Why couldn’t Hamilton and Jefferson get along?
Alexander Hamilton was born on January 11, 1775 in Nevis, British West Indies and Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743, Shadwell, VA. They both grew up on plantations and had families and siblings. However, Jefferson had nine siblings while Hamilton only had his younger brother James A. Hamilton. The two men had a great adoration for reading and were brilliant. They were phenomenal writers and had many famous works. They were both a part of the founders and the two were in Washington’s cabinet. Even though they had a few similarities, the two could not be more contrasting. Once in Washington’s cabinet, the tension began and only escalated as time went on. Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson were destined enemies because they originated from differing backgrounds, economic ideals, and politics, which played a large role in them not being able to get along.
Hamilton and Jefferson’s backgrounds helped shape their thoughts and ideals that would later be a contributing factor of their rivalry. Alexander Hamilton’s father was a French nobleman who had left to tend to a sugar plantation in an attempt to attain wealth but prosperity never came. Hamilton grew up with hardships, his father abandoned him and his mother died when he was very young. Life for young Hamilton was difficult and impoverished. From this, his independency grew and he found work. He was so astute he could even run the business,
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.
Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson were key Founding Fathers of America who contributed to its freedom and independence. Both men were influential leaders of their time whose visions for the future of the country were clearly contrasting. Hamilton believed for a strong federal government and an economy based on banking. While Jefferson desired for a nation to be controlled by the states and its people. Their competing visions for the United States are still in debate until this day. Although Jefferson’s ideas were significant to America, many of Hamilton’s philosophy still holds in today’s government.
I would befriend jefferson because he doesn’t have his eyes set on one goal, he considers all possibilities and supports all of them. I think Hamilton is sort of a stuck up jerk, he has no hope in farmers only industrial manufacturing. jefferson was a hardworking man he wrote the declaration of independance. Unlike Hamilton, Jefferson believed that people could make good decisions as long as they were informed. Jefferson believed in a strong state government. He was a curious man with an itch for interesting facts.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson represent the polarizing ends of the political spectrum in the early days of the United States government. Traditionally, Hamilton has been viewed as being in favor of a strong central government and a loose interpretation and application of the United States Constitution while Jefferson favored a weak central government and a strict interpretation of the Constitution (Foner, 2008).
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.
Alexander Hamilton was one of the most influential figures to shape American finances. He made his contribution through the The Hamiltonian Economic Program. The goal of his plan is to improve the American economy through three steps. The first is to pay off the nation’s national debt in order for states to focus on business. This way maximum profit can be achieved. The second step is to place tariffs on imported goods to gain money. Lastly is to create a national bank in order to regulate money flow and currency. However, Thomas Jefferson strongly disagreed with Alexander Hamilton’s views which was evidently seen in the political parties, the Democratic Republicans and the Federalists. One of the main differences between the two is regarding the type of government America would have. Hamilton favored a strong federal government while Jefferson favored a small local government.
Although both men were important in the Revolution and in the establishment of the United States, they did not coordinate until Washington chose Hamilton to be the Secretary of the Treasury and Jefferson to be the Secretary of State. From the beginning, the two men harbored
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
Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton were very different in their methods to try and develop America as a nation. The two were very much alike because they both were avid Americans, and wanted to see the nation succeed. Both men were very involved in the U.S. Government and tried to voice their opinions on
April 13, 1743 Albemarle County in the English colony of Virginia was the start of an American historical giant. Thomas Jefferson was born in affluence to his father, Peter Jefferson, a rising young planter in the Virginia colony, and his mother, Jane Randolph, who held a high status within the colony as well. Due to his father’s prosperity Jefferson was afforded the absolute best in the ways of education, starting with private tutors at the age of five, then moving on to learn how to read Greek and Roman in there original text and finally taking his studies to the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg which he would say is “…what probably fixed the destinies of my life…” pg 5. On the other side of the spectrum, a few years later
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.
After the Constitution was ratified people had their own opinion about it. The Federalists who were James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay just to name a few has a loose interpretation of the Constitution. On the other hand, the Republicans which was lead by Thomas Jefferson had a very strict interpretation of the Constitution. Both parties had a different view which will cause controversy later on.
The political standings of Hamilton and Jefferson were the foundation and beginning of their lifelong arguments and disagreements. Hamilton was the leader
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.