Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Hamilton vs Jefferson
Directions: Post at least 2 responses to the podcast considering the following questions. The two brilliant minds of Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson were crucial to the essence of the new constitution. Compare and contrast the views of Hamilton & Jefferson while in Washinton's cabinet.
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23 comments:
Hamilton thought that only a select few, or the wealthy were smart enough or good enough to rule. It seems that he thought there should be some social recriminations against those who weren't that wealthy. Unlike Jefferson who thought all people no matter financial standing. He thought the people should run the nation not just a select few.
Hamilton and Jefferson had many different opposing views. Hamilton was a federalist who believed in a strong central government. Hamilton envisoned and economic and political empire, while Jefferson envisoned a nation of independent farmers. Jefferson was an antifederalist who believed in states rights, and the Bill of Rights. He also believed in an agrarian society. Some similar beliefs that they both shared were that of creating different political parties that they could belong to.
The views of Hamilton and Jefferson while in Washington’s cabinet were very different. Hamilton was a federalist. He wanted a strong central government, growth of industry, and a national bank. On the other hand, Jefferson was a republican. He was against America being filled with industrial plantations and he did not want a national bank. This was due to the fact that he followed the Constitution exactly.
It is quite clear from this video that Hamilton and Jefferson have starkly different and greatly opposing viewpoints in regards to their vision of the United States government. Jefferson believes in a government of all the people, as well as the absolute sanctity of the constitution. Hamilton is for government by the few and the wealthy. Based on his criticism of Jefferson’s constitutional views, it is implied that he believes the constitution less infallible with more flexibility. Both men are very open in their criticism of the other’s viewpoint. Hamilton regards Jefferson’s vision as mob rule that would lead to incompetence. Jefferson sees Hamilton’s plan as forming an aristocracy or oligarchy. Strangely, Hamilton says nothing to refute this, he could even possibly be said to have confirmed it. however, both believe in the cause of the United States and that a government was needed. I believe it fortunate that a compromise of these otherwise radical views was instituted as our government.
Hamilton and Jefferson had opposing views about how the country should be ruled. Hamilton believed that the people of the United States were unable to rule themselves and they needed a higher authority. He had more conservative views and wanted this new nation to be ruled much like it had been under British rule. Jefferson was seeking to form a new political party, the people’s party. He wanted citizens to run the country through democracy and once in the hands of the people, the government would be strong. He also believed that every child should have the opportunity to be educated and successful. He claimed that there were not any peasants in America but that everyone is equal.
Upon watching the video a second time, several points within it struck me. For one, I find it striking how openly hostile these two men appear toward each other in the video, prompting me to wonder if that was truly how it was at the time. Also due to this, I find it amazing that they managed to effectively work together to form a United States government. Jefferson mentions Hamilton’s humble beginnings. This brings up the rather odd point that a man born poor would support oligarchy, while a man rich since birth, and owning a plantation and slaves would support the rule of the people.
It was very clear in this video that Hamilton and Jefferson had very different views in politics. Hamilton believed that there should be a strong central government. Hamilton believed that only a few people were wealthy and smart enough to rule this nation. Jefferson was a republican who believed that there should be a new political party in the nation. He was seeking for a democracy. Jefferson also believed that every child was born with equal opportunity. He also believed that every one was created equal.
I agree with Steve in the area that it is amazing that
two men with such opposite views were able to work together for a greater cause. They were both great minds, and when they put their opposing viewpoints together, they were able to create the United States government.
Hamilton and Jefferson had differences on who should run the country. Hamilton only thought that those people who had wealth or those who were able to pull themselves out of poverty, were good enough and intelligent enough to run the government. Both Jefferson and Hamilton were unwilling to put aside their differences and make a compromise. Instead they were both willing to fight for who they thought should run the government.
I also agree with Steve that it is amazing that the two men with completely opposite views can work together so well to help improve this nation. Both of the conflicting views coming together helped create the government that we have now our government would not be nearly as close to what it is now with out Hamilton and Jefferson.
I also agree with Stephen that both of these incredibly intelligent guys who were very angry towards each other could form the United States government. Since Jefferson wanted to follow the Constitution more stictly than that of Hamilton's views. Hamilton wanted a natinal bank while Jefferson did not believe in a National Bank of the United States. Hamilton also wanted to see industry to grow while Jefferson wanted the economy to be a nation of independent farmers. Its amazing that these two guys with such oppostion towards each other could have worked together to form the government of the United States.
