1 00:00:05,360 --> 00:00:08,039 Speaker 1: On this episode of This World. The lives of these 2 00:00:08,080 --> 00:00:11,440 Speaker 1: men are essential to understand the American form of government 3 00:00:11,640 --> 00:00:15,040 Speaker 1: and our ideals of liberty. The Founding Fathers all played 4 00:00:15,080 --> 00:00:18,920 Speaker 1: key roles in securing American independence from Great Britain and 5 00:00:18,960 --> 00:00:21,000 Speaker 1: in the creation of the government of the United States 6 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:34,480 Speaker 1: of America. And now the life of Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton 7 00:00:34,640 --> 00:00:37,080 Speaker 1: and as since has had a new burst of fame. 8 00:00:37,720 --> 00:00:42,120 Speaker 1: But he's somebody who really never should have disappeared. First 9 00:00:42,159 --> 00:00:48,120 Speaker 1: of all, he was extraordinarily bright. Hamilton may have been, 10 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:53,559 Speaker 1: in sheer iq, the smartest of all the Founding Fathers. 11 00:00:54,040 --> 00:00:58,480 Speaker 1: He was just deeply admired by Washington. He was invaluable 12 00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:02,600 Speaker 1: to Washington as a staff off. He was endlessly competent. 13 00:01:03,240 --> 00:01:05,720 Speaker 1: And I think that's a key part of this is 14 00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:09,399 Speaker 1: that Hamilton was the person who was very ambitious, but 15 00:01:09,520 --> 00:01:12,600 Speaker 1: he was also a person who worked very hard and 16 00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:17,919 Speaker 1: who applied his considerable intelligence to whatever job he had. Now, 17 00:01:18,160 --> 00:01:21,640 Speaker 1: he actually had not gotten to the US very much 18 00:01:21,720 --> 00:01:26,119 Speaker 1: before the Revolution began. He was born, we think, either 19 00:01:26,160 --> 00:01:29,920 Speaker 1: in seventeen fifty five or seventeen fifty seven on Nevas. 20 00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:34,559 Speaker 1: His father was a Scottish trader named James Hamilton his mother, 21 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:38,839 Speaker 1: Rachel Faussett Levi, and they were not married at the time. Rachel, 22 00:01:38,880 --> 00:01:41,160 Speaker 1: in fact, was married to another man at the time 23 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:44,240 Speaker 1: of Hamilton's birth, but had left her husband after he 24 00:01:44,280 --> 00:01:46,680 Speaker 1: spent much of her family fortune and he had had 25 00:01:46,680 --> 00:01:49,800 Speaker 1: her in prison for adultery. Now you may be curious 26 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:53,960 Speaker 1: why James Hamilton settled in Neavis. The British gained control 27 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:57,160 Speaker 1: of the island in seventeen thirteen, and Nevis and Saint 28 00:01:57,200 --> 00:02:00,880 Speaker 1: KITT's soon were the leading areas of sugar production in 29 00:02:00,920 --> 00:02:04,720 Speaker 1: the Caribbean. The colonists and others wanted sugar to sweeten 30 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:06,840 Speaker 1: their tea in cough. It's hard for us to remember, 31 00:02:06,880 --> 00:02:10,840 Speaker 1: but these islands were considered so amazingly valuable that at 32 00:02:10,880 --> 00:02:14,799 Speaker 1: one point in negotiations, the British kept some islands in 33 00:02:14,880 --> 00:02:20,160 Speaker 1: the Caribbean as being of greater value than all of Canada. Unfortunately, 34 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:22,760 Speaker 1: the islands also had malaria, so a number of people 35 00:02:22,800 --> 00:02:25,600 Speaker 1: died over the two hundred years in which they were 36 00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:29,120 Speaker 1: producing sugar there. Hamilton's father abandoned his family in seventeen 37 00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:32,320 Speaker 1: sixty six. His mother died of yellow fever two years 38 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:36,200 Speaker 1: later in February seventeen sixty eight, so he was orphaned, 39 00:02:36,240 --> 00:02:39,760 Speaker 1: probably at either eleven or thirteen, depending on which year 40 00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:43,600 Speaker 1: of birth was accurate. Hamilton and his older brother, James Junior, 41 00:02:44,040 --> 00:02:46,560 Speaker 1: moved in with a cousin who eventually died, and then 42 00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:48,880 Speaker 1: an uncle who also died. As I said, this is 43 00:02:48,919 --> 00:02:54,640 Speaker 1: an area that suffered huge casualties, largely from various tropical diseases. 44 00:02:55,360 --> 00:02:57,880 Speaker 1: After the death of his uncle, Hamilton was taken in 45 00:02:57,919 --> 00:03:01,600 Speaker 1: by Thomas Stevens, a merchant, and he was apprenticed with him. 46 00:03:01,919 --> 00:03:05,040 Speaker 1: Hamilton viewed this as the most formative part of his education, 47 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:09,320 Speaker 1: learning how to track freight, chart courses for ships, and 48 00:03:09,400 --> 00:03:13,679 Speaker 1: calculate prices by different currencies. In his youth, Hamilton sent 49 00:03:13,760 --> 00:03:17,040 Speaker 1: poems and letters to the local newspaper. It was remarkable 50 00:03:17,120 --> 00:03:20,360 Speaker 1: because Hamilton did not have a formal education. It's says 51 00:03:20,440 --> 00:03:23,440 Speaker 1: that he was really smart and he kept learning. He 52 00:03:23,480 --> 00:03:26,000 Speaker 1: never attended school in the island, but when his mother 53 00:03:26,120 --> 00:03:28,800 Speaker 1: was alive, she taught him French and bought books for 54 00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:32,399 Speaker 1: him and his older brother to read. In seventeen seventy two, 55 00:03:32,919 --> 00:03:37,320 Speaker 1: impressed by Hamilton's quick learning abilities and intelligence, Hamilton's boss 56 00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:39,800 Speaker 1: sponsored the young clerk's trip to the United States to 57 00:03:39,880 --> 00:03:44,240 Speaker 1: attend school there. Hamilton began his preparation for college at 58 00:03:44,240 --> 00:03:47,360 Speaker 1: a grammar school in New Jersey and enrolled in what 59 00:03:47,480 --> 00:03:51,680 Speaker 1: was then called King's College in seventeen seventy four. It 60 00:03:51,760 --> 00:03:56,680 Speaker 1: becomes eventually Columbia University. Hamilton's enrollment of King's College speaks 61 00:03:56,720 --> 00:04:00,800 Speaker 1: to his astounding skills and intelligence to be admitted to 62 00:04:00,880 --> 00:04:03,560 Speaker 1: a university on his own terms, to be allowed to 63 00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:06,360 Speaker 1: enroll in any class for which he was qualified, and 64 00:04:06,440 --> 00:04:09,880 Speaker 1: to graduate as soon as he'd completed the minimum requirements. 