Debate: Who had the more enduring vision of the United States? Hamilton or Jefferson?
Side: Alexander Hamilton

In my opinion Alexander Hamilton was better for our country in the long run because he knew that an ongoing source of revenue would be crucial to stabilizing the economy. He suggested that the federal government should pay off all Confederation debts at full value. Such action would dramatically enhance the legitimacy of the new central government. To raise money to pay off the debts, Hamilton would issue new securities bonds. Investors who had purchased these public securities could make enormous profits when the time came for the United States to pay off these new debts. He also proposed a national bank, this would help stabilize the economy of America. The third major area of Hamilton's economic plan aimed to make American manufacturers self-sufficient. When Hamilton left office he had left behind a more stable U.S. economy to back a strengthened federal government.  Alexander Hamilton wanted a strong central government because he knew it would create a more stable and functional government. He disliked state governments and believed that they should be eliminated entirely. In fact, Hamilton believed that the perfect union would be one in which there were no states at all. At the same time, however, Hamilton realized that eliminating the states was impossible, because there were too many other Americans who favored the rights of the states over a strong national government. Hamilton drafted a proposal for a new national government that would centralize power but still allow states to keep many of their rights.He also believed that the new government should be divided into three branches; the executive branch, the legislative congress, and the judiciary branch. Hamilton thought that dividing the government into three segments would provide checks and balances to prevent any one branch from becoming too powerful, and Hamilton also believed that by working together, the three different branches could centralize their power over the states. The executive of the government would be the President of the United States, and would be elected by a system of electoral colleges to serve a life term. Hamilton thought that by limiting the time they were in office they would not get very much accomplished and they would spent more time thinking about reelection rather than what is good for the nation. Clearly, Hamilton's system closely mirrored the British system of government, but it also closely resembles the form of government that the delegates in Philadelphia eventually agreed upon. Hamilton rushed home to New York to begin his campaign to convince the people of New York to ratify the Constitution. This was very difficult because many state leaders and citizens feared that a strong national government would violate the freedom they had recently won from Great Britain. New Yorkers were essentially convinced that any new and stronger national government would eliminate their liberty. To combat the Anti-Federalists in his home state, Hamilton decided to write a series of essays to convince the people that the Constitution was essential to their liberty. Hamilton enlisted John Jay and James Madison to assist him in writing the essays, which were eventually published as pamphlets and magazine articles throughout the United States. On the average, four essays were published each week, and these became collectively known as the Federalist Papers. Historians do not know exactly how many essays Hamilton wrote, but it is believed that he wrote fifty-two on his own, and may have assisted in writing at least fifteen others.