Hamiltonianism Essay ⋆ Political Science Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

Hamiltonianism describes the public philosophy associated with Alexander Hamilton (1755–1804), the first secretary of the U.S. Treasury. As President George Washington began to distance himself from other key advisers, such as James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, Hamilton came to play the role of “prime minister” to Washington. Hamilton recommended sweeping economic reforms designed to address the government’s immediate financial crisis and to establish a foundation for future prosperity. Hamilton hoped the success of these policies would build confidence in the new government and establish its authority. Hamilton’s brilliant economic reports recommended that the national government assume the war debts of the states; engage in a complex refinancing of the national debt; create a national bank; and introduce new taxes, including a controversial excise tax. Hamilton also recommended, yet failed to enact, a plan for government to systematically encourage manufacturers to guarantee national self-sufficiency in defense-related industries, as well as to grow a domestic market for agricultural produce.

Hamilton’s economic recommendations grew from his broader views on government. An early and persistent critic of the Articles of Confederation, Hamilton strongly drove the adoption of a new constitution. He organized and contributed almost two-thirds of the essays to The Federalist, the classic defense and interpretation of the Constitution. He believed that a much stronger national government was needed, not only to keep the states in check but to accomplish the essential purposes of government. Hamilton made the case for the Constitution’s broad powers of taxation and regulation. He also argued for a strong executive who would ensure an energetic administration and could, when necessary, serve as a check on both the legislative branch and on popular passions. When Hamilton was later forced to defend the constitutionality of a national bank, he argued for a “broad” or “liberal” construction of the Constitution’s grants of powers. Where a power is granted, he reasoned, all the means necessary for accomplishing the ends or purposes of the power must be assumed to have been granted as well. Furthermore, the so-called necessary and proper clause means “necessary” in the sense of “convenient” rather than “strictly necessary.” The cloud that has always hung over Hamilton’s reputation is the question of the depth of his attachment to republicanism. At the Constitutional Convention, Hamilton declared his opinion that the England’s constitution was the best in existence and wondered whether anything short of it would do for the United States.

Thomas Jefferson’s election to the presidency in 1800 meant the effective end of Hamilton’s influence and that of his party, the Federalists. Still, Republicans, and later the Whigs, adopted many of his policy ideas. After the American Civil War (1861–1865), there was a greatly renewed respect for Hamilton, which lasted until the New Deal of the 1930s. Believing Hamilton to be undemocratic and too favorably disposed to the wealthy, President Franklin D. Roosevelt deliberately cultivated the image of Jefferson as a symbol of national unity. But again, Hamilton’s twentieth-century critics embraced many of his ideas regarding active government and an energetic executive.

Bibliography:

Chernow, Ron. Alexander Hamilton. New York: Penguin Books, 2004.
Knott, Stephen. Alexander Hamilton and the Persistence of Myth. Lawrence, Kan.: University Press of Kansas, 2002.
McDonald, Forrest. Alexander Hamilton: A Biography. New York: W.W. Norton, 1982.
McNamara, Peter. Political Economy and Statesmanship: Smith, Hamilton and the Foundation of the Commercial Republic. DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press, 1998.

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