65 00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:14,680 Speaker 1: After being denied admission at Princeton because of his unorthodox request, 66 00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:18,840 Speaker 1: Hamilton was admitted to King's College under the proposed arrangement 67 00:04:19,160 --> 00:04:22,440 Speaker 1: and subsequently assigned a special tutor. No, imagine, here's this 68 00:04:22,520 --> 00:04:25,760 Speaker 1: guy who shows up from the Caribbean and immediately begin 69 00:04:25,880 --> 00:04:29,120 Speaker 1: setting his own terms of life and gets away with it. 70 00:04:29,600 --> 00:04:32,040 Speaker 1: People are so impressed with how smart he is and 71 00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:35,359 Speaker 1: how hard he works that they keep bending over trying 72 00:04:35,400 --> 00:04:38,680 Speaker 1: to help him accommodate on his terms. During his time 73 00:04:38,720 --> 00:04:42,599 Speaker 1: at King's College, Hamilton's eloquence and genius took a political 74 00:04:42,640 --> 00:04:46,120 Speaker 1: application as the debates became more poised about the role 75 00:04:46,120 --> 00:04:48,400 Speaker 1: of the British Empire and whether or not we should 76 00:04:48,400 --> 00:04:51,400 Speaker 1: become independent. While he was a sophomore in the college, 77 00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:56,080 Speaker 1: Hamilton delivered an impromptu speech that passionately outlined the case 78 00:04:56,120 --> 00:04:59,800 Speaker 1: of the colonies against parliamentary injustices. Remember this is a 79 00:04:59,800 --> 00:05:02,920 Speaker 1: time time when Americans are arguing with themselves. Are they 80 00:05:02,960 --> 00:05:06,799 Speaker 1: really English and merely petitioning the crown to do whatever 81 00:05:06,839 --> 00:05:10,039 Speaker 1: the crown wants? Or are they really this new creature 82 00:05:10,120 --> 00:05:14,520 Speaker 1: called an American? Hamilton cited as somebody w himself had 83 00:05:14,520 --> 00:05:18,080 Speaker 1: no great roots anywhere that he was an American. He 84 00:05:18,160 --> 00:05:21,080 Speaker 1: also became well known for his publishing a series of 85 00:05:21,160 --> 00:05:25,279 Speaker 1: scathing but reasoned responses to the Continental Congress that were 86 00:05:25,279 --> 00:05:29,280 Speaker 1: published when Hamilton was eighteen years old. Well Hamilton was 87 00:05:29,320 --> 00:05:32,760 Speaker 1: in college, the Revolutionary War began, and in seventeen seventy 88 00:05:32,760 --> 00:05:36,479 Speaker 1: five he quit school to join the army. Now Hamilton 89 00:05:37,120 --> 00:05:40,640 Speaker 1: was an impressive leader. He was well organized, He knew 90 00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:43,040 Speaker 1: how to get supplies to that troops. He could get an 91 00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:46,960 Speaker 1: amazing number of things done, and George Washington, who is 92 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:50,520 Speaker 1: in desperate need of competent help, asked Hamilton to become 93 00:05:50,560 --> 00:05:54,680 Speaker 1: his assistant, helping him plan battles write letters and manage 94 00:05:54,720 --> 00:05:58,640 Speaker 1: Washington's staff. Hamilton served in this position for four years. Now, 95 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:03,200 Speaker 1: Remember they're in field the entire time. They're together every 96 00:06:03,240 --> 00:06:06,880 Speaker 1: single day, they truly get to know each other. Washington 97 00:06:06,880 --> 00:06:09,760 Speaker 1: gets in the habit of relying heavily on Hamilton and 98 00:06:09,800 --> 00:06:12,560 Speaker 1: realizing that this is one of the brightest people, if 99 00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:15,560 Speaker 1: not the brightest person, he's ever met. Hamilton often used 100 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:18,719 Speaker 1: his writing skills to write to the Continental Congress asking 101 00:06:18,760 --> 00:06:23,160 Speaker 1: for food and supplies for General Washington's troops, and he 102 00:06:23,240 --> 00:06:26,120 Speaker 1: watched as the Continental Congress wrote the Decoration of Independence 103 00:06:26,440 --> 00:06:30,080 Speaker 1: and debated how to run the country. Now, Hamilton was 104 00:06:30,160 --> 00:06:33,920 Speaker 1: so smart and so widely read that with six months 105 00:06:33,920 --> 00:06:37,400 Speaker 1: of studying he passed the Bar exam without formal training. 106 00:06:37,960 --> 00:06:41,160 Speaker 1: It was just amazing. He had decided in January seventeen 107 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:44,159 Speaker 1: eighty two he wanted to become a lawyer. He petitioned 108 00:06:44,160 --> 00:06:46,279 Speaker 1: the New York Supreme Court to let him take the 109 00:06:46,320 --> 00:06:50,400 Speaker 1: bar exam without the required three year internship. And after all, 110 00:06:50,560 --> 00:06:53,040 Speaker 1: he had served four years as an aid to Washington, 111 00:06:53,480 --> 00:06:55,320 Speaker 1: so they sort of fudged and said, well, that kind 112 00:06:55,360 --> 00:06:58,760 Speaker 1: of counts as an internship. Hamilton taught him self law. 113 00:06:59,520 --> 00:07:02,960 Speaker 1: Now to aid In his studies, Hamilton studied old New 114 00:07:03,040 --> 00:07:06,040 Speaker 1: York court cases and wrote his analysis in a book 115 00:07:06,040 --> 00:07:10,080 Speaker 1: he later published called Practical Proceedings in the Supreme Court 116 00:07:10,080 --> 00:07:12,400 Speaker 1: of New York. He wrote it at the age of 117 00:07:12,400 --> 00:07:14,880 Speaker 1: twenty five. This puts him in the same league as 118 00:07:14,920 --> 00:07:18,200 Speaker 1: Theodore Roosevelt, who wrote his famous history of the Naval 119 00:07:18,240 --> 00:07:20,720 Speaker 1: War of eighteen twelve and was published when he was 120 00:07:20,760 --> 00:07:25,080 Speaker 1: twenty five. Hamilton saw his book become the standard text 121 00:07:25,520 --> 00:07:27,960 Speaker 1: in New York legal studies for the rest of his life. 122 00:07:28,600 --> 00:07:32,560 Speaker 1: In October seventeen eighty two, Hamilton passed the bar and 123 00:07:32,680 --> 00:07:35,360 Speaker 1: was legally allowed to practice law in New York. Now, 124 00:07:35,360 --> 00:07:39,280 Speaker 1: by this stage, the war is winding down and which 125 00:07:39,280 --> 00:07:41,160 Speaker 1: would begin to be a national country, And this is 126 00:07:41,280 --> 00:07:45,520 Speaker 1: part of what makes Hamilton so important. Hamilton had a 127 00:07:45,640 --> 00:07:49,160 Speaker 1: vision of America as a country, not a collection of 128 00:07:49,160 --> 00:07:52,040 Speaker 1: thirteen colonies, or later on, not as a collection of 129 00:07:52,080 --> 00:07:56,560 Speaker 1: thirteen states, but rather as a truly national system. In 130 00:07:56,600 --> 00:08:00,480 Speaker 1: seventeen eighty one, Hamilton proposed to Robert Morris, who was 131 00:08:00,520 --> 00:08:04,040 Speaker 1: Congress's Superintendent of Finance, that we needed a national bank. 132 00:08:04,480 --> 00:08:07,000 Speaker 1: He also suggested the Congress of the power to raise 133 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:10,840 Speaker 1: taxes at the time, the Continental Congress couldn't actually levy 134 00:08:10,880 --> 00:08:13,040 Speaker 1: any taxes. They had to ask the colonies and then 135 00:08:13,120 --> 00:08:16,200 Speaker 1: later when they became states, to voluntarily give them money. 136 00:08:16,680 --> 00:08:19,080 Speaker 1: But they didn't have any power to actually raise money. 137 00:08:19,560 --> 00:08:23,480 Speaker 1: So Morris liked Hamilton's ideas and fought for them in Congress. 138 00:08:23,960 --> 00:08:27,800 Speaker 1: Morris then appointed Hamilton to the possession of receiver of 139 00:08:27,920 --> 00:08:31,360 Speaker 1: Continental taxes in New York in May of seventeen eighty two. 140 00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:34,160 Speaker 1: Remember this is a few months before even passes the bar. 141 00:08:34,679 --> 00:08:38,640 Speaker 1: So he's inventing the national Bank, developing a tax system, 142 00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:42,559 Speaker 1: becoming the receiver of taxes in New York while he's 143 00:08:42,600 --> 00:08:46,320 Speaker 1: also studying to pass the bar. He accepted the position, 144 00:08:46,720 --> 00:08:50,640 Speaker 1: he didn't have much time to get collected taxes, and frankly, 145 00:08:50,880 --> 00:08:53,840 Speaker 1: at the point, there was no real power in that job. 146 00:08:54,040 --> 00:08:56,679 Speaker 1: He couldn't go in and subpoena people or send them 147 00:08:56,679 --> 00:09:00,000 Speaker 1: to jail, or do anything. That was all basically naggy. 