Founding of the National Bank
Alexander Hamilton formally served as military aide to Washington during the Revolution. Washington later appointed Hamilton as his secretary of treasury. Congress called on Hamilton to prepare a report on the nations finances. Hamilton had many enemies, but he was a great thinker. He believed that a strong government was essential to the country. He based his belief on that from Great Britain, whose success came from its system of public finance and its supremacy in commerce and manufacturing. He had two goals to achieve. First, he wanted to use federal power to encourage manufacturing and commerce. This he believed would make the United States economically strong and be independent from Europe. Second, he wanted to link the interests of the wealthy with those of the new government. Hamilton goals could not be achieved until the federal government solved its financial problems of revenue and credit. He believed without revenue it could not be effective and without credit the merchants had no faith on any of the other nations to pay back these debts. They would lack the ability to borrow. This posed a problem so Hamilton proposed that all $52 million of the federal debt be paid in full (or funde
During and after the Revolution the value of notes issued by the Continental Congress dropped drastically. This also, changed the way that the country and government looked at the Constitution and realized that flexibility was necessary to promote change during times of crises. Jefferson and Madison who were from Virginia wanted it to be located on the Potomac River between Virginia and Maryland. They also were upset because Congress had been purchasing the notes even before Hamilton's program. Washington ultimately signed the bank bill, because the Constitution he felt needed to be flexible to meet the countries future developments. When Hamilton's program passed this upset the supporters of the Constitution. Madison wanted the original holders of the debts to be reimbursed in full. This would insure the abuse of power by them. Hamilton was opposed to this idea, because speculators were the class of people he wanted to attach to the new government. Jefferson ultimately took office and reduced the debt by $26 million. Jefferson joined Madison's forces and formed the Republicans. Congress was not in favor of the rest of Hamilton's program. He concluded, by saying a bank would be useful in carrying out the enumerated powers of regulating commerce and maintaining the public credit; so, Congress had a right to decide whether to establish one. Hamilton and Adams led the Federalists.
Common topics in this essay:
Revolution Washington,
Jefferson Madison,
Bank United,
Continental Congress,
Bank England,
Federalists Hamilton's,
Constitution Madison,
Virginia Maryland,
Alexander Hamilton,
federal government,
hamilton's program,
jefferson madison,
Hamilton Adams,
funding assumption passed,
encourage manufacturing,
united bank,
bank united,
charter bank,
funding assumption,
excise taxes,
bank bill,
|
Acceptance Essays
