Alexander Hamilton as a Founding Father - Essay Example

Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton was born on January 11, 1757 in the Ireland of Nevis, British West Indies. In 1772, he immigrated to the United States where he received educational training in the schools of Elizabethtown, N.J., and Columbia University, New York City- initially known as King’s College. In 1776, he joined the Continental Army in New York as a captain of artillery (Chernow, 39). On March, 1, 1777, he was selected aide-de-camp to General Washington and served in that capacity until 16th February 1781. He was a member of the Continental Congress in the years 1782, 1783, and 1788. In 1786, Hamilton was a member of the Annapolis Convention. In 1787, he served in the New York State assembly. He studied law which he passed highly. He was admitted to the bar and practiced in New York City. He served as the Secretary of the Treasury in the Cabinet of President Washington from 1789 to 1795 (Chernow, 46). He returned to New York and recommenced the practice of law. He was wounded fatally in a battle with Aaron Burr at Weehawken on the Hudson, and he died on 12th July, 1804 in New York City, he was buried the following day in Trinity Churchyard. According to Chernow (189), Alexander Hamilton was a passionate federalist and a believer in rule by a best cadre. He proposed at one time that state governors should be appointed by the President and that the President and senators should be elected on lifetime conditions. He had a belief that government deserved the wisdom of the gifted aristocrats and did not trust the general population to govern themselves. Chernow (203) stipulates that Alexander’s emphasis on energetic government was the second main distinguishing characteristic of his political philosophy. He believed that the government was supposed to be practical in military and economic affairs, have the power to succeed lower government- just like at the state level- and be capable of exercising authority directly on the people. Only an energetic government would be able to offer the constancy and order essentials to secure the blessings of freedom for the people, particularly over such a huge geographical region as the U.S. Haugen (38) stipulates that Hamilton wrote in Federalist No. 69 that a weak executive means a weak execution of the government. A weak execution is the other term for a bad execution and a government ill executed is a bad government in practice regardless of its theory. The American Constitution failed to secure concentration of authority that Hamilton sought even though it provided for centralization under federal government. However, he supported and authored fully the preponderance of the strengthening Federalist Papers. His political philosophy was not well received by his generation despite his boundless energy and substantial literary and declamatory skills. Lodge (189) asserts that Alexander Hamilton was appointed Secretary of the Treasury under the administration of George Washington, the Nation’s first President. He became the most powerful man in Washington due to his close association with the president though his support for a National Bank and the almost monarchical government structure ha had suggested made him a subject to strong criticism. According to Lodge (256), Alexander Hamilton was an elite and made significant contributions towards the Americans’ and the entire U.S’s well being. He was altruistic toward the people as he always fought for their well being and demanded government to act responsibly. For instance, by proposing development of National Bank, he wanted to ensure that all people can have easy access to capital through loans and secure their money by keeping them in the bank. Alexander Hamilton is not comparable to modern elites simply because modern elites are majorly after their own profits (Lodge, 265). They are not highly concerned about the citizens’ well being hence marking a major difference between Hamilton and modern elites. Just like delinquent debtors who went to the state legislatures and begged for relief after the revolution, modern debtors especially home-owners who have to pay a mortgage on their home, are asking for relief from the government (No Debt Today, 2011). There are hundreds of links to pages on the internet promising that Federal grants are available and consumers can get relief for their personal debts. The concept that you can apply for a grant and obtain adequate money to settle all your debts is appealing to numerous consumers is attractive thus consumers are eager to pay a fee to learn the secrets. The good news is that the government assistance is available to assist with the personal debt, including mortgages. Even better news is that in order to gain access to the information regarding the variety of assistance provided by government to the citizens, you don’t have to pay anyone (No Debt Today, 2011). Hence, government has granted some reliefs through its programs designed to assist consumers to resolve their debt issues. In this article Government Grants for Debt Relief: Fact or Rumor? DEBT RELIEF, the author tries to resolve the doubt of whether government is offering reliefs or not. He says that Federal grants are available and consumers can get debt relief at any time. The author says that government has implemented certain programs to help consumers solve their debt problems by obtaining reliefs (Haugen, 46). Due to exaggeration of government’s assistance, you can’t find a relief that will help you to resolve your debt fully. He says that in order to know a lot about the types of reliefs offered, you can simply log in the United States Federal Government’s website and search for the word debt relief and you will receive all information you want. The author also says that grants are provided by the United States government to non profit counseling companies who assist consumers to deal with the debt they have as a result (Haugen, 88). Hence, when looking at the colonies’ struggle, you will find that this article also addresses problems that were addressed in the course of the struggle. This article addresses the need and significance of the reliefs which it says that it helps in improving living standards and economic development which were some of the major objective in the colonies’ struggle. Unlike many who felt before the writing of the United States constitution that change in our national government would fix these problems, I feel that change in our national government would not fix these economic problems. Instead, laws restricting powers of our leaders and encouraging them to work towards economic development and wellbeing of its citizens should be enacted. Government leaders should not work for their own benefits but work for the interest of the citizens and wellbeing of the nation. By doing these, we will be in better position to solve this problem since both leaders and citizens would be dedicated towards this objective. Works Cited Chernow, Ron. Alexander Hamilton. New York: Penguin Books, 2005, 12-689. Haugen, Brenda. Alexander Hamilton: Founding Father and Statesman. New York: Compass Point Books, 2006, 9-109. Lodge, Henry. Alexander Hamilton. New York: Kessinger Publishing, 2004, 32-299. No Debt Today. Government Grants for Debt Relief: Fact or Rumor? DEBT RELIEF. Web. Oct. 18, 2011. Read More