148 00:09:00,760 --> 00:09:04,640 Speaker 1: But from October seventeen eighty two to August of seventeen 149 00:09:04,679 --> 00:09:07,440 Speaker 1: eighty three, basically from the time he passed the bar 150 00:09:07,600 --> 00:09:10,960 Speaker 1: to seventeen eighty three, he served in Congress as a 151 00:09:11,040 --> 00:09:14,720 Speaker 1: representative state of New York. While he was there, he 152 00:09:14,720 --> 00:09:17,040 Speaker 1: helped draft the peace treaty between the US and Great 153 00:09:17,040 --> 00:09:20,800 Speaker 1: Britain that ended the war. He proposed that naval activities 154 00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:23,440 Speaker 1: be banned from the Great Lakes between the US and 155 00:09:23,480 --> 00:09:26,920 Speaker 1: British controlled Canada. That suggestion was ignored him. By the way, 156 00:09:27,360 --> 00:09:30,480 Speaker 1: by eighteen twelve, naval power on the Great Lakes whod 157 00:09:30,480 --> 00:09:33,080 Speaker 1: become a real issue and one of the major points 158 00:09:33,360 --> 00:09:36,640 Speaker 1: of combat during the War of eighteen twelve. In August 159 00:09:36,720 --> 00:09:39,640 Speaker 1: of seventeen eighty three, after eight months as a congressman, 160 00:09:40,120 --> 00:09:43,440 Speaker 1: Hamilton returned to New York and finally used his law 161 00:09:43,480 --> 00:09:47,320 Speaker 1: degree to establish a legal practice. He represented several tories. 162 00:09:47,400 --> 00:09:49,920 Speaker 1: Remember there were about a third of the American people 163 00:09:49,960 --> 00:09:52,120 Speaker 1: actually were on the side of the British, a third 164 00:09:52,160 --> 00:09:54,920 Speaker 1: were for independence, and the third just wanted to hide. 165 00:09:55,320 --> 00:09:58,719 Speaker 1: The fact is as a lawyer, he felt people deserve representation, 166 00:09:59,200 --> 00:10:01,079 Speaker 1: so he represents I had a number of tories who 167 00:10:01,120 --> 00:10:04,680 Speaker 1: had various claims because their property had been stolen or 168 00:10:04,720 --> 00:10:07,120 Speaker 1: their bills hadn't been paid, and a lot of people 169 00:10:07,160 --> 00:10:10,920 Speaker 1: thought that Hamilton was betraying the New Country by this 170 00:10:11,080 --> 00:10:14,439 Speaker 1: kind of representation. But Hamilton really taking a position that 171 00:10:14,520 --> 00:10:17,760 Speaker 1: John Adams had taken after the Boston massacre when he 172 00:10:17,800 --> 00:10:21,839 Speaker 1: had defended the British soldiers in Boston. Hamilton thought that 173 00:10:21,920 --> 00:10:26,160 Speaker 1: the lawyer had applied the law that people deserved representation, 174 00:10:26,400 --> 00:10:29,520 Speaker 1: and that the war was over, that the time had 175 00:10:29,559 --> 00:10:32,280 Speaker 1: come to move forward, to look to the future, and 176 00:10:32,360 --> 00:10:35,800 Speaker 1: that going after the loyalists, as the Tories were called, 177 00:10:36,080 --> 00:10:39,480 Speaker 1: would simply weaken the country because it would drive people away, 178 00:10:39,520 --> 00:10:42,559 Speaker 1: which they did. A very substantial number of the wealthier 179 00:10:43,120 --> 00:10:47,000 Speaker 1: loyalist left America, went to Britain or to Canada. Hamilton, 180 00:10:47,400 --> 00:10:50,560 Speaker 1: in fact, had a very different view. In June of 181 00:10:50,559 --> 00:10:53,840 Speaker 1: seventeen eighty four, he defended a loyalist in the Rutgers 182 00:10:53,960 --> 00:10:58,160 Speaker 1: versus Waddington case, which rose from the Trespass Act of 183 00:10:58,200 --> 00:11:03,079 Speaker 1: seventeen eighty three. Hamilton argued that trestpac Act was inconsistent 184 00:11:03,600 --> 00:11:05,480 Speaker 1: with things in the Treaty of Peace that he had 185 00:11:05,520 --> 00:11:08,320 Speaker 1: helped write. Remember, he helps write the treaty, helps pass 186 00:11:08,360 --> 00:11:11,320 Speaker 1: the treaty, so he's now in court debating what the 187 00:11:11,320 --> 00:11:14,400 Speaker 1: treaty means, and he clearly has a great deal of expertise. 188 00:11:14,920 --> 00:11:17,439 Speaker 1: He was very worried that if the case was one 189 00:11:17,960 --> 00:11:21,240 Speaker 1: and the loyalist was punished. It would drive thousands of 190 00:11:21,280 --> 00:11:25,720 Speaker 1: loyalists away from New York, negatively impacting trade. He lost, 191 00:11:25,800 --> 00:11:28,000 Speaker 1: but Hamilton used the arguments he made in the case 192 00:11:28,280 --> 00:11:31,120 Speaker 1: as the basis for the Federalist Papers number twenty two 193 00:11:31,160 --> 00:11:34,760 Speaker 1: and seventy eight, where he argued, quote, the interpretation of 194 00:11:34,760 --> 00:11:38,480 Speaker 1: the law is the proper and peculiar province of the courts. 195 00:11:38,920 --> 00:11:42,360 Speaker 1: The case also set the state precedent for judicial review 196 00:11:42,840 --> 00:11:46,560 Speaker 1: established by the Supreme Court in eighteen oh three. Now, 197 00:11:46,720 --> 00:11:50,200 Speaker 1: Hamilton wanted a strong and powerful federal government. The truth is, 198 00:11:50,559 --> 00:11:54,439 Speaker 1: Hamilton felt more comfortable with an aristocratic government. If he 199 00:11:54,440 --> 00:11:56,480 Speaker 1: could have figured out a way to get there. He'd 200 00:11:56,480 --> 00:11:58,600 Speaker 1: love to have had George Washington as a new king, 201 00:11:59,240 --> 00:12:02,920 Speaker 1: but that's not where the country is going. His deeper 202 00:12:03,280 --> 00:12:07,960 Speaker 1: impact that really mattered was that he wanted to have 203 00:12:08,160 --> 00:12:12,120 Speaker 1: the nation come together, and he looked for things that 204 00:12:12,160 --> 00:12:32,920 Speaker 1: would bring together everybody into thinking themselves as Americans. Hamilton 205 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:35,800 Speaker 1: maneuvered and worked very hard. He ended up playing a 206 00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:41,160 Speaker 1: major role in the Constitutional Convention, and he really understood 207 00:12:41,800 --> 00:12:46,760 Speaker 1: that it was very, very important that we become a 208 00:12:46,920 --> 00:12:51,199 Speaker 1: unified country. His role in the Convention was important, and 209 00:12:51,440 --> 00:12:54,080 Speaker 1: the Convention is an interesting example of two things we 210 00:12:54,160 --> 00:12:57,160 Speaker 1: tend not to remember. One it was a coup d eta. 211 00:12:57,920 --> 00:13:00,440 Speaker 1: The people who went to the Convention were sent to 212 00:13:00,480 --> 00:13:05,080 Speaker 1: the Convention to reform the Articles of Confederation. When they 213 00:13:05,120 --> 00:13:06,800 Speaker 1: got there, they looked around and said, this is crazy. 214 00:13:06,840 --> 00:13:09,600 Speaker 1: These things will never work. So without any kind of 215 00:13:09,840 --> 00:13:13,640 Speaker 1: basic approval from back home, they decided they'd write a 216 00:13:13,679 --> 00:13:18,319 Speaker 1: new constitution and completely replaced the Articles of Confederation. They 217 00:13:18,320 --> 00:13:20,480 Speaker 1: did a second thing which we often tend to forget. 218 00:13:21,080 --> 00:13:24,880 Speaker 1: They decided they'd meet in secret. So the most important 219 00:13:24,960 --> 00:13:30,320 Speaker 1: document defining America, the Constitution, is written in secret by 220 00:13:30,360 --> 00:13:34,559 Speaker 1: a group of people who have basically violated their rules 221 00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:37,480 Speaker 1: by giving themselves a much bigger assignment than they were 222 00:13:37,520 --> 00:13:40,959 Speaker 1: elected for. They have to work out an amazing number 223 00:13:40,960 --> 00:13:47,720 Speaker 1: of details, and it involves very deep political negotiation. They 224 00:13:47,760 --> 00:13:52,719 Speaker 1: finally come together with a program and they pass out 225 00:13:52,760 --> 00:13:57,400 Speaker 1: a constitution. Now, because they understood a little bit different 226 00:13:57,400 --> 00:14:00,560 Speaker 1: than some of our current leadership, that you couldn't sustain 227 00:14:00,679 --> 00:14:04,440 Speaker 1: something if it wasn't supported by the people, they said, 228 00:14:04,600 --> 00:14:07,000 Speaker 1: you know, all the states have to in fact endorse it. 229 00:14:07,040 --> 00:14:09,800 Speaker 1: I think nine of them had to endorse the Constitution 230 00:14:09,920 --> 00:14:13,200 Speaker 1: for it to go into effect. Well, that meant you 231 00:14:13,280 --> 00:14:15,240 Speaker 1: had to go back. Each state would have a different 232 00:14:15,280 --> 00:14:17,520 Speaker 1: way of doing it. Some would do it by vote, 233 00:14:17,559 --> 00:14:20,120 Speaker 1: some would do it by having the state legislature involved. 