Free Argumentative Essay About Tomas Jefferson Vs. Alexander Hamilton

Hamilton and Jefferson are prominent for their titanic rivalry. The rivalry between the federalists and antifederalists reflected a profound impact on American history. The federalists represented by Alexander Hamilton represented the urban mercantile interests of the seaports while antifederalists led by Thomas Jefferson represented the rural and southern interests. A debate between the two was about the power of the central governing verse that of the states where federalists favored the former and the antifederalists advocated for states’ rights.
Despite their rivalry, both men believed in the revolutionary doctrine of natural rights. They both believed that the main role of government is to secure rights such as the rights to life and liberty, right to worship, pursue, and acquire property. They advocated for the right to acquire property because they believed that individuals had a significant responsibility for providing for themselves rather than the government. They both agreed on the importance and relevance of a written constitution for republican government. However, it was their agreement on the written constitution that gave shape to their fierceness and profound debate over economics. What Hamilton and Jefferson disagreed about was the way in which a written constitution is significant.
Hamilton viewed the new constitution as the main incentive of new powers to the national government. According to Hamilton, the new powers were significant for the achievement of the primary purposes of government, such as national security, economic prosperity and the establishment of the rule of law. He believed that the effective limitations on the use of these powers would come from the checks and balances within the national government, states and the people acting via the regular political process. He believed that a significant danger facing the new government was that it would be either too weak or timid to govern. This is so because he feared the powers of the states proposed by Jefferson and doubted the ability of any government to govern a nation of the unprecedented size of the American republic. Hamilton was worried that the democratic of the people would make a wise administration of the government impossible.
On the other hand, Jefferson’s understanding of the new constitution was central to his vision. Unlike Hamilton, Jefferson saw the constitution as an attempt to confine the national government strictly to its enumerated powers. He believed that all government tends toward centralization and sign of opening to consolidation ought to an object of popular vigilance. Jefferson saw consolidation as a source of the monarchy and it was his constant disagreement with Hamilton and the federalists that their policies would introduce the monarchy in America. Likewise, Jefferson had opposed Hamilton’s bank on constitutional grounds, but he had a theory of banking and finance that differed from Hamilton’s.
Jefferson’s theory would be the one that Hamilton referred to his opinion on the constitutionality of the bank as the theories of individual. Jefferson’s theory of public finance was focused on the fact that every living generation is sovereign. Therefore, he criticized Hamilton for not making provision for the elimination of the public debt in the new constitution. Jefferson had a strong additional reason to disagree with the Hamilton view on public debt. Jefferson was convinced that enabling a government the capacity to borrow would encourage war by shifting the costs of war to the future generation.
Therefore, Hamilton saw the new constitution as a grant of power to accomplish national goals. Hamilton proposed the structure of the constitution that would prevent the government from abusing the powers. On the other hand, Jefferson saw the constitution as strictly limiting the national government to its enumerated powers. He thought that holding the government to the letter of the constitution, rather than the use of structural incentives would restrain abuses of powers and resist the inevitable tendencies toward governmental centralization. It is clear that their rivalry led to a profound impact on American history.