Politics American Style

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

12 days to the end of the semester.

Do Now: Go to the Wikipedia website

Look up Alexander Hamilton

What American political party did he help found?

Due in 10min


After the constitution was ratified many Americans were happy that their new nation now had a government that was based upon a set of written laws.

However there was not universal agreement about how much power the Federal Government had and how much control it held over the people of the United States.

Even though no one in the United States wanted the country to break itself into separate political parties it soon became apparent that there were differences that would do just that.

The first major disagreement of the new nation was over the issue of the National debt. The Revolutionary War had left the USA heavily in debt to other nations.

Alexander Hamilton was a man who believed in a strong national government and he also believed that the new nation needed a strong hand to guide since the “common man” was incapable of running a government.

Hamilton’s beliefs made him a Federalist.

People who opposed Hamilton’s beliefs were called anti-Federalists. They believed in limited government and rule by the people.

The disagreement between these two groups was over what to do with the national debt.
Hamilton and the Federalist wanted the Federal Government to assume all the debts incurred by states.

The Anti-federalist were less concerned in paying off the debt and more concerned about freeing themselves from the control of the Federal Government and foreign banks.

Hamilton knew that for the USA to be treated as a sovereign nation in the world . It must make an effort to pay its debt. Hamilton also wanted to assume the debt because it would grant power to the Federal Government since the foreign banks and governments that were owed money would deal only with the Federal Government as opposed to the state governments.

To accomplish his plan Hamilton needed to gain the support of the southern states. The southern states had little debt as compared to the northern states. To convince them to support his plan and the Federalist point of view, Hamilton promised them that the new
National capital would be built in the south.

Guided Reading WS Due Tomorrow