234 00:14:20,600 --> 00:14:24,000 Speaker 1: But each state had to find a way to ratify 235 00:14:24,040 --> 00:14:27,360 Speaker 1: the constitution. So here's this document which had been drafted 236 00:14:27,360 --> 00:14:30,560 Speaker 1: in secret, it's suddenly sprung in the country. It is 237 00:14:30,600 --> 00:14:34,880 Speaker 1: outlining a very complicated system which frankly, even today and 238 00:14:35,000 --> 00:14:38,160 Speaker 1: government class people have a hard time mastering all the 239 00:14:38,200 --> 00:14:43,000 Speaker 1: details of the Constitution. And Hamilton, along with two other people, 240 00:14:43,240 --> 00:14:48,600 Speaker 1: John Jay of New York and James Madison of Virginia, 241 00:14:48,960 --> 00:14:53,280 Speaker 1: decide to write what is in fact the most elegant 242 00:14:53,360 --> 00:14:57,640 Speaker 1: and most powerful campaign brochure ever written. And it's important 243 00:14:57,640 --> 00:15:01,120 Speaker 1: to think about that way. The Federloist papers nowadays seem 244 00:15:01,200 --> 00:15:07,880 Speaker 1: like this very sophisticated academic document that people study, but 245 00:15:07,920 --> 00:15:10,640 Speaker 1: that's not what it was. It was a collection of 246 00:15:10,680 --> 00:15:15,280 Speaker 1: eighty five articles essays written by Hamilton, Madison and Jay. 247 00:15:16,200 --> 00:15:20,480 Speaker 1: They appeared anonymously in New York newspapers in seventeen eighty 248 00:15:20,480 --> 00:15:24,400 Speaker 1: seven and seventeen eighty eight under the pen name Publius. 249 00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:27,840 Speaker 1: And I have to say, having spent large parts of 250 00:15:27,880 --> 00:15:33,280 Speaker 1: my life dealing with the Federalist papers. They're unbelievably brilliant. Now, 251 00:15:33,720 --> 00:15:38,680 Speaker 1: the vast majority of them were written by Hamilton. Fifty 252 00:15:38,680 --> 00:15:41,080 Speaker 1: two out of the eighty five are written by Hamilton. 253 00:15:41,760 --> 00:15:45,040 Speaker 1: They address every major question about the nature of the 254 00:15:45,080 --> 00:15:48,840 Speaker 1: new government. They walk people through the reasoning that led 255 00:15:48,880 --> 00:15:51,240 Speaker 1: the government to be designed the way it was. They 256 00:15:51,280 --> 00:15:55,680 Speaker 1: are far and away the best primary source for understanding 257 00:15:55,680 --> 00:15:59,760 Speaker 1: what the founding fathers intended. And they weren't. I remember 258 00:15:59,760 --> 00:16:02,000 Speaker 1: this country were probably only about a third of the 259 00:16:02,040 --> 00:16:05,200 Speaker 1: people could read. And here you have this document. When 260 00:16:05,200 --> 00:16:07,560 Speaker 1: I say campaign brochure, you just pick it up a 261 00:16:07,560 --> 00:16:11,320 Speaker 1: look at it. This wasn't some two page, fancy colored 262 00:16:11,480 --> 00:16:16,520 Speaker 1: document with seven pictures. This is pure print. And what 263 00:16:16,680 --> 00:16:20,720 Speaker 1: happened was, of course, relatively smart people read it and 264 00:16:20,760 --> 00:16:23,760 Speaker 1: then would sit around the tavern and explain it. So 265 00:16:23,800 --> 00:16:27,080 Speaker 1: the people who couldn't read were listening and asking questions 266 00:16:27,080 --> 00:16:29,760 Speaker 1: from the people who could read, and the net result 267 00:16:29,960 --> 00:16:33,480 Speaker 1: was one of the greatest educational moments in history. The 268 00:16:33,520 --> 00:16:37,640 Speaker 1: American people came together. They concluded both that it was 269 00:16:37,720 --> 00:16:40,880 Speaker 1: the right thing to do and that it was creating 270 00:16:40,880 --> 00:16:45,320 Speaker 1: a government which was legitimate. Now the Federalist Papers originally 271 00:16:45,600 --> 00:16:49,000 Speaker 1: were published primarily in two New York state newspapers, the 272 00:16:49,040 --> 00:16:51,960 Speaker 1: New York Packet and the Independent Journal. They were then 273 00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:55,000 Speaker 1: reprinted in other newspapers in New York and in cities 274 00:16:55,040 --> 00:16:58,400 Speaker 1: around the country. Then a bound edition was produced with 275 00:16:58,480 --> 00:17:01,680 Speaker 1: revisions and corrections by Hamton, and that was published in 276 00:17:01,720 --> 00:17:05,520 Speaker 1: seventeen eighty eight. Another edition would be published some thirty 277 00:17:05,600 --> 00:17:08,920 Speaker 1: years later by Jacob Gideon in eighteen eighteen with revisions 278 00:17:08,960 --> 00:17:11,840 Speaker 1: and corrections by Madison, which was the first one that 279 00:17:11,880 --> 00:17:15,320 Speaker 1: actually identified each essay by its author's name. So think 280 00:17:15,359 --> 00:17:18,320 Speaker 1: about that. You get this series of articles and newspapers 281 00:17:18,359 --> 00:17:22,160 Speaker 1: and then a book by Publius, and you end up 282 00:17:22,320 --> 00:17:25,320 Speaker 1: reading what the arguments are and you go, well, you 283 00:17:25,359 --> 00:17:28,600 Speaker 1: know they've really thought this through. And in fact, if 284 00:17:28,600 --> 00:17:30,840 Speaker 1: you take the time to read it, you'll realize that 285 00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:34,040 Speaker 1: Hamilton was a genius. He and Madison are the two 286 00:17:34,080 --> 00:17:39,760 Speaker 1: primary writers, and their grasp of the most important fundamentals 287 00:17:39,800 --> 00:17:44,719 Speaker 1: of freedom is just astonishing. I think as long as 288 00:17:44,800 --> 00:17:47,760 Speaker 1: humans want to understand how to be free, the Federalist 289 00:17:47,840 --> 00:17:50,000 Speaker 1: Papers will have a role to play and will be 290 00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:53,280 Speaker 1: a primary source document on the nature of freedom. Now, 291 00:17:53,440 --> 00:17:55,360 Speaker 1: while he's in the middle of creating a new country. 292 00:17:55,680 --> 00:17:58,000 Speaker 1: He also becomes a member of the board of trustees 293 00:17:58,480 --> 00:18:01,480 Speaker 1: of what used to Being's College when he went to it, 294 00:18:01,760 --> 00:18:04,920 Speaker 1: but now was Columbia College, which of course has evolved 295 00:18:04,960 --> 00:18:08,960 Speaker 1: into Columbia University. He helped develop a detailed outline of 296 00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:12,399 Speaker 1: the new academic departments and faculty appointments. He assisted in 297 00:18:12,480 --> 00:18:17,000 Speaker 1: analyzing their finances and budget allocations, and he would work 298 00:18:17,240 --> 00:18:19,600 Speaker 1: on the board at Columbia and serve Columbia for the 299 00:18:19,640 --> 00:18:23,080 Speaker 1: next twenty years until he died. While people always identify 300 00:18:23,160 --> 00:18:26,840 Speaker 1: Jefferson with founding the University of Virginia, the fact is 301 00:18:27,280 --> 00:18:31,680 Speaker 1: Hamilton was on the board of Columbia College long before 302 00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:36,000 Speaker 1: Jefferson got around to creating the University of Virginia. Hamilton's 303 00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:40,280 Speaker 1: most famous role is first Secretary of the Treasury. Washington 304 00:18:40,320 --> 00:18:43,280 Speaker 1: brought him in immediately. There were two great important jobs. 305 00:18:43,480 --> 00:18:45,919 Speaker 1: I think the most important was Secretary of Treasury. The 306 00:18:46,040 --> 00:18:49,719 Speaker 1: second most important was the Secretary of State. Jefferson has 307 00:18:49,760 --> 00:18:53,320 Speaker 1: made Secretary of State, Hamilton has made Secretary of the Treasury, 308 00:18:53,760 --> 00:18:58,800 Speaker 1: and they are amazingly different in their approach to things. 309 00:18:59,280 --> 00:19:03,240 Speaker 1: Jefferson as an intellectual, he spent a great deal of 310 00:19:03,280 --> 00:19:06,280 Speaker 1: time representing the United States in France. He watched the 311 00:19:06,320 --> 00:19:09,840 Speaker 1: early stages of the French Revolution. He was actually sympathetic 312 00:19:10,119 --> 00:19:12,480 Speaker 1: in the early days against the monarchy, even though the 313 00:19:12,520 --> 00:19:16,199 Speaker 1: monarchy had supported the United States and its War of Independence. 