1 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:08,799 Speaker 1: On this episode of Newtsworld. Alexander Hamilton's life is one 2 00:00:08,800 --> 00:00:12,000 Speaker 1: of the more extraordinary stories of a founding father's rise 3 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:15,840 Speaker 1: to greatness. He's truly an immortal. He was born in 4 00:00:15,840 --> 00:00:18,520 Speaker 1: the Caribbean, on the island of Neivas in the British 5 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:23,079 Speaker 1: ass Indies in January seventeen fifty five or seventeen fifty 6 00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:26,960 Speaker 1: seven to parents who were unmarried at the time, and 7 00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:30,840 Speaker 1: then he was orphaned. The idea that an orphaned child 8 00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:33,919 Speaker 1: would grow up to become one of the most influential 9 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:36,680 Speaker 1: leaders in the founding of the United States of America 10 00:00:36,800 --> 00:00:41,080 Speaker 1: is stunning, and he really personifies the American dream before 11 00:00:41,080 --> 00:00:44,479 Speaker 1: we had defined what that meant. Hamilton was a lawyer 12 00:00:44,520 --> 00:00:48,280 Speaker 1: by training, but also got very involved in financial markets, 13 00:00:48,640 --> 00:00:51,360 Speaker 1: founded the Bank of New York, and later would serve 14 00:00:51,400 --> 00:00:55,080 Speaker 1: as the first Secretary of the Treasury under President George Washington. 15 00:00:55,680 --> 00:00:58,680 Speaker 1: More importantly, it's what he did behind the scenes to 16 00:00:58,760 --> 00:01:02,960 Speaker 1: establish the United States significant. He served in the Revolutionary War, 17 00:01:03,400 --> 00:01:06,080 Speaker 1: both in the field as an artillery officer and as 18 00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:09,640 Speaker 1: a senior aide to General George Washington. After the war, 19 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:12,480 Speaker 1: he was elected as a representative from New York to 20 00:01:12,560 --> 00:01:16,200 Speaker 1: the Congress of the Confederation. He led the Annapolis Convention 21 00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:20,160 Speaker 1: of seventeen eighty six and wrote fifty one of the 22 00:01:20,240 --> 00:01:24,320 Speaker 1: eighty five Federalist papers. Most of us these days no 23 00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:30,119 Speaker 1: Hamilton from the Broadway musical bylin Manuel Miranda, which debuted 24 00:01:30,319 --> 00:01:34,800 Speaker 1: in two fifteen. Miranda was inspired by the two thousand 25 00:01:34,800 --> 00:01:38,959 Speaker 1: and four ron Chernow biography of Hamilton. The musical has 26 00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:43,120 Speaker 1: introduced a new generation to Alexander Hamilton's life and legacy 27 00:01:43,680 --> 00:01:55,120 Speaker 1: and made it an entertaining one. Hamilton, in a sense, 28 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:58,600 Speaker 1: has had a new burst of fame. But he's somebody 29 00:01:58,640 --> 00:02:03,360 Speaker 1: who really never should have disappeared. First of all, he 30 00:02:03,520 --> 00:02:09,600 Speaker 1: was extraordinarily bright. Hamilton may have been, in sheer iq, 31 00:02:10,440 --> 00:02:14,959 Speaker 1: the smartest of all the founding fathers. He was just 32 00:02:15,160 --> 00:02:19,240 Speaker 1: deeply admired by Washington. He was invaluable to Washington as 33 00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:23,799 Speaker 1: a staff officer. He was endlessly competent. And I think 34 00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:26,959 Speaker 1: that's a key part of this is that Hamilton was 35 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:29,960 Speaker 1: a person who was very ambitious, but he was also 36 00:02:30,040 --> 00:02:33,400 Speaker 1: a person who worked very hard and who applied his 37 00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:38,840 Speaker 1: considerable intelligence to whatever job he had. Now, he actually 38 00:02:39,360 --> 00:02:42,560 Speaker 1: had not gotten to the US very much before the 39 00:02:42,639 --> 00:02:46,680 Speaker 1: Revolution began. He was born we think either in seventeen 40 00:02:46,760 --> 00:02:50,480 Speaker 1: fifty five or seventeen fifty seven on Nivas. His father 41 00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:55,280 Speaker 1: was a Scottish trader named James Hamilton. His mother Rachel 42 00:02:55,320 --> 00:02:58,760 Speaker 1: Fossette Levine. They were not married at the time. Rachel, 43 00:02:58,760 --> 00:03:01,079 Speaker 1: in fact, was married to another man at the time 44 00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:04,079 Speaker 1: of Hamilton's birth, but had left her husband after he 45 00:03:04,160 --> 00:03:06,600 Speaker 1: