Saturday, October 28, 2017

What were Hamilton’s arguments for a strong government?

Alexander Hamilton believed in a strong central government. He was a federalist. The first argument for Hamilton was that he believed the common people of the country did not possess the skills to make national decisions. He felt that only the select few were chosen at the central level to run the country. Hamilton, at the New York Ratification Convention in 1788, argued,

It has been observed by an honorable gentleman, that a pure democracy, if it were practicable, would be the most perfect government. Experience has proved, that no position in politics is more false than this. The ancient democracies, in which the people themselves deliberated, never possessed one feature of good government. Their very character was tyranny; their figure deformity.

He was also an opponent of the Articles of Confederation. He found the Articles weak and left the infant country at risk both politically and militarily. He argued for a Constitution that strengthened the federal government and that the government should have the ability to call on a standing army in times of conflict.
Finally, Hamilton was in favor of a National Bank. He believed that the national debt could be a good thing for a strong government. Hamilton saw the profitability for the country to assume state debt and spark economic growth. This was met with fierce opposition by the anti-federalists who feared the power of the National Bank.
https://www.biography.com/political-figure/alexander-hamilton

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