314 00:19:16,760 --> 00:19:19,280 Speaker 1: And then I think Jefferson, like everybody else, was horrified 315 00:19:19,640 --> 00:19:23,280 Speaker 1: as the French Revolution went crazy and began guillotining people, 316 00:19:23,680 --> 00:19:27,760 Speaker 1: imposing a dictatorship of the left. But he came home 317 00:19:28,240 --> 00:19:31,359 Speaker 1: he was very concerned about a strong central government. This 318 00:19:31,400 --> 00:19:34,800 Speaker 1: is one of the first places where he and Hamilton 319 00:19:34,840 --> 00:19:38,760 Speaker 1: have a profound disagreement. Jefferson agrees to support the new 320 00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:43,960 Speaker 1: Constitution only if Madison will carry a series of amendments, 321 00:19:44,280 --> 00:19:46,960 Speaker 1: which became known as the Bill of Rights. And it's 322 00:19:46,960 --> 00:19:50,399 Speaker 1: important to recognize it. Where Hamilton is trying to strengthen 323 00:19:50,440 --> 00:19:55,640 Speaker 1: the government, Jefferson is really worried that a strong government 324 00:19:55,680 --> 00:20:00,280 Speaker 1: will infringe on our liberties. By contrast, Hamilton had a 325 00:20:00,320 --> 00:20:04,800 Speaker 1: more idealized vision that humans could have power without being 326 00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:07,560 Speaker 1: corrupted by it. I would say that Jefferson was almost 327 00:20:07,560 --> 00:20:11,639 Speaker 1: certainly more correct about humans than Hamilton, but Hamilton was 328 00:20:11,680 --> 00:20:15,120 Speaker 1: almost certainly more correct about the economy and about how 329 00:20:15,160 --> 00:20:17,680 Speaker 1: money worked, and that makes it one of the most 330 00:20:17,840 --> 00:20:21,119 Speaker 1: amazing things in American history that you end up at 331 00:20:21,119 --> 00:20:24,439 Speaker 1: this magic moment. First of all with Washington, who is 332 00:20:25,320 --> 00:20:29,800 Speaker 1: the moral giant, the man of honor, the person everybody 333 00:20:29,840 --> 00:20:33,320 Speaker 1: relies on, the person on whose shoulders all of us stand, 334 00:20:33,359 --> 00:20:36,959 Speaker 1: the genuine father of his country. But Washington recognizes he 335 00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:40,120 Speaker 1: doesn't know all these details. That's not his strength. He'd 336 00:20:40,160 --> 00:20:42,560 Speaker 1: led a war for eight years. He was a great planner. 337 00:20:42,640 --> 00:20:46,160 Speaker 1: He's actually a very innovative planner who bread an entire 338 00:20:46,200 --> 00:20:49,720 Speaker 1: new species of more powerful mule. For example, he worked 339 00:20:49,840 --> 00:20:54,000 Speaker 1: very assiduously at understanding the business of running the largest 340 00:20:54,040 --> 00:20:58,320 Speaker 1: plantation in America. But Washington was a very good, very 341 00:20:58,359 --> 00:21:03,360 Speaker 1: shrewd selector of peace. He knew that Jefferson loved foreign affairs, 342 00:21:03,359 --> 00:21:07,600 Speaker 1: and Jefferson understood Europe, and he knew that Hamilton could 343 00:21:07,680 --> 00:21:12,480 Speaker 1: master finance. At a time when we'd had enormous inflation, 344 00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:16,480 Speaker 1: the money issued by the Continental Congress had collapsed in value. 345 00:21:16,840 --> 00:21:19,119 Speaker 1: There was a huge amount of debt held by the public, 346 00:21:19,520 --> 00:21:21,280 Speaker 1: there was a huge amount of debt held by the 347 00:21:21,359 --> 00:21:25,119 Speaker 1: Dutch and others. And the question was were we going 348 00:21:25,160 --> 00:21:29,640 Speaker 1: to dissolve into being incapable of paying our debts, having 349 00:21:29,720 --> 00:21:34,440 Speaker 1: our currency collapse and not being acceptable as a financial 350 00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:37,800 Speaker 1: risk around the world. Or were we going to in 351 00:21:37,920 --> 00:21:42,480 Speaker 1: fact fund the debt, pay it off, and pay off 352 00:21:42,520 --> 00:21:46,320 Speaker 1: the debt that we recrued overseas? And along comes Hamilton. 353 00:21:47,200 --> 00:21:50,119 Speaker 1: Hamilton is a student of Adam Smith, who published The 354 00:21:50,119 --> 00:21:53,280 Speaker 1: Wealth of Nations in seventeen seventy six as one of 355 00:21:53,320 --> 00:21:56,280 Speaker 1: the Great Magic Moments. The book, which most explains the 356 00:21:56,320 --> 00:21:59,640 Speaker 1: importance of freedom and markets, was published the same year 357 00:22:00,040 --> 00:22:03,159 Speaker 1: as The Declaration of Independence, which explains the importance of 358 00:22:03,200 --> 00:22:06,280 Speaker 1: political freedom, and the two go hand in hand, they 359 00:22:06,320 --> 00:22:10,520 Speaker 1: reinforce each other, and Hamilton understands what Smith is doing. 360 00:22:10,760 --> 00:22:14,320 Speaker 1: Smith's not a theoretician. He's not writing about theory. Smith 361 00:22:14,400 --> 00:22:17,159 Speaker 1: is an observer of a world that is emerging, the 362 00:22:17,200 --> 00:22:20,840 Speaker 1: world of manufacturing, the world of commerce, and he's describing 363 00:22:20,920 --> 00:22:23,600 Speaker 1: how it's working. When Smith has a section on the 364 00:22:23,640 --> 00:22:26,760 Speaker 1: needle factory and how efficient it is and how productive 365 00:22:26,760 --> 00:22:28,879 Speaker 1: it is, it's because he's actually been in a needle 366 00:22:28,960 --> 00:22:32,560 Speaker 1: factory and washed at work. And so Hamilton comes along. 367 00:22:32,920 --> 00:22:36,520 Speaker 1: I remember, now, he's been a lawyer, he's been an artilleryman, 368 00:22:36,880 --> 00:22:41,160 Speaker 1: he's been a personal aid, to General Washington. He's become 369 00:22:41,160 --> 00:22:44,280 Speaker 1: a lawyer. Now he pivots and he becomes a financier, 370 00:22:44,960 --> 00:22:47,240 Speaker 1: and he's brilliant enough that he gets right to the 371 00:22:47,240 --> 00:22:49,879 Speaker 1: heart of the matter. And there were twelve volumes of 372 00:22:49,960 --> 00:22:54,520 Speaker 1: Hamilton's personal papers. They were introduced by Henry Cabot Lodge, 373 00:22:54,960 --> 00:23:01,320 Speaker 1: who wrote this extraordinary explanation of Hamilton about eighteen and 374 00:23:01,400 --> 00:23:09,320 Speaker 1: Lodge says, Hamilton's genius was understanding facts, and he allowed 375 00:23:09,440 --> 00:23:13,040 Speaker 1: facts to then develop theories. He didn't start with theories 376 00:23:13,080 --> 00:23:16,240 Speaker 1: and try to twist the facts. And so Hamilton looked 377 00:23:16,240 --> 00:23:19,320 Speaker 1: at if you want a healthy country, and you want 378 00:23:19,359 --> 00:23:21,639 Speaker 1: to be able to have a sound credit, and in 379 00:23:21,680 --> 00:23:23,720 Speaker 1: a crisis, you want to be able to borrow money 380 00:23:23,720 --> 00:23:26,000 Speaker 1: from the Dutch and others, what do you have to 381 00:23:26,040 --> 00:23:28,919 Speaker 1: do And he said, well, first of all, you have 382 00:23:28,960 --> 00:23:31,159 Speaker 1: to acknowledge all of the debts coming out of the 383 00:23:31,160 --> 00:23:34,840 Speaker 1: Continental Congress during the war. Second, you have to acknowledge 384 00:23:34,880 --> 00:23:37,679 Speaker 1: all the debts that you signed your name for in 385 00:23:37,760 --> 00:23:40,320 Speaker 1: terms of the Dutch and others. And then you have 386 00:23:40,440 --> 00:23:43,560 Speaker 1: to build an ability to gradually pay him off. And 387 00:23:43,600 --> 00:23:47,080 Speaker 1: you did that by always running a small surplus and 388 00:23:47,200 --> 00:23:49,560 Speaker 1: taking that small surplus and what was called a sinking 389 00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:53,240 Speaker 1: fund and paying down the debt. Now, Hamilton also had 390 00:23:53,280 --> 00:23:56,280 Speaker 1: the advantage of studying what William Pitt the Younger had 391 00:23:56,320 --> 00:23:59,000 Speaker 1: done in Great Britain in the seventeen eighties, so he 392 00:23:59,119 --> 00:24:02,840 Speaker 1: knew this could work work. His problem was how do 393 00:24:02,920 --> 00:24:06,439 Speaker 1: you get it through a Congress, which isn't all that 394 00:24:06,600 --> 00:24:10,239 Speaker 1: excited about, first of all, the domestic debt, because what 395 00:24:10,240 --> 00:24:13,040 Speaker 1: had happened was a lot of