Document Based Questions: Hamilton Vs. Jefferson

Document Based Question: Hamilton v. Jefferson The argument that ensued between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists might have ended many years ago, but their philosophical ideals shaped the foundation of our beliefs as a country. These beliefs can be whittled down to two men named Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson. Both men fought assertively for a government based on their ideas, believing that their respective ideals would create an outstanding government. Hamilton, like the Federalists, valued a stronger national government, opposite of that which Jefferson believed in. Hamilton also spent many years of his life advocating for the Constitution and for federalism. He even favored the creation of a national bank that would control the U.S. currency,
Alexander Hamilton was in favor of a strong national government that was able to run under a very flexible Constitution. Thomas Jefferson was quite the opposite, believing that a government should be limited and that it should be run by the people of the country. With this weak and limited government proposed by the Anti-Federalists, came a very strict interpretation of the Constitution. What Hamilton and the Federalists wanted was a system of checks and balances that equally spread power between three branches of government, which they believed protected the rights of the people. “By so contriving the interior structure of the government as that its several constituent parts may, by their mutual relations, be the means of keeping each other in their proper places (DOC. G).” This excerpt from NO. 51 of the Federalist Papers discusses the support of checks and balances and the separation of powers, all part of the idea of federalism. Hamilton argued that this system would ensure that the government would not be able to abuse the rights of the people and each branch would be able to control the others. This also can be seen in James Madison’s writings under the alias