spent much of her family fortune and he had had 46 00:03:06,600 --> 00:03:09,720 Speaker 1: her in prison for adultery. Now you may be curious 47 00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:13,840 Speaker 1: way James Hamilton's settled in Navas. The British gained control 48 00:03:13,880 --> 00:03:17,080 Speaker 1: of the island in seventeen thirteen, and Nevas and Saying 49 00:03:17,120 --> 00:03:20,760 Speaker 1: Kits soon were the leading areas of sugar production in 50 00:03:20,800 --> 00:03:24,600 Speaker 1: the Caribbean. The colonists and others wanted sugar to sweeten 51 00:03:24,680 --> 00:03:26,760 Speaker 1: their tea and coffee. It's hard for us to remember, 52 00:03:26,760 --> 00:03:30,760 Speaker 1: but these islands were considered so amazingly valuable that at 53 00:03:30,760 --> 00:03:34,720 Speaker 1: one point in negotiations, the British kept some islands in 54 00:03:34,760 --> 00:03:40,040 Speaker 1: the Caribbean as being of greater value than all of Canada. Unfortunately, 55 00:03:40,080 --> 00:03:42,640 Speaker 1: the islands also had malaria, so a number of people 56 00:03:42,720 --> 00:03:45,520 Speaker 1: died over the two hundred years in which they were 57 00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:49,040 Speaker 1: producing sugar there. Hamilton's father abandoned his family in seventeen 58 00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:52,240 Speaker 1: sixty six. His mother died of yellow fever two years 59 00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:56,080 Speaker 1: later in February seventeen sixty eight, so he was orphaned, 60 00:03:56,160 --> 00:03:59,640 Speaker 1: probably at either eleven or thirteen, depending on which year 61 00:03:59,640 --> 00:04:03,520 Speaker 1: of birth was accurate. Hamilton and his older brother, James Junior, 62 00:04:03,920 --> 00:04:06,440 Speaker 1: moved in with a cousin who eventually died, and then 63 00:04:06,480 --> 00:04:08,960 Speaker 1: an uncle who also died. I said this is an 64 00:04:08,960 --> 00:04:14,520 Speaker 1: area that had suffered huge casualties, largely from various tropical diseases. 65 00:04:15,280 --> 00:04:17,760 Speaker 1: After the death of his uncle, Hamilton was taken in 66 00:04:17,800 --> 00:04:21,400 Speaker 1: by Thomas Stevens, a merchant, and he was apprenticed with him. 67 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:25,040 Speaker 1: Hamilton viewed this as the most formative part of his education, 68 00:04:25,680 --> 00:04:29,159 Speaker 1: learning how to track freight, chart courses for ships, and 69 00:04:29,320 --> 00:04:33,560 Speaker 1: calculate prices by different currencies. In his youth, Hamilton sent 70 00:04:33,640 --> 00:04:36,920 Speaker 1: poems and letters to the local newspaper. It was remarkable 71 00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:40,159 Speaker 1: because Hamilton did not have a formal education. It's just 72 00:04:40,320 --> 00:04:43,279 Speaker 1: that he was really smart and he kept learning. He 73 00:04:43,360 --> 00:04:45,920 Speaker 1: never attended school in the island, but when his mother 74 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:48,719 Speaker 1: was alive, she taught him French and bought books for 75 00:04:48,800 --> 00:04:52,480 Speaker 1: him and his older brother to read. In seventeen seventy two. 76 00:04:52,760 --> 00:04:57,200 Speaker 1: Impressed by Hamilton's quick learning abilities and intelligence, Hamilton's boss 77 00:04:57,240 --> 00:04:59,640 Speaker 1: sponsored the young clerk's trip to the United States to 78 00:04:59,760 --> 00:05:03,719 Speaker 1: his in school. There, Hamilton began his preparation for college 79 00:05:03,960 --> 00:05:07,080 Speaker 1: at a grammar school in New Jersey and enrolled in 80 00:05:07,200 --> 00:05:10,839 Speaker 1: what was then called King's College in seventeen seventy four. 81 00:05:11,400 --> 00:05:16,240 Speaker 1: It becomes eventually Columbia University. Hamilton's enrollment of King's College 82 00:05:16,279 --> 00:05:20,120 Speaker 1: speaks to his astounding skills and intelligence. He wanted to 83 00:05:20,160 --> 00:05:22,880 Speaker 1: be admitted to a university on his own terms, to 84 00:05:22,960 --> 00:05:25,000 Speaker 1: be allowed to enroll in any class for which he 85 00:05:25,120 --> 00:05:28,560 Speaker 1: was qualified, and to graduate as soon as he'd completed 86 00:05:28,600 --> 00:05:33,200 Speaker 1: the minimum requirements. After being denied admission at Princeton because 87 00:05:33,240 --> 00:05:37,200 Speaker 1: of his unorthodox request, Hamilton was admitted to King's College 88 00:05:37,320 --> 00:05:41,760 Speaker 1: under the proposed arrangement and subsequently assigned a special tutor. No, imagine, 89 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:44,800 Speaker 1: here's this guy who shows up from the Caribbean and 90 00:05:44,960 --> 00:05:48,400 Speaker 1: immediately began setting his own terms of life and gets 91 00:05:48,400 --> 00:05:51,200 Speaker 1: away with it. People are so impressed with how smart 92 00:05:51,200 --> 00:05:53,840 Speaker 1: he is and how hard he works that they keep 93 00:05:53,920 --> 00:05:57,320 Speaker 1: bending over trying to help him accommodate on his terms. 