the veterans who'd earned 396 00:24:13,080 --> 00:24:17,320 Speaker 1: these IOUs had sold them out of despair. So you 397 00:24:17,400 --> 00:24:20,359 Speaker 1: had speculators, many of them in New York and Massachusetts, 398 00:24:20,720 --> 00:24:24,440 Speaker 1: who had gone across the South, buying up these IOUs 399 00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:27,959 Speaker 1: sometimes at ten or fifteen cents on the dollar. And 400 00:24:28,040 --> 00:24:31,639 Speaker 1: now if you're going to actually pay them off, that 401 00:24:31,800 --> 00:24:34,240 Speaker 1: means that the veterans not going to get very much, 402 00:24:34,840 --> 00:24:38,600 Speaker 1: but all these speculators are going to get rich. Similarly, 403 00:24:39,160 --> 00:24:42,600 Speaker 1: in a Great American tradition, Congress wasn't all that excited 404 00:24:43,040 --> 00:24:46,280 Speaker 1: about raising hard taxes from its own people in order 405 00:24:46,320 --> 00:24:48,760 Speaker 1: to ship the money to the Dutch who had loaned 406 00:24:48,800 --> 00:24:51,000 Speaker 1: us the money with which we fought the war. So 407 00:24:51,200 --> 00:24:55,840 Speaker 1: Hamilton had to put together a political movement that would 408 00:24:55,960 --> 00:24:59,320 Speaker 1: be in favor of a national economy be in favor 409 00:24:59,359 --> 00:25:01,960 Speaker 1: of what we would go all sound money, and he 410 00:25:02,119 --> 00:25:06,080 Speaker 1: started by writing a report on the public credit, which 411 00:25:06,160 --> 00:25:09,440 Speaker 1: is an amazing document. It's probably as good an introduction 412 00:25:09,880 --> 00:25:13,080 Speaker 1: to thinking about finance as anybody ever has. He followed 413 00:25:13,080 --> 00:25:15,479 Speaker 1: it up about a year later by writing a report 414 00:25:15,520 --> 00:25:19,640 Speaker 1: on Manufactures, which is the best document ever written on 415 00:25:19,800 --> 00:25:23,680 Speaker 1: how a country can go about creating a strong manufacturing base. 416 00:25:24,320 --> 00:25:28,119 Speaker 1: It's one which, by the way, modern liberal economists hate 417 00:25:28,359 --> 00:25:33,119 Speaker 1: because it argues for focusing on America first and using 418 00:25:33,200 --> 00:25:37,560 Speaker 1: tariffs and other things to protect American jobs. Because if 419 00:25:37,600 --> 00:25:41,359 Speaker 1: you had a purely free trade environment in the seventeen nineties, 420 00:25:41,560 --> 00:25:43,840 Speaker 1: the British were so much more advanced than we were, 421 00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:46,280 Speaker 1: they would have wiped out all of our industries. And 422 00:25:46,359 --> 00:25:49,600 Speaker 1: so Hamilton, in a very practical way, says that's not 423 00:25:49,720 --> 00:25:51,879 Speaker 1: going to work. The way you have to do is 424 00:25:51,920 --> 00:25:55,760 Speaker 1: find a way to grow American jobs with American manufacturing, 425 00:25:56,080 --> 00:25:59,600 Speaker 1: and then pay off the debt from this growing economy. 426 00:26:00,200 --> 00:26:02,720 Speaker 1: He also proposed that there'd be a national bank, something 427 00:26:02,760 --> 00:26:05,720 Speaker 1: he'd talked about a decade earlier, and that the bank 428 00:26:05,760 --> 00:26:08,480 Speaker 1: would be independent from the government, but the government would 429 00:26:08,520 --> 00:26:11,920 Speaker 1: own twenty percent of the bank stock. Now potentially he 430 00:26:11,960 --> 00:26:14,520 Speaker 1: could get it through the Congress. There were some people 431 00:26:14,560 --> 00:26:17,520 Speaker 1: who argued that the Constitution does not give them the 432 00:26:17,600 --> 00:26:21,080 Speaker 1: power to establish a national bank. This was Jefferson's position, 433 00:26:21,560 --> 00:26:25,760 Speaker 1: but Washington stepped in and said, well, the Constitution can 434 00:26:25,800 --> 00:26:30,000 Speaker 1: be loosely interpreted, and he approved Hamilton's plan. So, with 435 00:26:30,080 --> 00:26:33,760 Speaker 1: Hamilton and Washington both in favor of the national bank, 436 00:26:34,040 --> 00:26:37,879 Speaker 1: it got created. Hamilton then turned his attention to establishing 437 00:26:37,920 --> 00:26:40,840 Speaker 1: a national currency, because again, remember up to this point, 438 00:26:41,000 --> 00:26:43,800 Speaker 1: you have all these states producing money, much as the 439 00:26:43,840 --> 00:26:46,720 Speaker 1: Scottish banks had each been producing their own money, and 440 00:26:47,320 --> 00:26:51,959 Speaker 1: you had this extraordinarily weak and frankly useless money that 441 00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:56,400 Speaker 1: the Continental Congress had created. So he establishes a national 442 00:26:56,480 --> 00:27:00,640 Speaker 1: mint and begins to put together with the MIT Act 443 00:27:00,640 --> 00:27:05,160 Speaker 1: of seventeen ninety two, creating a national currency. That led 444 00:27:05,200 --> 00:27:32,160 Speaker 1: to a fundamental split. There was a Federalist Party which 445 00:27:32,359 --> 00:27:36,960 Speaker 1: was deeply committed to the Constitution, deeply committed to a 446 00:27:37,040 --> 00:27:41,400 Speaker 1: national economy, in many ways biased in favor of New 447 00:27:41,400 --> 00:27:44,840 Speaker 1: England and New York and to some extent Pennsylvania. And 448 00:27:44,880 --> 00:27:48,040 Speaker 1: then there was a Democratic Republican Party which was really 449 00:27:48,080 --> 00:27:51,920 Speaker 1: the anti Federalist and that was created by Jefferson and Madison. 450 00:27:52,240 --> 00:27:54,040 Speaker 1: It used to be said in John F. Kennedy used 451 00:27:54,040 --> 00:27:57,280 Speaker 1: to use this line that Jefferson and Madison went to 452 00:27:57,320 --> 00:28:01,280 Speaker 1: New York butterfly collecting and to run into Erin Burgh, 453 00:28:01,280 --> 00:28:03,560 Speaker 1: who ran the political machine in New York, and the 454 00:28:03,600 --> 00:28:06,399 Speaker 1: three of them happened to create the Democratic Republican Party 455 00:28:06,800 --> 00:28:09,879 Speaker 1: while they were butterfly collecting. The butterfly collecting, I think 456 00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:13,320 Speaker 1: never actually happened, but was the cover for their trip. 457 00:28:13,760 --> 00:28:17,480 Speaker 1: Well to show you how successful Jefferson was as a politician. 458 00:28:18,000 --> 00:28:22,040 Speaker 1: The Federalist Party basically disappears by around eighteen twelve, and 459 00:28:22,359 --> 00:28:26,040 Speaker 1: the Democratic Republican Party evolves into the Democratic Party, and 460 00:28:26,160 --> 00:28:30,119 Speaker 1: it is today the longest surviving political party in the world. 461 00:28:30,680 --> 00:28:34,760 Speaker 1: It has an amazing capacity for adapting and mutating and evolving, 462 00:28:35,160 --> 00:28:40,560 Speaker 1: an enormous tenacity of survival. But Hamilton was the leader 463 00:28:40,600 --> 00:28:47,000 Speaker 1: of the Federalist Party, and Hamilton has created an economic 464 00:28:47,120 --> 00:28:52,240 Speaker 1: system heavily favoring the cities, heavily favoring manufacturing. Remember, if 465 00:28:52,240 --> 00:28:56,680 Speaker 1: you're a farmer in the South, in particular, you are 466 00:28:56,720 --> 00:29:01,880 Speaker 1: not all that happy to have manufacturing protected because that 467 00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:04,920 Speaker 1: raises the price of what you pay for, So there's 468 00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:08,240 Speaker 1: a certain bias in favor of lower tariffs and agricultural 469 00:29:08,280 --> 00:29:12,400 Speaker 1: areas and higher tariffs and manufacturing areas. The Federalist Party 470 00:29:12,440 --> 00:29:16,840 Speaker 1: represented the manufacturing side. Now at the same time, in 471 00:29:16,960 --> 00:29:20,200 Speaker 1: order to get all of this done, they had to 472 00:29:20,240 --> 00:29:24,479 Speaker 1: find some ability to have a mutual agreement. And the 473 00:29:24,520 --> 00:29:28,840 Speaker 1: pact they created with a great deal of negotiating was 474 00:29:29,080 --> 00:29:34,400 Speaker 1: a dinner that Madison and Jefferson had with Hamilton. At 475 00:29:34,440 --> 00:29:36,760 Speaker 1: the time, the government had moved initially to New York, 476 00:29:37,040 --> 00:29:40,360 Speaker 1: then had moved to Philadelphia. The Southerners really wanted the 477 00:29:40,400 --> 00:29:44,720 Speaker 1: government to be between Virginia and Maryland. The Northerners didn't 478 00:29:44,720 --> 00:29:47,240 Speaker 1: particularly want it to go that far south, but the 479 00:29:47,280 --> 00:29:51,320 Speaker 1: Southerners didn't particularly want to follow Hamilton's financial plans, and 480 00:29:51,400 --> 00:29:54,640 Speaker 1: so they cut a deal. Again less than about the 481 00:29:54,640 --> 00:29:58,800 Speaker 1: complexities of history. They negotiated for several months. They finally 482 00:29:58,840 --> 00:30:01,920 Speaker 1: thought they had a deal, and they sat down, had 483 00:30:01,960 --> 00:30:05,280 Speaker 1: dinner and looked at each other. Now, remember by this 484 00:30:05,400 --> 00:30:10,480 Speaker 1: stage they're both still in Washington's cabinet. Jefferson is still 485 00:30:10,680 --> 00:30:13,560 Speaker 1: the Secretary of State, Hamilton's still the Secutor of the Treasury. 