Hamilton Vs. Jefferson
Posted by barryauh2o on April 20, 2008
When you hear most people trace back the two parties today to the founding fathers you get Thomas Jefferson was a Democrat and Alexander Hamilton was a Republican. This is completely wrong. Thomas Jefferson was worried about a strong central government and wanted states to have most of the rights. Alexander Hamilton was the complete opposite and supported tariffs.
Lets take a look, quote from Thomas Jefferson:
“A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor and bread it has earned – this is the sum of good government.”
quote from Alexander Hamilton:
“Why has government been instituted at all? Because the passions of man will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice without constraint.”
Sure, Hamilton’s quote doesn’t seem less radical than Jefferson’s but that is because the left in America at that time was like a moderate Democrat. Our country was founded by people who were afraid of government. That fear is only held by a small few. Those who have gotten comfortable and dependant on the state. They could not imagine a world with little or no government. Many even call for an increase in the size of the government to help these people who have no “reason and justice.”
Thomas Jefferson was and is a Libertarian-Conservative while Hamilton was a Moderate-Democrat. This is just one of many misconceptions about history that a good Conservative should be aware of. The spectrum has changed and we are regulated every day. As I have mentioned before Conservatives and Libertarians have been push overs to the Great Society and New Deal ideals. This is where it should stop. We are seeing a slow in our countries growth and it is not to be blamed on capitalism. It is the fault of government regulation. Regulation in almost all shapes and forms will decrease growth.
Conservatives: Read up on Thomas Jefferson, there is a lot to learn from a man who was constantly worried about big government.
Liberals: Read up on Alexander Hamilton, who realize big government was a problem but was trying to run big government without the problems. Liberals today deny the effects of certain things like the minimum wage and other regulations. That is for another post at another time.
Sometimes you have to know where you came from to understand where you are going. The Republican Party is going the wrong way and if we could correctly identify where we came from then maybe we could steer back on track.
~BarryAUH2O
Picture from this web site.
James Martin said
Uhhh… I don’t quite see eye to eye on you here. First off- Thomas Jefferson was very very suspicious of capitalism and in fact stood against Hamilton and a strong national government because he thought the nationalists were trying to plant capitalism as the nations’ economic engine (history takes Hamilton’s side in the fight). In face- Jefferson was incredibly suspicious and absolutely despised the idea of capitalism. So to suggest that Jefferson was a libertarian is absurd since he didn’t believe in capitalism and free markets… in fact he stood against them!!! Which political party is currently more suspicious of unregulated capitalism? It sure as hell isn’t the “big-business Hamilton” Republican Party.
Jefferson’s party was the party of the “common man” where there was an “equality of opportunity” while Hamilton’s party was the party of “government by the few”, aristocracy, and the rich merchant classes that believed a capitalist system should be forced on Americans. America’s 2 great populists- Andrew Jackson and FDR both saw their mission to continue the egalitarian mandate of Jefferson while the Republican big business types see Hamilton as their traditional founder.
Another point is that Jefferson would absolutely abhor the the religious nature of today’s Republican Party. His home would certainly be in the much more secular Democratic Party.
“Our particular principles of religion are a subject of accountability to our god alone. I enquire after no man’s and trouble none with mine; nor is it given to us in this life to know whether yours or mine, our friend’s or our foe’s, are exactly the right.”
Thomas Jefferson
Your argument that Jefferson was a “Republican” is absurd and no rational historian would agree with you. He was conservative- but so is a substantial portion of today’s Democratic Party. In terms of limited government- Who was the only president in modern times to actually reduce the size of government? DEMOCRAT BILL CLINTON!
There is no doubt in my mind that should Thomas Jefferson live today he would find his home in his Democratic Party (Today’s Democratic Party is founded directly on his ideas of liberty).
PS: The Federalists (Hamilton) become the Whigs who became THE REPUBLICANS while the Democratic-Republicans (Jefferson) became the Jacksonians which became THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY!
J. Tyler Ballance said
Before we go any further into a reprise of the Federalist Papers, I agree that it is necessary to understand our history, but it makes little difference which Party had a stronger commitment to Liberty, when neither of the modern parties do anything to support the Constitution, or enhance our Liberty.
I recently read Robert Byrd’s book, Losing America, where he rails against Bush’s undeclared war, torture, domestic spying and the use of signing statements to usurp the will of the People.
Byrd, who is infamous for injecting pork for his home state into every bill that he gets his hands on, also barks loudly against earmarks; of course citing those made by the Republicans while omitting his own.
The only value to reading Byrd’s book is that one can see that the Senator’s greatest criticism is for himself and his colleagues in the Senate, for failing to do their duty to check the power of the Executive branch. Congress abdicated to Bush, and his team have been running right over our Constitution, ever since.
The Joe Sixpacks and Sally Soccermoms, haven’t got a clue about how this affects them. All they know is that gas is going to reach $4.00 this summer and probably $5.00 per gallon early next year, and they feel powerless to do anything about it. It never occurs to them that being engaged in politics, and doing their part as citizens participating in self governance, could have a positive impact on their lives and the lives of our children.
