Alexander Hamilton: America S Forgotten Founder

Alexander Hamilton promoted a vigorous national government to create a strong and unified country out of a mixed bag of 13 sovereign states. Hamilton's varied contributions give him a claim to the title of architect of the US Government. Alexander Hamilton: America's Forgotten Founder introduces the general reader to some of the challenges and controversies of the early days of the Republic and highlights Hamilton's brilliant contributions to US policy and structure. * Alexander Hamilton: America's Forgotten Founder describes the character and achievements of a man who was instrumental in casting the form of our government and especially its strong financial structure. His financial innovations renewed the public credit when war debts threatened to swamp the fledgling economy, provided a stable currency system and established a federal revenue system. Hamilton's involvement in the foreign affairs of the new republic assured its unity, sovereignty and rapid economic growth. Born in the West Indies, Alexander Hamilton migrated to America when he was fifteen years old, at a time when Colonial America was torn by political unrest with Great Britain. He served in the Revolution as General Washington's chief aide-de-camp and as an officer in combat units. He was a persuasive presence in the Constitutional Convention and helped to lead the subsequent ratification process. Hamilton was a proponent for a strong central government, believing that its direct influence over the people would strengthen the unity of the country. As Secretary of the Treasury, he understood that a strong financial system was essential to provide credibility and economic growth to the new republic. He based hisfinancial plan on the consolidation of the national debt and the adoption of a taxation system to service and retire that debt. He promoted the chartering of the Bank of the United States as the keystone to his financial plan. Arguably the Father of Federalism, Hamilton gave more to the structure and process of the United States government then any other single individual. His opponents, principally the Jeffersonian Republicans, argued for greater sovereignty for state governments and sought to diminish the role of wealth in structuring and operating the financial systems of the country. When it came, the Civil War vindicated Hamilton's politics over Jefferson's view of a more tenuous and tentative union. He authored the lion's share of The Federalist Papers, writings which remain an important guide to the meaning and the intended function of the Constitution today. Regrettably, the hostility of his political opponents has transcended the country's recognition of the debt owed to this man.