486 00:30:14,080 --> 00:30:17,240 Speaker 1: Madison is in the Congress, but he's Jefferson's closest ally 487 00:30:17,560 --> 00:30:20,640 Speaker 1: and also probably the leading figure in the Congress. They're 488 00:30:20,640 --> 00:30:25,760 Speaker 1: both financing newspapers. I mean, Jefferson's subsidizing a newspaper whose 489 00:30:25,880 --> 00:30:29,520 Speaker 1: job it is to attack Hamilton. Hamilton is subsidizing a 490 00:30:29,560 --> 00:30:32,320 Speaker 1: newspaper whose job it is to attack Jefferson. And they 491 00:30:32,360 --> 00:30:35,920 Speaker 1: all know this. It's a very small town, but they 492 00:30:35,960 --> 00:30:38,840 Speaker 1: have this bigger problem. They've got to find a way 493 00:30:38,840 --> 00:30:42,440 Speaker 1: to create a sound currency, to create a sound economic policy, 494 00:30:42,920 --> 00:30:46,080 Speaker 1: and they need a place to put the government. And 495 00:30:46,120 --> 00:30:50,280 Speaker 1: so finally they agree. Jefferson gets the capital Washington, d c. 496 00:30:50,960 --> 00:30:55,160 Speaker 1: Between Virginia and Maryland, and Hamilton gets his economic policies, 497 00:30:55,760 --> 00:30:58,440 Speaker 1: and with that you have the birth of the modern 498 00:30:58,480 --> 00:31:04,320 Speaker 1: American system. Now in the middle of all that, Washington leaves, 499 00:31:04,960 --> 00:31:09,200 Speaker 1: and his successor was his vice president. Partially, I think 500 00:31:09,560 --> 00:31:13,040 Speaker 1: as a function of geographic equity, because Washington was from 501 00:31:13,120 --> 00:31:16,800 Speaker 1: Virginia and John Adams is from Massachusetts. So again it's 502 00:31:16,800 --> 00:31:21,480 Speaker 1: a step towards binding the country together. However, the Federalist Party, 503 00:31:21,520 --> 00:31:25,480 Speaker 1: which had been largely created by Hamilton, who had in fact, 504 00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:29,680 Speaker 1: as a part of that process, created all sorts of 505 00:31:29,720 --> 00:31:33,960 Speaker 1: mechanisms of propaganda, had built a political machine, but he 506 00:31:34,120 --> 00:31:37,400 Speaker 1: and Adams had a big falling out, and as a result, 507 00:31:37,720 --> 00:31:43,160 Speaker 1: Hamilton was very bitter about Adams. Adams found himself being undermined, 508 00:31:43,840 --> 00:31:48,040 Speaker 1: and in seventeen ninety six he had replaced Washington because 509 00:31:48,080 --> 00:31:52,240 Speaker 1: he had been vice president. By eighteen hundred, he has 510 00:31:52,320 --> 00:31:56,960 Speaker 1: lost so much popularity that he loses to Thomas Jefferson 511 00:31:57,520 --> 00:32:00,480 Speaker 1: in what in some ways is the first modern example 512 00:32:00,960 --> 00:32:06,760 Speaker 1: of a genuine opposition party peacefully taking power. Jefferson becomes president. 513 00:32:07,320 --> 00:32:11,920 Speaker 1: Hamilton is now basically out of power. The Federalists are 514 00:32:11,960 --> 00:32:16,920 Speaker 1: in fact declining rapidly, and Hamilton goes back to New 515 00:32:17,000 --> 00:32:20,720 Speaker 1: York to make money and begins to make a lot 516 00:32:20,720 --> 00:32:23,600 Speaker 1: of money. He founds the New York Evening Post and 517 00:32:23,920 --> 00:32:26,240 Speaker 1: this becomes the New York Post, a New York Post 518 00:32:26,320 --> 00:32:30,080 Speaker 1: founded in eighteen oh one oldest continuous newspaper in the 519 00:32:30,120 --> 00:32:34,480 Speaker 1: United States still publishing, and it is the fourth largest 520 00:32:34,520 --> 00:32:39,440 Speaker 1: newspaper in America. Founded by Alexander Hamilton, who on the 521 00:32:39,560 --> 00:32:43,840 Speaker 1: very first day had a statement of principles which was 522 00:32:43,880 --> 00:32:47,680 Speaker 1: co authored by the editor William Coleman and Alexander Hamilton. 523 00:32:47,720 --> 00:32:51,080 Speaker 1: It says quote. The design of this paper is to 524 00:32:51,120 --> 00:32:55,680 Speaker 1: diffuse among the people correct information on all interesting subjects, 525 00:32:55,760 --> 00:33:00,200 Speaker 1: to inculcate just principles in religion, morals, and politics, and 526 00:33:00,240 --> 00:33:04,400 Speaker 1: to cultivate a taste for sound literature. Hamilton at this 527 00:33:04,480 --> 00:33:10,800 Speaker 1: stage is successful, has been a national figure, has helped 528 00:33:10,880 --> 00:33:15,560 Speaker 1: invent the modern American system, and probably could have lived 529 00:33:15,560 --> 00:33:20,680 Speaker 1: a very long life except for the tragedy that Hamilton 530 00:33:20,760 --> 00:33:24,760 Speaker 1: tended to inspire hatred. Jefferson had people who disliked him, 531 00:33:24,800 --> 00:33:28,160 Speaker 1: but generally they didn't hate him Hamilton, partly, I think, 532 00:33:28,160 --> 00:33:30,960 Speaker 1: because he was so smart, and he was so aggressive, 533 00:33:31,080 --> 00:33:34,200 Speaker 1: he was so arrogant, that people who couldn't compete with 534 00:33:34,280 --> 00:33:39,640 Speaker 1: him intellectually just burned with hatred. Tragically for him, his 535 00:33:39,800 --> 00:33:41,960 Speaker 1: son was killed in a duel in eighteen oh one 536 00:33:42,360 --> 00:33:49,080 Speaker 1: defending his father's honor, and then Hamilton gets crosswise of Aaron. Now, 537 00:33:49,080 --> 00:33:53,560 Speaker 1: Aaron Burr is a genuine scoundrel, a truly bad man. 538 00:33:54,120 --> 00:33:56,560 Speaker 1: He'd been the boss of New York. He'd helped Jefferson 539 00:33:56,560 --> 00:33:59,719 Speaker 1: and Madison create the Democratic Party. But it was typical 540 00:33:59,720 --> 00:34:01,680 Speaker 1: of how how bad he was that when he and 541 00:34:01,760 --> 00:34:04,720 Speaker 1: Jefferson both agreed to run, Jefferson for president Burr for 542 00:34:04,880 --> 00:34:08,160 Speaker 1: vice president. Nobody had thought through that. The original constitution 543 00:34:08,880 --> 00:34:13,000 Speaker 1: didn't provide for any way to tell who was running 544 00:34:13,040 --> 00:34:16,320 Speaker 1: for president who was not, and it was all done 545 00:34:16,600 --> 00:34:19,759 Speaker 1: based on the number of electoral votes you got. I 546 00:34:19,800 --> 00:34:22,320 Speaker 1: think the theory in the oly days being that whoever 547 00:34:22,360 --> 00:34:24,720 Speaker 1: came in first would be president, whoever came in second 548 00:34:24,719 --> 00:34:27,759 Speaker 1: would be vice president, which is what had happened in 549 00:34:27,840 --> 00:34:31,719 Speaker 1: seventeen ninety six when Adams became president and Jefferson became 550 00:34:31,800 --> 00:34:35,880 Speaker 1: vice president. But in eighteen hundred, in a truly weird moment, 551 00:34:36,160 --> 00:34:41,040 Speaker 1: Burr and Jefferson were tied. Now everybody knew Burr was 552 00:34:41,080 --> 00:34:45,040 Speaker 1: supposed to be the vice president, but Burr saw an opportunity, 553 00:34:45,280 --> 00:34:50,480 Speaker 1: so he tried to become president. He was out maneuvered. 