Our national level candidates speak mostly in managed sound-bites that are nothing but vacuous platitudes about hope, security and family, but rarely engage in any real debate of anything that would be seen as a solution to any of our collective challenges. No one seems to notice that the candidates are saying nothing and few have noticed that the current President has routinely ignored the Constitution.
Those few of you who are still participating in this experiment of a self governing Republic, must demand from the candidates a thorough and thoughtful debate of plans for our future, including national energy independence, health care cost mitigation and a description of how the candidates will get government back within its Constitutional limits, as well as steps they will take to enhance our Liberty.
Our citizens need to be informed and they are not getting enough information to make rational decisions from the mainstream media. There are tough times ahead and those of us who are still participating need to get bright, conscientious Representatives in office to protect the rights of our fellow citizens, and prevent the further establishment of an imperial Presidency.
Archimedes said
First off, this is probably the most absurd and revisionist reading of both Hamilton and Jefferson I have seen in some time. Trying to pigeon-hole either of these two into Democrat and Republican boxes is idiotic. Neither man was a conservative, because modern conservatism didn’t exist. Neither did Libertariansim, so neither man could have been a Libertarian either. Both were far too intelligent to be Libertarian anyway, but that’s beside the point.
Second, the stuff from the most recent comment about gas prices is patently absurd. Being involved in government will have no effect on gas prices, because government doesn’t determine the price of gas. The only way civic participation will effect gas prices is if the government nationalizes the oil industry. Furthermore, this liberty-constitution stuff is the most absurd red-herring I have seen. The neurotic ramblings of a paranoid Texas congressman who acts as if he is the interpreter-in-chief of the constitution have no place in an intelligent debate of any kind. Nobody is taking your freedom away. Nobody is running over the constitution. All of this inane babbling about liberty without actually deminstrating how liberty has been constrained is the height of absurdity.
Getting back to Hamilton and Jefferson, your analysis of both men is demonstrably incorrect. Jefferson was not a Conservative or a Libertarian, at least not by modern standards. He was wary of authoritative government, true, but he was no less wary of the passions of the mob. He understood, like all Enlightenment thinkers, that government was necessary and that it must necessarily exercise control over those it governed. He and Hamilton certainly differed on how that government should be constituted and how it should exercise its sovereignty, but he was no Conservative/Libertarian. For one thing, as James Martin pointed out above, Jefferson was quite mistrustful of organized religion and even wrote his own “rationalized” version of the Bible. This alone should exclude him from the Conservative camp. He also, like his protege James Madison, feared the irrational impulses of the public will and understood that allowing people more liberty was one of the easiest ways for it to be lost entirely.
Hamilton, on the other hand, argued not for an aristocracy or strong central government, but for a strong executive. He did not reject the idea of seperated government or the idea of a popularly elected legislature, rather he argued that the most effective from of national government was one led by a strong executive. He understood that legislatures were fickle and prone to irrational impulses and the ebb and flow of popular sentiment. To remedy this, Hamilton called for a powerful executive who would be resistant to the passions and emotions of the public square and could therefore make more rational decisions based on interests rather than impuleses.
Both men understood that government must be popularly constituted and the guarantor of liberty. Trying to paint Hamilton as some white-haired totalitarian and Jefferson as a red-haired Ron Paul is absurd, dishonest, and grossly misrepresentative of their respective positions.
Hamilton vs. Jefferson Round Two « Red Virginia said
[...] of you who debated me on this before I feel as this reaffirms my points from the first post found here. Now do not get me wrong. The Jeffersonian principles have disappeared from the Republican party [...]
Cato said
Archimedes says:
“Hamilton, on the other hand, argued not for an aristocracy or strong central government, but for a strong executive.”
I strongly suggest you read the primary sources such as Hamilton’s Reports as Treasury Secretary and the jurisprudence of his disciple, John Marshall. I dont see how you could make the case Hamilton did not want not just a strong central government, but a SUPREME national government.
http://www.amazon.com/Hamiltons-Curse-Jeffersons-Revolution-Americans/dp/0307382842
Gilbert Lafayette said
The United States was NOT created on the basis of a two Party system. Hamilton and Jefferson were patriots and they showed it many times. Their disagreements were philosophical. Although they had fights Hamilton backed Jefferson for President against Burr, because he knew the intention of Burr to break the Union, a thing that Jefferson would have never even consider. The Republican Party under Abraham Lincoln represented the policy of Hamilton (as stated in his three Reports on National Bank, on Public Credit and on Manufactures), the Democratic Party under Roosevelt also represented the ideas of Hamilton stated in the above mentioned Reports. These two Presidents were separated by their parties but not their ideas. They were true Patriots.
Jefferson had some shortcomings in Economics and Philosophy, Hamilton was brilliant but impulsive. The traitors today as then are the Aaron Burr of Wall Street who would sell the Nation back to the Empire for a title.
Parties don’t craft policies only great minds, like Lyndon LaRouche today. Visit: http://www.larouchepac.com
Let’s kick the bankers and revive the American System of Economics! The Power is in the hand of the people:
“A Republic, if you can keep it.”
Benjamin Franklin