The Realist Reformer against Hamilton - Assignment Example

Jefferson, the Realist Reformer against Hamilton, the Utopian in American Politics (1789-1804). Student 2 William Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton are two of the stalwarts that had a prominent part to play in the writing and later ratifying of the Constitution of the United States of 1787. It is this basic document that has been instrumental in making the United States a dominant power in the world and the undisputed leader which promotes and safeguards the cause of democracy all over the world. It is also a fact that these two great statesmen though had some serious disputes which made them bitter opponents, but this also is a fact that these were no petty disputes but were based on sound political differences of thought. It must be emphasized that their differences had main ideological basis. Commenting on the relationship H. Read in his book “Power versus Liberty: Madison, Hamilton, Wilson, and Jefferson, cites: Americans of the Revolutionary and the constitutional period wrestled with a…question: does every increase in the powers of the government entails a loss of liberty for the governed? Thomas Jefferson believed that it did. His …rival Alexander Hamilton believed it did not. 1 It was due to this opposing approach towards democracy that something that the founding fathers had missed or rather disregarded at the Convention of 1787 was thrust to the forefront. It was this rivalry of differing political ideals that lead to the formation of the two party system in the United States. In the year 1787 when the Constitution of the United States was formally written there was only one party in the United States__ the Federalist Party. But it soon became apparent Student 3 that such an arrangement had its pit falls, and keeping these inherent dangers and Thomas Jefferson with a number of like-minded politicians, like James Madison, who likewise were fed up with the conservative Hamiltonian stance in United States politics, in the year 1794 formed the Democratic Republican party (which is the precursor of the present Democratic Party and was formally named so under Andrew Jackson in 1826). The ideological difference between the two parties stemmed from the character of Alexander Hamilton who was a through and through Conservative Right-Wing politician. In lay man terms he stood for status quo, which by extension meant among many other things the continuation of slavery. Thomas Jefferson on the other hand was a Liberal Left-Wing politician. Jefferson believed in the ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity, and these ideas were instrumental in the French Revolution of 1789. It would not be wrong to say that Hamilton was a reactionary while Jefferson a progressive politician. This rift between the two political ideologies was the main cause behind the famous 12th Amendment which was passed in the year 1804 and laid down the foundations of the multi-party system in the United States. Further, Thomas Jefferson’s victory in the presidential elections of 1800 firmly cemented the multi-party system in the United States for good. In Read’s words: Thus theorists and statesmen who understood liberty in broadly similar ways could draw very different conclusions about how much power to vest in government __especially national government. 2 Student 4 Notes 1. James H. Read. Power versus Liberty: Madison, Hamilton, Wilson, and Jefferson. (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press). 2000. IX 2. Ibid., IX The Origin and Content of the 12th Amendment of U.S. Constitution. Student’s Name Course Instructor’s Name Date Student 2 The 12th Amendment rectifies a basic flaw that was inherent in the U.S. Constitution of 1787. This amendment was in response to a tie vote in the presidential election of the year 1800-01. According to Raymond Polin and Constance Polin: Amendment XII required members of the Electoral College separate their choices for the President and the Vice President in order to avoid another tie vote as had taken place in 1800 between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr. 1 In the original Constitution, the founding fathers had not anticipated political parties at all, as there was only one political party at that time, namely the Federalist Party. Hence, the Article II pertaining to the presidential election stated that the U.S. Electoral College would elect the President and the Vice President in a single election. The candidate who got the majority votes would become the President and the runner up would be the Vice President. And as such an important aspect of the political process had been neglected by the framers, it was but natural that sooner or later a tragic incident referred to as Jefferson –Burr took place. In the year 1800-01 Jefferson was elected and Burr became Vice President, and three years later the disgruntled Vice President murdered Alexander Hamilton in a duel, because Hamilton had helped Jefferson win and thwart Burr’s bid. It was by the 12th Amendment that it was decided that the electors were to cast two distinct votes henceforth: one for the President and the other for the Vice President. This amendment was proposed by the U.S. Congress on December 9, 1803. The 12th Amendment Student 3 was ratified by the requisite number of state legislatures on June 15, 1804, approximately eight and a half months later. It is because of this amendment that a two-party system gained a legal canopy in the United States. Here it is pertinent to mention that political parties are necessary for a healthy democracy, otherwise it can take the shape of a one party tyranny or despotism, and may you call it Fascism or Nazism etc. The political parties lend credibility to a democracy, as they help formulate, mold and organize public sentiments and popular opinions, and thereby offer tangible solutions to social, economic and political problems. The founding fathers of the American Constitution opted for a Presidential form of government in which the President was to be indirectly elected by an elitist Electoral College, in order to keep the ordinary man away from the political process. But there scheme was shattered soon after the promulgation of the Constitution due to the efforts of the liberal left-wing, realist reformer__ Thomas Jefferson. Now, in the year 2011 the two political parties with the active backing of the masses influence and run the political sphere in the United States beyond the wildest dreams of the founding fathers. Student 4 Note 1. Raymond Polin & Constance Polin, editors. Foundations of American Political Thought, Readings and Commentary. ( New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc.) . 2006. 218 Read More