Alexander Hamilton Brought the Constitution to Life

In this round I will continue to present a few other points as to why Alexander Hamilton should be the founding father most credited with bringing the Constitution to life. I will save all rebuttals towards my opponents points for the last round. The First Presidential Cabinet. Now that I have spoken of the success of Alexander Hamilton's fight to ratify the Constitution in important states such as Virginia and New York, we must now talk about the most important part of bringing the Constitution to life, putting into action the Constitution of 1789. The greatest challenge that Alexander Hamilton would face during the years 1791-1795 was in setting straight the power that the Constitution granted the federal government. No other person in the First Presidential Cabinet of the United States would do more to extend the powers of the federal government and explain to the American public the Constitution than Alexander Hamilton. Assigned as Secretary of Treasury in 1789 by George Washington who described Hamilton as one of his closest allies, Alexander Hamilton would go on to do more for the implementation of the Constitution of the United states than any other politician in his cabinet, including President Washington.The date is January 14, 1790 and Alexander Hamilton releases "First Report on the Public Credit" in which he argues the assumption of all state debts. This was the first step towards a recovery for the troubling economy the new republic found itself in. Alexander Hamilton strongly believed that the federal government had to handle the economic recovery of the United States. He understood that each state trying handle their debt and economic collapse as they saw fit would only ensure the downfall of the new republic's economy. This plan remained under constant attack from popular men such as Thomas Jefferson and Madison and with such strong opposition, Hamilton had to convince these men to support his plan for it to pass Congress.Alexander Hamilton was a very persuasive man with a set of goals and a dedication towards achieving a fast and stable economy in the United States. An economy which he believed would challenge and conquer the economy of Britain and France, but most importantly an economy that would meet the standards of an empire, as he described the United States of America. With this in mind Alexander Hamilton on June 20th, sat down with Jefferson and Madison promising the establishment of Philadelphia as the capital of the United States in return for their support of Hamilton's economic plan. Both Jefferson and Madison agreed and on July 10th, the United States Congress established Philadelphia as the nations current capital and within a few weeks Congress approved Hamilton's assumption plan. This was his first major victory as Secretary of Treasury, by winning this battle, Alexander Hamilton not only set the United States on the correct path to setting up a strong economy, but as well he showed the nation of the power that the new federal government possessed. In the same year Alexander Hamilton proposed to Congress the creation of a national bank, this would become Alexander Hamilton's greatest achievement. Passed by Congress on February 25th, 1791 the first bank of the United States was established this as well granted the federal government a federal mint and the power to excise tax. Not only was this a major victory for Alexander Hamilton's belief of "implied powers" which has been used again and again during times of hardship in the United States, but it was a victory for the economy of the United States. Alexander Hamilton faced many challenges which included convincing Jefferson and Madison, but as well as convincing George Washington. Out of his entire cabinet Alexander Hamilton was the only visionary to understand that without the power to establish a national currency, without the power to tax and without the creation of a bank, the United States would never become the economic power it was destined to become. When asked by George Washington to convince him as to why he should support the creation of the bank, Hamilton responded "any government by its very nature was sovereign "and includes by force of the term a right to attainment of the ends...which are not precluded by restrictions & exceptions specified in the constitution...", George Washington was convinced and approved the bank bill. However, without Alexander Hamilton's persistent voice and strong opinions the creation of the first bank, the ability to print money and the ability to excise tax would have not been enacted for generations to come, in fact it is hard to imagine that it would be enacted at all without Alexander Hamilton's brave fight.This achievement not only granted the federal government the ability to fully address with full authority the economic problems the United States faced, but as well allowed it to create a national currency and to tax goods within the nation. These were the major contributions and steps that Alexander Hamilton enacted in order to ensure the establishment of the American economy, which would soon become the strongest economy in the world. The Whiskey Rebellion.The Whiskey Rebellion perhaps became one of the biggest achievements in proving the power that the Constitution granted the federal government and in reality, the Whiskey Rebellion played a big role in setting an example for the entire nation of the mighty power that the executive branch now possessed. Despite the fact that history tends to claim victory for George Washington during the Whiskey Rebellion, victory should be granted to Alexander Hamilton. Alexander Hamilton was the one who decided to tax whiskey making it the first product to be taxed by the federal government. This set a clear point in the nation that the Constitution granted the federal government the power to tax American goods. Before this brave act by Alexander Hamilton there were no federal taxes, each state had full power over taxation, so it was Alexander Hamilton who brought the act of federal taxation (one of the biggest powers of the federal government) to a reality.After implementing taxes on whiskey, farmers in Western Pennsylvania decided to defy the federal government and not pay taxes. George Washington along with Alexander Hamilton decided that it was necessary to bring the insurrection to an end. George Washington along with Alexander Hamilton marched with 13,000 men to Western Pennsylvania and brought the Whiskey Rebellion to an end. Now you may be wondering, if George Washington lead the army against the defying farmers why should Alexander Hamilton be given credit? Well without Alexander Hamilton's idea to implement taxes the Whiskey Rebellion would have never came to play and without Alexander Hamilton convincing the always neutral George Washington, the implementation of taxes on a federal level would have never occurred. Therefore, George Washington played a small role in the Whiskey Rebellion, it was Alexander Hamilton who without direct intention created the Whiskey Rebellion, and allowed George Washington to bring it to an end. In conclusion, it was Alexander Hamilton's who by implementing federal taxation made the Whiskey Rebellion possible and set the national stage for all Americans to see the power that the federal government most importantly the executive branch now possessed under the new Constitution.Overview. By doing everything Alexander Hamilton did during his time as Secretary of Treasury, he not only brought the idea of "implied powers" to American politics, which continues to be used by Presidents such as Abraham Lincoln, who used "implied powers" to put to a halt habeus corpus and suppress freedom of speech during the Civil War, but he also established the national bank, helped establish a national currency and put into place federal taxation. It cannot be stressed enough how important these actions were in bringing the Constitution of the United States to life. While George Washington was the first President of the United states, it was Alexander Hamilton who orchestrated the greatest achievements by Washington's cabinet. It was Alexander Hamilton who extended the power of the federal government, it was Alexander Hamilton who paved a road for the creation of the American economy (which still remains the strongest in the world). It was Alexander Hamilton who created the American credit, it was Alexander Hamilton who allowed the Whiskey Rebellion to occur and by doing so showed the American public that the federal government did in fact now have the power to tax and use force against its citizens if necessary.Despite much opposition from Thomas Jefferson, Jefferson himself would use the idea of "implied powers" to purchase the Louisiana Territory from France. Thomas Jefferson unlike Alexander Hamilton decided to interpret the Constitution strictly, while the latter interpreted it loosely as he believed the Constitution should be used liberally in order to benefit the well being of the entire nation. Therefore, it can be concluded that even Alexander Hamilton's opponents came to understand the concept of "implied powers" which they opposed so ferociously. Furthermore, it can be stated that Alexander Hamilton played a critical role in the Louisiana Purchase, for it was his idea of implied powers which allowed Thomas Jefferson to conduct the purchase in the first place.So I state again, Alexander Hamilton's actions not only brought the Constitution to life but allowed future American President's including his opponent Thomas Jefferson to use it for the good of the United States.http://www.pbs.org...http://www.theblaze.com...http://www.usmint.gov...http://en.wikipedia.org...