Alexander
Hamilton and the Struggle to Create a National Government
Theme: Alexander Hamilton, the
first Secretary of the Treasury, was both a traditionalist and a
modernizer.
He was a traditionalist in that he believed that only the elite could
lead
the American people; ordinary people were incapable of improving their
own lot or fully governing themselves. He was a modernizer in that he
tried
to create a strong central government and a capitalist economy in which
money would replace inherited privilege as a measure of worth.
Opposition
to Hamilton's financial program, and reaction to the French Revolution
and the outbreak of war between England and France polarized American
politics,
created to national political parties (Republicans
and Federalists),
and brought America to the brink of a second revolution.
I. America at the Crossroads, 1789
A. Sectional and Economic
Differences
B. Two basic Political Problems
--which government pays the
revolutionary war debts
--the choice between France and
England
C. National Government as a
Battleground
D. Is opposition to the
government treason?
II. The Chronology of Crisis
A. Washington's Administration: Jefferson,
Hamilton, Madison
B. Hamilton's Financial Plan
C. Formation of Republican Opposition (Jefferson and
Madison)
D. Whiskey Rebellion (1794)
E. Jay's Treaty (1795)
F. Alien and Sedition Acts (1798)
III. Alexander Hamilton and the Crisis of Republican Government
A. West Indian Childhood
B. revolutionary-era college student in New York
C. military career
D. New York lawyer
E. Secretary of the Treasury
--funding the national debt
--assumption of state debts
--Bank of the United States
--excise tax
F. New York politician
G. a flawed republican leader? and the Burr duel
Epilogue: the election of 1800 and the crisis of republican
government
Vocabulary: Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, Jay's Treaty,
Alien
and Sedition Acts, Whiskey Rebellion, Election of 1800, Federalists,
Republicans