Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton: Anti-federalist and Federalist

Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton are considered to be among the founders who shaped the history of America into what it is today. The two were evidently political enemies who had very different views on the governance at that time. The history of America has shown that the coexistence of these two great men was very consequential. This paper aims at discussing the similarities and differences between the social, economic and political philosophies of Alexander Hamilton and the federalist and Thomas Jefferson and the republicans, showing why the reasons for the political factions, and how each faction viewed slavery.

Besides similarities, they exhibited some of the differences and differed in different areas of governance. Jefferson was an anti-federalist who wanted a strong state government whereas Hamilton was a federalist who wanted a strong federal government. At the same time, Jefferson believed that the constitution was limited to giving enumerated powers whereas on the other hand, Hamilton had a strong belief that the constitution gave amplified powers. To this effect, it meant that Hamilton believed that people are motivated by self-interests and therefore power should lay in the hands of a few elites, a thing that Jefferson said was like the British monarchy and deferred strongly saying that the common man should be given a chance to make good decisions because corruption automatically occurs when power is left in the hand of the elite. Jefferson opposed the idea of Hamilton of the national bank to provide loans for businessmen and provision of deposits for federal funds and instead argued that state banks would be a better idea. At the same time, he believed that the idea of America having strong commercial society with a large industrial sector was not the right thing and felt that the idea of provision of protective tariffs to help the manufacturers was not the best and instead, Jefferson advocated for an agrarian society with some industrial alternative to agriculture.

With all the differences and hatred that they had for each other; it was evident that the two could agree on one thing. They really wanted to be free from the rule of England. At the same time, both men fought for America in the revolution war and shared the common feeling that the liberty for the American people was paramount. To date, the two men are regarded as the founding fathers. At the same time, they both signed the constitution of the United States of America. In terms of slavery, Jefferson believed that blacks were inferior to whites and he strongly felt that the best way to have a good world was to keep the two races segregated. He also owned many slaves throughout his adult life. On the other hand, Hamilton has no record of owning slaves, but it is on record that at some point in his life, he had aided in buying slaves. But in his later years, he was an active member in trying to raise black troops for the army with the promise of freedom during the American Revolution. He also opposed pro slavery in the 1780s and 90s. in collaboration with john jay, Hamilton formed the first anti-slavery organization in new York in 1785.at that time, he tried to defend the blacks and openly criticized slavery citing that it was morally wrong and that “their natural faculties are as good as ours”. He also supported the Toussaint Louverture revolution against France in Haiti which had originated due to a slave revolt.

Conclusion

Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson are no wonder called the founding fathers of America because of the contribution that they made as discussed in this paper. From the economy to constitution, the rivalry shaped America to what it is today. During those years, it was seen as an okay thing to have slaves and that is why Thomas Jefferson had his slaves in the white house, as opposed to Hamilton support for the end of the trade and openly citing that blacks be given an opportunity as to the whites. Their differences, similarities as well as stand on slavery are well discussed in the paper.