Alexander Hamilton: Thomas Jefferson Vs. Hamilton

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Dorothy Curtin Jefferson v. Hamilton 11/2/17 Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton, two of the most distinguished leaders in United States history began to lay the foundation the future generations would build the government upon in the 18th century. After successfully becoming an independent country after the American Revolution, America faced the challenge of building a strong economy and constructing a stable government. Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson sought to develop ways to overcome these issues while building a strong Nation, however, these two influential leaders disagreed on the main issue concerning where the government's power should lay. From this issue, stemmed the disagreements on how to recover the Nation out of debt, …show more content…

From a political standpoint, Hamilton wanted to quickly industrialize the Nation as it would strengthen the economy. Through his ‘Report on Manufacturers’ Hamilton made it clear that protecting and encouraging small industries would make a balance between agriculture and manufacturing, promote self-sufficiency, and increase wealth and power in the Nation. Manufacturing, he argued, would create a more independent country as they wouldn't depend on foreign nations for certain goods and it would also provide a path to the global market that America was isolated from. Hamilton envisioned prosperity through a diversification of labor as he saw immigrants coming to America, boosting job growth. However, from Jefferson's point of view, he saw industrialization and manufacturing a threat to the agrarian way of life. He wasn’t opposed to the principal of manufacturing, he argued that if manufacturing were to function in the American economy, it shouldn’t replace agrarianism, which he feared would happen. If America were to industrialize too quickly it would lead to problems for the country in the future. Jefferson, however, went against this belief of strong agrarian economy when he passed the Embargo Act in 1807. This act had unseen effects as it encouraged industry and manufacturing …show more content…

Hamilton had a strong belief that the Constitution could be interpreted loosely which meant the constitution permitted everything that it did not specifically state or forbid. According to Hamilton, the Constitution gave the Federal Government ‘implied powers’ power to execute what was needed for the county, even if it wasn't stated directly in the Constitution. He backed his argument through his support in the ‘elastic clause’ which was in Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution. This clause gave flexibility and granted Congress the power to do what was “necessary and proper” for the government to carry out their enumerated powers. Because of the elastic clause, Hamilton said it justified Congress establishing the National Bank. Contrary to Hamilton, Jefferson looked upon the Constitution as a document that should be interpreted literally. If a law wasn’t directly written in the Constitution, it was deemed unconstitutional. Jefferson feared that if the government followed a belief of loose interpretation, they would have too much power and could violate individual and states rights. He also believed that powers that were not given to the Federal government are given to the states under the 10th amendment, which supported his claim that that the Construction should be strictly interpreted. Hamilton and

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