How Alexander Hamilton and John Marshall Contributed to The American Society

Two Forefathers of Modern American Society

John Marshall was the first Supreme Court Chief Justice. He was a strong advocate of business and created the foundation of the judicial branch’s power. In Marbury v. Madison, Marshall’s interpretation of the case lead to Judicial Review, which allows, even in modern society, for the supreme court to determine the constitutionality of acts. This power did not exist before, Marshall created through his clever interpretation of the constitution. Now the previously powerless Judicial branch gained more powers, making the government more balanced than before. This precedent paved the future of America’s legislature, stretching from Marshall’s decade to the modern day.

Marshall was a man who favored big business, he did not let anything hurt business interests. More than this, he showed his federalist nature by enlarging the power of the federal government. This is seen is McCulloch v. Maryland, where he ruled that the federal law is above state law; Gibbons v. Ogden where Marshall upheld the commerce clause; and Woodworth v. Dartmouth where the power of individual contracts were shown to be indelible by state laws. This increase of federal power and lack of government regulation paved for the government to increase in a fashion still modernly observed. If Marshall had not supported these watershed moments in judicial history, the country might have taken a more conservative nature, and our world would not have nearly as much as government regulation. In this way, Marshall is influential as he helped establish judicial review, currently regarded as the main power of the judicial branch, and showed the way for federal involvement in state issues and corporate freedom. His importance to the power of the Supreme Court is analogous to that of Alexander Hamilton and the American economic system.

Alexander Hamilton, a well known federalist, father of America’s economy, creator of an abolitionist organization in New York, met his death in a duel with Aaron Burr. This sudden shock detracted from his radical ideas during John Adams’s presidency. Hamilton is well known as one of the founders of the Federalist parties, for whom he also wrote the Federalist papers. These papers detailed the philosophy behind the importance of a strong federal government. More than the influence he had on those thoughts, Jefferson’s opposition to Hamilton’s fiscal policies lead to the creation of political parties due to a rift that formed in the government. The split in the parties lead to a two party system that still exists today, though the philosophies of both parties have changed with time. Thus, Hamilton helped with the creation of the modern day two party system and also established the foundation of America’s economy.

Hamilton’s economic plan reformed the new economy of America. Hamilton’s national bank overcame many obstacles to still exist in the modern world, it was gone from 1828 to 1913 though. This idea that a privately owned company would manage the national economy was a radical idea, that was not introduced till Hamilton. He also proposed that maintaining a federal debt was beneficial to the nation, even assuming state debts to better unite the newborn nation. A national debt still exists in modern America and will for many years to come. The immediate payout to the IOU’s given during the Revolutionary War helped the farmers better survive. It also lead to many monetary issues that existed throughout history, causing many political shifts like the Populist Party. The idea of a tariff was also radical, especially with the agrarian society so vital to America. Yet the tariff passed and caused many debates through the years like the nullification crisis and the American System; the tariff still exists today. Hamilton also made an excise tax on Whiskey, though the same tax does not still exist, there is still a luxury tax on large money donations. This shows how Hamilton’s fiscal plan affected America’s modern economy. In conclusion, Hamilton’s impact on America’s modern society through an economic fashion mirrors and helps demonstrate the greatness of John Marshall for establishing judicial review for the Supreme Court.