Alexander Hamilton Brought the Constitution to Life

I will do my best to show that while George Washington did much to bring the Constitution of the United States to life, Alexander Hamilton's achievements surpassed those of Washington. Winning the War of Independence. No one can deny George Washington's achievements during the American Revolution, and of course one can come to the conclusion that without winning the American Revolution, the Constitution itself would not have come to life. However, George Washington was solely a man of action not of intellect, Alexander Hamilton was both, and it is crucial in understanding that without the intellects a revolution is unimaginable and the creation of a new republic would be impossible. Not only did Alexander Hamilton surpass by far George Washington when it came to the political and rational defense of the Constitution of 1789, but Hamilton as well proved his braveness, patriotism and will in the American Revolution. Michael Schellhammer writes, Hamilton himself was sick Christmas Day, but he rallied to join the Army as they crossed the Delaware River to attack the Hessian garrison at Trenton, New Jersey. He and his company swarmed into Trenton alongside the Continental infantry, surprising the Hessians. Hamilton was perhaps at his deadliest in this battle. He set up two guns under fire, leaned into the blowing snow, and ordered his men to blast Trenton’s streets clear of the counterattacking Hessian infantrymen and artillery gunners. In minutes the American guns raked King Street with round after round of grapeshot and solid shot that smashed the enemy guns and cut through Hessians as they ran out of their barracks. Alexander Hamilton's success and role in the Battle of Trenton which took place on December 25th, 1775, cannot be overlooked. As Schellhammer describes Hamilton played a crucial role in defeating the Hessians in Trenton, with the use of cannons which was not an easy to skill to acquire, especially for Hamilton who grew up in Nevis an island far from such advanced military weaponry. Still Hamilton quickly learned how to manage cannons and used his skills in the Battle of Trenton to be of great aid to George Washington in claiming a victory for the new republic in Trenton. This proves that while George Washington played a crucial role in the American Revolution, Hamilton as well played his part during the American Revolution and battles such as the one I've presented were won because of Alexander Hamilton's great leadership. Ratifying the U. S. Constitution. There should be no doubt in anyone's mind that the only purpose George Washington had in the Constitutional Convention was to assure the American public of the good intentions behind the Convention. The soldiers and people of the new republic trusted George Washington and they had good reason to, but to jump to the conclusion that his presence in the Constitutional Convention, which was only to ensure the peace between the delegates was more important or crucial to the process of ratification of the U. S. Constitution than the actions by Alexander Hamilton is simply absurd. Not only did Alexander Hamilton played a crucial role in shaping the Constitution of 1787 but he was instrumental, in fact the most important figure in the ratification of the U. S. Constitution. Not only did Alexander Hamilton wrote 2/3's of the Federalist Papers which was crucial in gathering support for the new Constitution, but his fight for ratification in his home state of New York was important in maintaining a united union. Without him being able to convince the delegates in Albany to ratify the Constitution, the most populated state at the time would not have been a part of the United States. My own opponent says that George Washington stayed "out of conversation until it was necessary. " George Washington was only present at the Constitutional Convention to maintain a peaceful dialogue among the delegates interfering in the conversation when he believed it was getting out of hand, a job which is honestly easy to replace. However, to replace the thoughts, intellect, words and actions of Alexander Hamilton is simply unimaginable. When voting do not forget that the ideas of Alexander Hamilton's were placed in the Constitution of 1787. His idea of a stronger central government, that could build an army, collect taxes, create a national bank and engage in trade with foreign nations were crucial in the development of this nation, which would become as he predicted an empire. Not only an economic empire which would dominate the economic stage on a global level, but a military power which he described would never get "caught up in wars that were not of their own choosing. " It was Alexander Hamilton along with James Madison not George Washington who created the Constitution of 1787, and it was Alexander Hamilton not George Washington who fought for ratification of the Constitution in states such as New York but most importantly it was Alexander Hamilton not George Washington who wielded the Constitution of 1787 with a powerful weapon to defend itself against it's opponents, this powerful weapon being the Federalist Papers. Putting the Constitution and National Government Into Practice. I'm happy to see my opponent choose to write about the First Cabinet and it's success, because I've already spoken about it the success of the first Presidential cabinet and it was Alexander Hamilton the architect of the first cabinets achievements. My opponent speaks of George Washington's implementation of "executive privilege and executive orders" but fails to present actual, historical examples of these implementations. Yes, Washington delivered the State of the Union address but this isn't something that was not detailed in the Constitution, for in Article II, Section 3 of the U. S. Constitution it states ". .. from time to time give to the Congress information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient. " Clearly the U. S. Constitution already stated that a State of the Union address should occur, however, the creation of a national bank and the use of military force against American citizens such as the force used against the farmers in the Whiskey Rebellion were not detailed in the U. S. Constitution, and it was Alexander Hamilton who interpreted the Constitution to allow the central government to do all these things, in fact Hamilton's interpretation of implied powers allowed Thomas Jefferson to double the size of the U. S. with the Louisiana Purchase. "And very importantly left the Presidency after two terms and eight years - term limits of course, had not been defined by the Constitution. This last feat by Washington, turning away from power, President of the United States would not become a King. " Clearly my opponent needs to brush up on his history. For the issue of term limits would not be settled until 1951 with the introduction of the 22nd Amendment, after the United States had seen Franklin D. Roosevelt in office for four terms, yes that's 12 years. So clearly George Washington did not do such a good job in setting clear that the President of the United States could only serve a maximum of 8 years. It is obvious that the precedents that George Washington created, which my opponent presented were not as important as the interpretation and actions taken by Alexander Hamilton. In fact the United States had to settle many issues such as term limits by introducing an Amendment to the Constitution, but yet my opponent believes that these precedents and actions by George Washington are more important and crucial to the interpretation and implementation of the U. S. Constitution than the precedents and actions taken by Alexander Hamilton. Overview. Today we live in the nation that Alexander Hamilton dreamed of, but most importantly in the country he helped create. Without him the introduction of federal taxation would have taken a longer time to be implemented, the introduction of an American military to defend the borders of the U. S. , and to fight foreign and domestic enemies of the Union. Without his fight to abolish the Articles of Confederation, to create the Constitution of 1787 to ratify the Constitution throughout the United States and to implement and present in live actions the Constitution to the American public, it is unimaginable as to where this nation could be today. My opponent believes George Washington should be given more credit than Alexander Hamilton for bringing the Constitution of the United States to life, but we must all agree that George Washington's greatest achievements were in the battlefield during the American Revolution, not in the political arena.