Directions: Read the following document and—using this and referencing your notes-- answer the
question in at least one page: What was the role of Alexander Hamilton in the creation of our nation?
Ratification of the Constitution
Hamilton was one of the New York delegates to the Constitutional Convention, which sat in
Philadelphia from May to September 1787. Although he served on several important committees,
his performance was disappointing, particularly when measured against his previous (and
subsequent) accomplishments. His most important speech called for a government close to the
English model, one so high-toned that it was unacceptable to most of the delegates.
Hamilton's contribution to the ratification of the
Constitution was far more important. In October 1787 he
determined to write a series of essays on behalf of the
proposed Constitution. First published in New York City
newspapers under the pseudonym "Publius" and
collectively designated The Federalist, these essays were
designed to persuade the people of New York to ratify the
Constitution. Though The Federalist was written in
collaboration with John Jay and James Madison, Hamilton
wrote 51 of the 85 essays. First published in book form in
1788, the Federalist essays have been republished in many
editions and languages. They constitute one of America's
most original and important contributions to political
philosophy and remain today the authoritative
contemporary exposition of the meaning of the cryptic clauses of the U.S. Constitution. At the
New York ratifying convention in 1788, Hamilton led in defending the proposed Constitution,
which, owing measurably to Hamilton's labors, New York ratified.
Secretary of the Treasury
On Sept. 11, 1789, some 6 months after the new government was inaugurated, Hamilton was
commissioned the nation's first secretary of the Treasury. This was the most important of the
executive departments because the new government's most pressing problem was to devise ways
of paying the national debt—domestic and foreign—incurred during the Revolution.
Directions: Read the following document and—using this and referencing your notes-- answer the
question in at least one page: What was the role of Alexander Hamilton in the creation of our nation?
Hamilton's program, his single most brilliant achievement, also created the most bitter
controversy of the first decade of American national history. It was spelled out between January
1790 and December 1791 in three major reports on the American economy: "Report on the
Public Credit"; "Report on a National Bank"; and "Report on Manufactures."
In the first report Hamilton recommended payment of both the principal and interest of the
public debt at par and the assumption of state debts incurred during the American Revolution.
The assumption bill was defeated initially, but Hamilton rescued it by an alleged bargain with
Thomas Jefferson and Madison for the locale of the national capital. Both the funding and
assumption measures became law in 1791 substantially as Hamilton had proposed them.
Hamilton's "Report on a National Bank" was designed to facilitate the establishment of public
credit and to enhance the powers of the new national government. Although some members of
Congress doubted this body's power to charter such a great quasi-public institution, the majority
accepted Hamilton's argument and passed legislation establishing the First Bank of the United
States. Before signing the measure, President Washington requested his principal Cabinet
officers, Jefferson and Hamilton, to submit opinions on its constitutionality. Arguing that
Congress had exceeded its powers, Jefferson submitted a classic defense of a strict construction
of the Constitution; affirming the Bank's constitutionality, Hamilton submitted the best argument
in American political literature for a broad interpretation of the Constitution.
The "Report on Manufactures, " his only major report which Congress rejected, was perhaps
Hamilton's most important state paper. The culmination of his economic program, it is the
clearest statement of his economic philosophy. The protection and encouragement of infant
industries, he argued, would produce a better balance between agriculture and manufacturing,
promote national self-sufficiency, and enhance the nation's wealth and power.
Hamilton also submitted other significant reports which Congress accepted, including a plan for
an excise on spirits (whiskey) and a report on the establishment of a Mint. Hamilton's economic
program was not original (it drew heavily, for example, upon British practice—think Adam
Smith), but it was an innovative and creative application of European precedent and American
experience to the practical needs of the new country.