Hamilton, Jay, and Madison – The
Federalist Papers
Introduction
The American founding fathers
were pretty rich. John Hancock, for example, was one of the richest men in the
North American colonies. Ben Franklin, in his own Autobiography, declares how
his media empire allowed him to retire relatively young. Washington owned a
cozy 500 acres of Virginia soil complete with slaves, and Jefferson 5,000 of
the same. They would need to win a Revolution, but also create a country.
The
Federalist Papers argued the need for a stable, strong federal government. Each
of the three authors championed a functional state after the Revolution,
writing under the pseudonym Publius (referring to the Roman aristocrat who
overthrew the monarchy – rather fitting). A brief account of each of these
three founders would suffice to represent their positions regarding the nature
of government.
Alexander
Hamilton (1755/57-1804) took the ideas furthest. He had been an aide to
Washington during the Revolution, and served as his first Secretary of the
Treasury. His views on federalism led to his being leader of the Federalist
Party. As Treasurer he managed the American debts incurred from the war and
created the First Bank of the United States. Hamilton was violently disliked by
some, including Aaron Burr, Vice President under Jefferson. In a duel Burr shot
Hamilton, who died a day later.
John
Jay (1745-1829) was a man of many accomplishments. During the Revolution he was
a diplomat to Spain, then the country’s second Secretary of State, followed by
first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and finally Governor of New York in
Hamilton’s Federalist Party. He influenced the development of American foreign
policy, and the powers of the judiciary. Twice he ran for President.
James
Madison (1751-1836) was the last to die of the three authors, and saw the
American experiment continued furthest. During the Revolution he served in the
Virginia legislature, later drafting the Bill of Rights in the Constitution and
serving in the House of Representatives. Ideologically Madison would shift
further from Hamilton, and with Jefferson founded the Democratic-Republican
Party. He later served as Secretary of State, and in 1808 was elected as fourth
President of the United States. During his years in office he oversaw the War
of 1812, and set the groundwork for a period of United States history known as
the Era of Good Feelings.
The
Federalist Papers were significant persuasive political writings, and are the
best documents to encapsulate the American Revolution, and the problems of
revolutions generally. The issues Hamilton, Jay and Madison dealt with in
creating a new republican government would be the same faced for Haiti, France,
and the South American states liberated by Bolivar, all of which would meet the
task with varying degrees of success. Creating a new country is not easy on
paper, much less in practice, nor is ensuring it will preserve freedoms and
attain permanence. France, to take an example, enjoyed five different
governments – monarchies, empires and republics – between 1815 and 1915.
Hamilton ensured the financial success of the country, Jay the judicial and
foreign policy, and Madison framed the Constitution and guided the nation
through the British attempt to destroy the fledgling republic.
Students
sometimes ask me where the Washingtons, Franklins, and Jeffersons are these
days. Where are those extraordinary men who made this nation what it is today?
Who is our Washington? Petraeus? Michael Mullen? Who would be our Benjamin
Franklin? Steve Jobs for his creativity? Or Rupert Murdoch for his media empire?
Who is an architect, writer, statesman, farmer, inventor, and philosopher like
Jefferson? From this arises the question: Would a new Revolution just not be
possible these days, because men now aren’t what they once were? Or, a more
chilling thought, considering the founders wealthy means spurred them to act,
is it just that the elite of today are more interested in yachts than fixing
our society’s problems?
True,
revolution seems unlikely in America today. Despite the Middle East and
continuing world uprisings America is rather entrenched in the system devised
by those founders. The notion of writing a new Constitution from scratch
strikes many Americans as horrid. So too the notion of standing off against
American troops in Times Square. As Saul Alinsky, who organized organizers
lamented in 1971, “As I look back on the results of those years, they seem to
be a potpourri, with, I would judge, more failures than successes.” Maybe Walt
Whitman was right, and Yankee phantoms do not belong here anymore…
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