and established the First National Bank of the United States. Hamilton also influenced many key Federalists in the House of Representatives to make Thomas Jefferson president in the Election of 1800, and was killed in a duel in 1804.

Hamilton was appointed by President George Washington as the first Secretary of the Treasury Department. Hamilton was a Federalist and wanted a strong central government which means it should have more power than the states. Hamilton believed in a loose interpretation of the constitution which means the document allowed everything if it did not forbid. During the French Revolution, Hamilton supported and was an ally of Britain. Hamilton wanted elite rule America. The Federalist Party would be one of the “rich, the able, and the well-born” (Foner, Give Me Liberty, I, 295) as Hamilton stated. Hamilton favored a close relationship with Britain and he wanted America’s economy like Britain where trade and manufacturing were priorities. Hamilton desired to develop the economy and financial stability of the United States, so he established an economic five-program in 1790 and 1791. The first part was to establish the new nation’s credit worthiness which means people

Before the Revolutionary War had occurred, many people were coming to the new colonies to start a new life; one of the people was Alexander Hamilton. He had come to the colonies after impressing people in the Caribbean and who then sent him to America to get a better education (“Alexander Hamilton”). Hamilton was an important figure in American history, but very few today remember who he was and what he did. Alexander Hamilton took a stand against traditional government by writing against and battling the British, fighting for the new U.S. Treasury, and arguing for the ratification of the U.S. Constitution.

Due to the enormous expense of fighting the revolutionary war, America was in debt as soon as it became a country. Both the national and state governments had accumulated large amounts of debt in the war effort. As the first secretary of the treasury, Hamilton had the responsibility of paying off the national debt, which was about $11.7 million to other countries and about $40.4 million to U. S. private citizens. In addition to the national debt, the state governments had also accumulated around $25 million of debt. In order to raise money during the war, the United States government sold bonds with the promise of buying back the bonds at a higher rate in the future. However, following the war the government was unable to fulfill that promise to the bond holders.

The Articles of Confederation proved to be inadequate as the first attempt to form a national government. The Articles displayed an American fear of having another strong national government. Due to the fear of this type of government, no executive office was created and Congress received limitations on its power. Instead, states remained sovereign, forming only a “league of friendship” under the Articles. The states having more power than Congress lead to many failures and problems.

George Washington had recognized Hamilton’s leadership abilities and promoted him as Lieutenant Colonel. He was also an innovator of military design, where he designed reports on the defects and how there could be improvement in the military. While Hamilton was working as an adviser for Washington, Hamilton had come to realize the Congress' weaknesses, including jealousy between states, which he believed came from the Articles of Confederation (http://www.ushistory.org/). In 1782, Hamilton was convinced that establishing a strong central government was the key to achieving America’s independence.

Hamilton was of the view that the nation’s elite had to have a permanent seat in determining key decisions of the nation and aggressively pushed three white papers between 1790-91 to lay the framework of American Capitalism as it stands today. He also advocated for a strong Federal government and weak State governments. By his actions, he became the de facto leader of the Federalists.

An important problem with the Articles of Confederation were with money. The United States owed millions of dollars in result of borrowing money during the Revolution, and had no way to pay off their debts. Although Congress could ask states for money, they could not force them to contribute. Even though the states had made paper money, each state had a different kind of money. For example, Rhode Island used dollars,

Hamilton left the military in 1781. He had recently married Betsey Schuyler, and worked diligently for several months to pass the New York bar exam. Hamilton served as one of New York's most prominent lawyers in the early 1780s, and also began his political career, serving first as a national tax agent, and then as one of New York's representatives at the national Congress in Philadelphia. In 1786, Hamilton was chosen to represent New York state at a national convention held in Annapolis, Maryland, to amend the Articles of Confederation. When only a few of the delegates from the other states bothered to attend, Hamilton called for a second convention to be held in Philadelphia in 1787. This time, the delegates took the invitation more seriously, and created the outline for a new government by drafting the Constitution.

In the American nation, he developed love of regulation, efficiency and organization. Hamilton strongly showed that America must possess credit for the development of government operations, trade, industry and business activities. He stressed the importance of the central government to take over the debts of the state that were unpaid in the Revolutionary period (Scott, 2008). The central government was endorsed by the American Constitution to charge and collect taxes as well as pay liabilities (Robertson, 2005). Such operations can be professionally handled by a central bank. Therefore, Hamilton was characterized by thinking creatively and critically as he observed the potential of the trade industry’s immense power (Pancake, 1974).