Alexander Hamilton's Legacy

Lind, Michael. "Hamilton's Legacy." The Wilson Quarterly (Vol. 18, No.3).

In his lifetime, Alexander Hamilton has had various notable deeds. Hamilton was once the underling of the highly regarded George Washington and helped the United States become what it is today through many of his ideas. Hamilton's infamous actions include the creation of the Federalist party, The Federalist Papers, and the writing of the three reports he wrote as the Secretary of Treasury: The Report on the Public Credit, The Report on the Bank of the United States, and The Report on Manufactures. Hamilton's philosophy was that the United States needed a strong, central national government that promoted industrialization. After Hamilton's death, his philosophy was carried on by "National Republicans" and Whigs. Hamilton was not like others in his era, he was against slavery and instead favored giving African Americans their freedom. This may be partly because of the fact that Hamilton was an illegitimate child born in the West Indies. Hamilton was one of the two most important people that helped create The Federalist Papers, the other being James Madison. The Federalist Papers was a series of essays that helped get the last few states that did not yet agree with the Constitution to ratify it, which was very crucial because 9 out of the 13 states needed to ratify it. Hamilton's reports were major in helping to get the United States out of the debt of approximately 76-77 million dollars. The idea of assumption helped to gain the loyalty of the states as well as pay off the debt, so Hamilton killed two birds with one stone. With The Report on the Bank of the United States, Hamilton created the Bank of the United States that aided in handling the financial needs and requirements of the new central government. This helped tremendously in fixing the financial crisis because all 13 states had their own differing banks, currencies, financial institutions, and policies.

The author's thesis is that people have a lot to learn from Alexander Hamilton. The author states that Hamilton is a source of inspiration and instruction to both modern Conservatives and modern Liberals alike, and that in order for the United States to rebuild into a great nation we should use Hamilton as a guide. The author also declares that Hamilton is, perhaps, the most practical nation builder among the Founding Fathers. For example, Michael Lind uses the aftermath of the Cold War as an example of why the Jeffersonian way of thinking is inferior to and not as great as the Hamiltonian way of thinking. Lind says that because Americans urged the usage of the Jeffersonian way of thinking to reconstruct societies, it lead