Hamilton's and Jefferson's views while in Washington's cabinet were very different. Hamilton a federalist believed in a stong central government while Jefferson a antifederalist believed in states rights instead of a strong central government. Hamilton also wanted a national bank while Jefferson was oppossed the idea of a nation bank. Hamilton believed that only a few people were educated to rule the nation while Jefferson believed that every person had an equal opportunity to rule the nation.
I agree with Stephen in that it was amazing how two people with totally different views were able to work together for greater cause. Both had very different and conflicting views while they were both brillant minded. Even with there totally different views they were both able to create the Untied States government together.
I noticed throughout that they didn't seem to get along at all. They had very opposing views (like many of you said)and Jefferson believed that Hamilton's ideas weren't good at all and that would be the fall of america (if I understood correctly) Hamilton didn't want 2 parties but Jefferson did. I think this constant argument would weaken the constitution we have today. It does show but not as much anymore due to amendments.
((If I am wrong on any part please feel free to tell me.))
I also think that it is amazing how different people can work together to create one government that they can both be happy with. These two incredible men working together led to amazing things such as the Great Compromise, and the Three 5ths Compromise. I think that more people should learn to work together like these men did, and our country will be able to accomplish even more.
Alexander Hamilton, and Thomas Jefferson had extremely different viewpoints about our government. Jefferson was a anti-federalist. He believed in a nation of independent farmers. He truly believed that the states should have more power than the central government, and the necessity of the Bill Of Rights. Hamilton was a federalist. He saw a need for a strong central government. He wanted a strong political empire. The viewpoints of these men varied much, but they were able to put their differences aside for the good of this country. Today our constitution is still amazing, and its thanks to all of our founding fathers.
It is quite obvious the Hamilton and Jefferson had very different view points on how the country should be run. Hamilton was a federalist who wanted a strong central government where the few educated elite would lead the country. He thought that the Constitution should be interpreted loosely. Hamilton saw Jefferson’s beliefs as a mob rule. Jefferson was anti-federalist who wanted a weaker central government where everyone was equal and the people should rule the country. Jefferson wanted a strict interpretation of the Constitution; whatever was not said directly in it was up to the states to decide. Jefferson feared that Hamilton would turn the country into an oligarchy.
It would seem that Hamilton and Jefferson did not have anything in common. This, however, is not completely true. Despite having differences in opinion on how the country should be run, both men wanted the United States to be a success. Both men felt that the central government needed to be stronger; it needed to have more powers than it was granted in the Articles of Confederation. However they disagreed on how MUCH stronger the central government needed to become.
Alexander Hamilton being a Federalist obviously had varying viewpoints as compared to Thomas Jefferson, an anti-federalist. Probably the largest opposing view was that on how the government should be run. Hamilton believed that the National government should be a strong and central one run by the elite to better rule the states. Jefferson believed that the national government should be weak with more state rights. He also believed that the government should represent the people, not just the wealthy few. He wanted a nation of independent farmers.
Another opposing viewpoint that they had was how close the government should adhere to the constitution. Hamilton wanted a loose and flexible interpretation and following of it which would give the central government more control and power. Jefferson, who wanted more state governmental power, was for a precise following of the constitution in order to limit its power.
Jefferson and Hamilton's views differ most in the amount of power that government should be given. While Jefferson felt that the consolidation of power would lead America back into a monarchy, Hamilton felt that the people could not rule themselves. He saw majority rule as "The Great Beast". Jefferson, thought that it would be more beneficial to "the people" to make decisions for themselves. He felt that all Americans should be equal in wealth and status. Hamilton disagreed with this. He felt that a select, knowledged group, would be able to make better decisions to benefit the country as a whole to make it stronger and more prosperous.
I agree with Steve that it is odd in the way that Jefferson, being from a privileged family, should support rule of the people while Hamilton, with his humble background, should support more consolidated government power. I believe the reason for this is that Hamilton saw the importance of having strong leadership while Jefferson did not. His admiration of Roman and Greek rulers and running the shipping company shaped these views. Jefferson on the other hand, grew up managing a large plantation. He was connected to agriculture and thought that the common people could rule themselves.
I also agree with Stephen that it is amazing that these two men with opposing opinions were able to form a government. They both sought and valued completely different things in a government. Hamilton wanted a national bank while Jefferson did not. Hamilton believed that only a select few were able to run the government while Jefferson believed all humans are created equal. These are only a couple of the many opposing viewpoints that these two men had. They seemed unwilling to compromise but they worked together to form the government of the United States.
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