Opposing Philosophies: Hamiltonianism vs. Jeffersonianism

The American colonies had spent seven years freeing themselves from the oppression of British rule.  In effect they had seceded from the British empire.  The looming question was how would they rule themselves?

Initially the colonies had allied around the Articles of Confederation.  Protecting state sovereignty and freedom was of the utmost importance.  Under this document congress had very limited power.  It could:
    1) make war or peace and set quotas of men and money for a
        national army.
    2) make treaties and alliances
    3) decide interstate disputes, limit state boundaries and admit
         new states
    4) borrow and regulate standards of coinage and weights and
        measures
    5) establish post offices

Hamilton disliked the Articles of Confederation.  He lamented that there was no federal judiciary, no executive, no taxing power and no direct power over the individual citizen.  This confederation of states was in reality an alliance of 13 individual republics.  He did not trust the general populace and thought that states were too concerned with their own interests and overlooked the "common good".  More than that, he realized the wealth and power to be obtained by embracing mercantilistic economic policies.  Hamilton was not the only one who saw weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation and a convention was called to address these concerns. 

Hamilton idealized the British form of government. As a delegate for New York in the 1787 Constitutional Convention, he purposed a government that closely mimicked the British government. He wanted an elected but permanent President (King) and Senate (House of Lords) qualifying that the occupants of these offices could be recalled for bad behavior.  He also wanted a House (House of Commons) that was democratically elected every three years.  His government would also include state governors that were appointed by the central government (like the governors that had been appointed to the colonies).  The federal government would be able to override any state law it felt was unconstitutional or against national laws and would be able to levy tax.  Of course, it also included a central bank. 

 In all fairness, Hamilton was not the only one who wrestled with the idea of a king and on what political philosophy to pattern a federal government-it was, after-all, the purpose of the convention.  There were others that wanted a strong central government-John Adams and George Washington to name a few; but the revolution had been fought to free themselves from the British system and they understood that the general populace would not support anything so closely related.

The opposing philosophy was that of  State Rights or State Sovereignty.   In contrast, these men felt that power consolidated in the hands of a few would lead to corruption. They wanted to avoid what the colonies had experienced under British rule and felt the best way to overcome it was to spread power among many and have strong checks on those in power.  Not only that, but laws and regulations written on a local or state level would more accurately solve problems and express the will of the people.  A federal or central government would help resolve conflict between states and see to the overall safety from outside forces.

The greatest opposition come from the anti-federalists. They saw great fatal in the constitution and feared that the general welfare clause would open the door to a strong central government and the ultimate oppression of the citizens

Thomas Jefferson was ambassador to France at the time of the convention. When he learned of the document he supported it with the stipulation that it needed a Bill of Rights.  Most citizens agreed with Jefferson and felt that the Constitution was a fair compromise.

On the surface it appeared that Hamilton had been persuaded.  Deep down that wasn't the case.  As the Secretary of the Treasury under George Washington he successfully laid a foundation to expand the powers granted to the federal government.  As the anti-federalists feared,  Hamilton relied heavily on the idea of the "common good" (general welfare clause) and used it, as well as the idea of implied powers,  in support of  more federal power.

In the first session of congress Hamilton successfully persuaded congress to consolidate all debt from the revolution in the hands of the federal government as well as accumulating more for projects.  An important point to note is that many southern states had already paid down much of their debt from the war.  So in effect they paid their debt as well as much of the northern debt.  This would become a reoccurring pattern and a thorn in the side of southern states. With debt came a national bank and a push for protective tariffs for manufacturers.  None of these activities were specifically authorized by the Constitution.

Jefferson felt that they had been tricked and that the constitution, as written, had not been given a fair chance to work.   The country began to divide and the philosophical differences fell along geographical divides as well.  The strongest support for state sovereignty and a decentralized government being in the South and a strong centralized view held in the North.

As I will point out in a later post, the North held a greater population and the South often felt that they were not fully represented in Congress and therefore  paid for more than their share for northern projects and business success.  Southern secession grew from a disenfranchised populace.

Bibliography

Chernow, Ron. Alexander Hamilton. New York: Penguin Press, 2004

Cunningham Jr., Noble E.  Jefferson vs Hamilton:Confrontations
     That Shaped a Nation. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2000

DiLorenzo, Thomas J.  Hamilton's Curse.  New York: Three Rivers
      Press, 2009

written by Nikki             .