At the termination of the American Revolution, Alexander Hamilton firmly believed in a strong centralized government. He had worked as a major in the American army during this era of revolution, where he noted detrimental consequences of a weak federal authority. However, the majority of the Americans were skeptical and doubted the increased centralization of government due to various reasons. Hamilton’s structure did not consider democracy; instead, it held that the United States’ government should be modeled on the British method of governance where voters could not be given any power to take part in the decision-making process of the federal government. Additionally, the centralized government advocated for a loose interpretation of the American constitution by trusting that what the law did not explicitly prohibit, it allowed. Besides, Hamilton’s leadership structure supported that citizens’ liberties like freedom of speech and worship should sometimes be constrained. According to Hamilton, the common citizens usually acted irrationally and that the wealthy, learned and aristocratic were the ones suitable to be given the power to rule. During this time, the American’s colonies like Delaware, New Jersey, and South Carolina had an estimable system of self-government and lively confined elections and progressively protested against London’s claim for more dominion.
In 1792, Hamilton introduced on an ambitious strategy to solve economic problems that had overwhelmed the US since the American Revolution (Murray Joseph 131). Nevertheless, the major issue which faced the central government in this era was the lack of clear means to deal with the financial chaos which resulted from the revolution. Hamilton argued that there was need for credit for industrial progress, commercial undertakings and the general government dealings. He further pointed out that the federal credit should have a comprehensive support of the citizens. Several people repudiated to back up the debt payment while others agreed to meet a part of it. However, Hamilton contended on full payment of the national debt. Summarily, centralized government structure was acting contrary to the policy of mercantilism, which requires that for a nation’s economy to strengthen, it ought to export more products than it imports. For instance, during the colonial economy, England approved restriction principles entirely benefiting the British economy. This approach was adopted by to achieve a favorable balance of payments. Further, Alexander Hamilton exhibited the Bank of United States after the Bank of England. Nevertheless, domination civil liberties of Bank of England was a sign of mercantilism, in the banking sector. Unlike in Hamilton’s Bank of the United States, other banks in the world after the revolution era had adopted a stable and beneficial credit system which allowed for free entry into nationwide branch banking. In other words, Hamilton was a retrograde or backward mercantilist (Murray Joseph 131 -134).
The principal use of the Confederation Article during the revolution period was to create a confederation of the stipulated states where each reserved its sovereignty, freedom and independence. The article was dropped in 1789 after which came the new American constitution. The new law came along with various significant changes in the United States. Nations ceased to be independent, and the federal government shared its defense and security of liberties responsibility. Moreover, states willingly developed a mechanism to give money, in the form of taxes to support the federal government. The new constitution, also, allowed states to enter into contracts with foreign government bodies. It also introduced a common local currency which stabilized the economy considerably. As a result, the American national government became exceptionally stronger than before.
Adoption of a centralized government structure in a nation comes along with severe detrimental consequences as depicted by Hamilton’s philosophy. For instance, this leadership approach does not advocate for democracy in a country and citizens are denied the chance to participate in significant amendments and implementations. Besides, centralized leadership structure directly contributes to poor economic performance in a nation. Therefore, a decentralized government leadership helps in solving these problems associated with Hamilton’s philosophy. The structure enables voters to contribute and take part in the national leadership. Besides, the system develops the economic performance of a state by for example ensuring a favorable balance of payments.
Work cited
Murray, Joseph A. Alexander Hamilton: America's Forgotten Founder. New York: Algora Pub,
2007. Print.
