Jefferson vs. Hamilton
The Contrasting Visions for the United States' Future
In the time following the American Revolution, the blueprints of the US government were still being formed. Two founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton, had fundamental influences on the future of America. Each presented different political visions, Hamilton being a staunch elitist who firmly believed in the importance of a strong centralized government, and Jefferson representing the Agrarian, down-to-earth lower class.
The current makeup of our government was largely influenced by Hamilton’s ideas, but Jefferson still laid his mark on the construction of our present regime.
Constitutional Influence
During the creation of the Constitution, Hamilton proposed what many believed to be a monarchal style of government. Although this belief was then disregarded, he proved to be a powerful contributor to the Constitution’s content. Though Jefferson was in France at the time of the Constitutional Convention, his first published work, A Summary View of the Rights of British America, was an influential piece to the outcome of its labor. Despite his input, Hamilton had the upper hand as a causative authority in the Constitutional Convention.
Hamilton's Elite Supremacy
After the Revolution had ceased, an enormous war debt lingered in the country as countless Americans sought their payments. High, relapsing taxes were imposed on citizens, forcing yeoman farmers to lose property, resulting in Shay’s rebellion. The poor farmers were outraged by the crushing debt and taxes being forced upon the lower class.
Hamilton believed in utter elite domination, commenting that “the people are turbulent and changing; they seldom judge or determine right. Give therefore to the first class a distinct permanent share in the government.” He had no faith in the aptness of the lower class’ opinion. Although today’s common people possess a larger voice, it was he who fathered the elitist aspects of our government’s current system.
Jefferson's Agrarian Understanding
Jefferson had a completely different outlook on the image of an ideal America. He opposed taxes that fell most heavily on Agrarian farmers, and contested the industrializing ideas of Hamilton. Jefferson fiercely loathed the First Bank of the United States (founded by Hamilton), which served no use in the case of southern farming states, whose agricultural industry did not require centrally concentrated banks. He is quoted saying “that the principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale.” The Bank eventually expired twenty years after being founded, but Hamilton was quick to revive it five years later.
Jefferson also opposed the Report on Public Credit, a product of Hamilton that suggested that the country’s war debt be placed in the hands of the federal government instead of in the hands of individual states. Virginia, for example, had already paid around half its debt off, and many Jefferson supporters strongly resisted the proposal’s preposterous proportions. Jefferson believed in the even distribution of liberty, whereas Hamilton supported the even distribution of war debt.
The Unfortunate Outcome
While the fate of US government hung on a limb, many clashing opinions were thrown at each other, all demanding their role in the country’s future. Some had louder voices - Hamilton being a significant one. While Jefferson did have an everlasting effect on the way our country is run, his adversary tended to have a stronger influence on the approaching development of the United States.
References:
Eric Foner's Give Me Liberty!. W. W. Norton & Company, July 2004
Eric Foner's Voices of Freedom. W. W. Norton & Company, July 19, 2004
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