554 00:34:50,520 --> 00:34:54,080 Speaker 1: Hamilton spoke out against him, further increasing how much Burr 555 00:34:54,080 --> 00:34:58,799 Speaker 1: disliked Hamilton. Jefferson gets elected, Burr becomes vice president. He 556 00:34:58,840 --> 00:35:02,920 Speaker 1: then goes back to New York, runs for governor and loses, 557 00:35:03,400 --> 00:35:07,480 Speaker 1: with Hamilton once again speaking out against it. Hamilton is 558 00:35:07,520 --> 00:35:10,600 Speaker 1: the person that Burr thinks has ruined his life, so 559 00:35:10,680 --> 00:35:13,719 Speaker 1: Burr challenges him to a duel, and dueling back then 560 00:35:13,840 --> 00:35:18,239 Speaker 1: was very common. It begins to disappear about forty years later, 561 00:35:18,280 --> 00:35:20,920 Speaker 1: and one of the people who helped end dueling was 562 00:35:20,960 --> 00:35:24,480 Speaker 1: Abraham Lincoln. When he was challenged to a duel, the 563 00:35:24,520 --> 00:35:27,800 Speaker 1: person being challenged always gets to choose the weapons. Lincoln 564 00:35:27,880 --> 00:35:30,960 Speaker 1: chose shotguns at three feet and the other guy said, 565 00:35:31,000 --> 00:35:34,319 Speaker 1: why that would be murder. Lincoln said, right, you challenge me, 566 00:35:34,360 --> 00:35:36,040 Speaker 1: you want to have a duel, so these shotguns at 567 00:35:36,040 --> 00:35:38,759 Speaker 1: three feet. The guy said, okay, I didn't actually mean it, 568 00:35:38,800 --> 00:35:43,720 Speaker 1: and the duel disappeared. But at seven am on July eleventh, 569 00:35:43,800 --> 00:35:46,959 Speaker 1: eighteen oh four, in Weehawk and New Jersey, a town 570 00:35:47,000 --> 00:35:49,600 Speaker 1: where Hamilton's son had already been killed in a duel 571 00:35:50,239 --> 00:35:54,600 Speaker 1: three years earlier, Hamilton and Burr stood ten paces apart, 572 00:35:54,840 --> 00:35:59,799 Speaker 1: announced they were ready, turned and fired. Hamilton missed, probably deliberately. 573 00:36:00,440 --> 00:36:03,480 Speaker 1: Burr shot Hamilton just above his right hip, and the 574 00:36:03,520 --> 00:36:07,399 Speaker 1: next day Hamilton died in agony at forty nine years 575 00:36:07,400 --> 00:36:11,440 Speaker 1: of age. Now that of course sets up the drama 576 00:36:11,800 --> 00:36:15,560 Speaker 1: which becomes the musical, and it's interesting in some ways, 577 00:36:15,840 --> 00:36:19,240 Speaker 1: a little bit like Lincoln being killed immediately after winning 578 00:36:19,239 --> 00:36:23,240 Speaker 1: the war and the second inaugural, which then permanently placed 579 00:36:23,239 --> 00:36:26,040 Speaker 1: Lincoln in the unique position of being a martyr to 580 00:36:26,080 --> 00:36:30,480 Speaker 1: the country. Hamilton's death blocked him from any future involvement, 581 00:36:30,560 --> 00:36:32,399 Speaker 1: so we have no idea since he was only forty nine, 582 00:36:32,600 --> 00:36:34,440 Speaker 1: we have no idea what the next twenty or thirty 583 00:36:34,480 --> 00:36:37,719 Speaker 1: years or forty years would have been liked. But it 584 00:36:37,800 --> 00:36:41,520 Speaker 1: also meant that for a while he sort of disappeared. 585 00:36:41,840 --> 00:36:44,400 Speaker 1: It's one of the comments that Henry Cabot Lodge makes 586 00:36:44,800 --> 00:36:49,120 Speaker 1: in his introduction to Hamilton's twelve Volumes. And that was unfortunate. 587 00:36:49,120 --> 00:36:53,040 Speaker 1: I mean, the dominance of the Jeffersonians led to and 588 00:36:53,120 --> 00:36:56,040 Speaker 1: remember that they win with Jefferson, then they come back 589 00:36:56,080 --> 00:36:58,919 Speaker 1: and they win with Madison, and then they come back 590 00:36:58,960 --> 00:37:02,520 Speaker 1: and win again with Monroe. So you have a very 591 00:37:02,560 --> 00:37:06,240 Speaker 1: long Virginia dynasty which had followed eight years of George 592 00:37:06,280 --> 00:37:10,480 Speaker 1: Washington with only four years by Adams from Massachusetts. And 593 00:37:10,520 --> 00:37:14,799 Speaker 1: in that process Hamilton sort of ceases to be the 594 00:37:14,880 --> 00:37:20,280 Speaker 1: brilliant financial revolutionary who had unified the country, the extraordinary 595 00:37:20,360 --> 00:37:24,280 Speaker 1: propagandist who'd written the Federalist papers, the efficient staffer who'd 596 00:37:24,280 --> 00:37:27,520 Speaker 1: helped George Washington win the Revolutionary War, and Hamilton just 597 00:37:27,600 --> 00:37:30,480 Speaker 1: kind of faded for a while. He then began to 598 00:37:30,480 --> 00:37:33,279 Speaker 1: come back after the Civil War, as we became a 599 00:37:33,360 --> 00:37:37,640 Speaker 1: much more unified national country and people thought in national terms. 600 00:37:38,200 --> 00:37:42,120 Speaker 1: I think Hamilton is an immortal. I think that what 601 00:37:42,280 --> 00:37:47,759 Speaker 1: he did in creating the core system, funding the debt, 602 00:37:48,080 --> 00:37:50,719 Speaker 1: creating the framework in which America could be accepted by 603 00:37:50,760 --> 00:37:55,000 Speaker 1: other nations, establishing a national economy, creating a Bank of 604 00:37:55,000 --> 00:37:59,320 Speaker 1: the United States, all of these things came together, combined 605 00:37:59,360 --> 00:38:02,799 Speaker 1: with the sheer genius of the Federalist papers, and I 606 00:38:02,840 --> 00:38:05,320 Speaker 1: think that it's easy to look back and forget that 607 00:38:05,360 --> 00:38:11,840 Speaker 1: there was this relatively small handful of people Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, Madison, 608 00:38:12,360 --> 00:38:16,320 Speaker 1: Hamilton among the key who changed the history of the world. 609 00:38:17,000 --> 00:38:19,280 Speaker 1: They made it possible for us to forget the divine 610 00:38:19,360 --> 00:38:21,640 Speaker 1: right of kings. They made it possible for us to 611 00:38:21,680 --> 00:38:24,319 Speaker 1: come to believe that we are truly all endowed by 612 00:38:24,360 --> 00:38:27,880 Speaker 1: our creator with certain unalienable rights. They made it possible 613 00:38:27,880 --> 00:38:30,799 Speaker 1: for us to imagine that a continent wide country could 614 00:38:30,880 --> 00:38:33,960 Speaker 1: govern itself, that the people of that country could in 615 00:38:33,960 --> 00:38:37,960 Speaker 1: fact be in a position to have better lives, to 616 00:38:38,120 --> 00:38:42,480 Speaker 1: create a nation, to develop a patriotism that transcended any 617 00:38:42,600 --> 00:38:45,400 Speaker 1: of the normal things which had split us apart, and 618 00:38:45,480 --> 00:38:47,560 Speaker 1: I think as we go through our own travise and 619 00:38:47,600 --> 00:38:50,880 Speaker 1: we have our own difficulties of figuring out who we 620 00:38:50,920 --> 00:38:53,360 Speaker 1: are and how we're going to operate, it's useful to 621 00:38:53,360 --> 00:38:55,839 Speaker 1: go back and look at these folks and realize that 622 00:38:55,960 --> 00:38:58,920 Speaker 1: every generation has to find some people who have that 623 00:38:59,000 --> 00:39:02,239 Speaker 1: kind of capacity, and that Hamilton is certainly worthy of 624 00:39:02,280 --> 00:39:07,040 Speaker 1: study as somebody who had a remarkable impact, born out 625 00:39:07,040 --> 00:39:11,759 Speaker 1: of wedlock, an orphan, self educated, and in the end, 626 00:39:12,200 --> 00:39:23,040 Speaker 1: one of the greatest of Americans. Thank you for listening 627 00:39:23,080 --> 00:39:25,959 Speaker 1: to Founding Father's Week on Newtsworld. You learn more about 628 00:39:25,960 --> 00:39:30,200 Speaker 1: Alexander Hamilton on our show page at newtsworld dot com. 629 00:39:30,360 --> 00:39:34,279 Speaker 1: Newsworld is produced by GINGRIDH three sixty and iHeartMedia. Our 630 00:39:34,320 --> 00:39:39,360 Speaker 1: executive producer is Guarnsey Sloan and our researcher is Rachel Peterson. 631 00:39:39,920 --> 00:39:43,080 Speaker 1: The artwork for the show was created by Steve Penley. 632 00:39:44,000 --> 00:39:47,680 Speaker 1: Special thanks the team at GINGRIICHH three sixty. If you've 633 00:39:47,719 --> 00:39:50,600 Speaker 1: been enjoying Newtsworld, I hope you'll go to Apple Podcast 634 00:39:51,000 --> 00:39:53,759 Speaker 1: and both rate us with five stars and give us 635 00:39:53,760 --> 00:39:56,440 Speaker 1: a review so others can learn what it's all about. 636 00:39:57,160 --> 00:40:00,480 Speaker 1: Right now, listeners of Newsworld. Consign up for my three 637 00:40:00,520 --> 00:40:05,239 Speaker 1: free weekly columns at Ginrich three sixty dot com slash newsletter. 638 00:40:05,719 --> 00:40:08,080 Speaker 1: I'm new Gingrich. This is Newsworld.