94 00:05:57,920 --> 00:06:01,360 Speaker 1: During his time at King's College, Hamilton's eloquence and genius 95 00:06:01,360 --> 00:06:05,359 Speaker 1: took a political application as the debates became more poised 96 00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:07,760 Speaker 1: about the role of the British Empire and whether or 97 00:06:07,760 --> 00:06:10,640 Speaker 1: not we should become independent. While he was a sophomore 98 00:06:10,640 --> 00:06:15,159 Speaker 1: in the college, Hamilton delivered an impromptu speech that passionately 99 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:19,120 Speaker 1: outlined the case of the colonies against parliamentary injustices. Remember, 100 00:06:19,360 --> 00:06:22,000 Speaker 1: this is a time when Americans are arguing with themselves. 101 00:06:22,440 --> 00:06:26,200 Speaker 1: Are they really English and merely petitioning the crown to 102 00:06:26,240 --> 00:06:29,160 Speaker 1: do whatever the crown wants? Or are they really this 103 00:06:29,320 --> 00:06:33,760 Speaker 1: new creature called an American. Hamilton sided as somebody whoself 104 00:06:34,240 --> 00:06:37,279 Speaker 1: had no great roots anywhere that he was an American. 105 00:06:37,880 --> 00:06:40,839 Speaker 1: He also became well known for his publishing a series 106 00:06:40,839 --> 00:06:44,880 Speaker 1: of scathing but reasoned responses to the Continental Congress that 107 00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:49,000 Speaker 1: were published when Hamilton was eighteen years old. Well Hamilton 108 00:06:49,120 --> 00:06:52,200 Speaker 1: was in college, the Revolutionary War began, and in seventeen 109 00:06:52,279 --> 00:06:55,799 Speaker 1: seventy five he quit school to join the army. Now 110 00:06:55,839 --> 00:07:00,279 Speaker 1: Hamilton was an impressive leader. He was well organized, he 111 00:07:00,360 --> 00:07:02,800 Speaker 1: knew how to get supplies the troops. He could get 112 00:07:02,839 --> 00:07:06,760 Speaker 1: an amazing number of things done, and George Washington who 113 00:07:06,839 --> 00:07:10,160 Speaker 1: is in desperate need of competent help, asked Hamilton to 114 00:07:10,160 --> 00:07:14,080 Speaker 1: become his assistant, helping him plan battles, write letters, and 115 00:07:14,200 --> 00:07:18,640 Speaker 1: manage washington staff. Hamilton served in this position for four years. Now, 116 00:07:18,640 --> 00:07:22,280 Speaker 1: Remember they're in the field the entire time. They're together 117 00:07:22,720 --> 00:07:25,880 Speaker 1: every single day, they truly get to know each other. 118 00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:29,120 Speaker 1: Washington gets in the habit of relying heavily on Hamilton 119 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:32,280 Speaker 1: and realizing that this is one of the brightest people, 120 00:07:32,280 --> 00:07:35,200 Speaker 1: if not the brightest person, he's ever met. Hamilton often 121 00:07:35,280 --> 00:07:38,240 Speaker 1: used his writing skills to write to the Continental Congress 122 00:07:38,280 --> 00:07:42,840 Speaker 1: asking for food and supplies for General Washington's troops, and 123 00:07:42,920 --> 00:07:46,000 Speaker 1: he watched as the Continental Congress wrote the declass Independence 124 00:07:46,320 --> 00:07:49,960 Speaker 1: and debated how to run the country. Now, Hamilton was 125 00:07:50,040 --> 00:07:53,760 Speaker 1: so smart and so widely read that, with six months 126 00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:57,280 Speaker 1: of studying he passed the Bar exam without formal training. 127 00:07:57,840 --> 00:08:01,240 Speaker 1: It was just amazing. He had decided in January seventeeny 128 00:08:01,280 --> 00:08:04,160 Speaker 1: two he wanted to become a lawyer. He petitioned the 129 00:08:04,160 --> 00:08:06,360 Speaker 1: New York Supreme Court to let him take the Bar 130 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:10,240 Speaker 1: exam without the required three year internship. And after all, 131 00:08:10,440 --> 00:08:12,920 Speaker 1: he had served four years as an aide to Washington. 132 00:08:13,360 --> 00:08:15,240 Speaker 1: So they sort of fudged and said, well, that kind 133 00:08:15,240 --> 00:08:19,679 Speaker 1: of counts as an internship. Hamilton taught himself law now 134 00:08:19,840 --> 00:08:23,160 Speaker 1: to aid in his studies. Hamilton studied old New York 135 00:08:23,160 --> 00:08:26,040 Speaker 1: court cases and wrote his analysis in a book he 136 00:08:26,120 --> 00:08:30,080 Speaker 1: later published called Practical Proceedings in the Supreme Court of 137 00:08:30,080 --> 00:08:32,840 Speaker 1: New York. He wrote it at the age of twenty five. 138 00:08:32,920 --> 00:08:35,680 Speaker 1: This puts him in the same league as Theodore Roosevelt, 139 00:08:35,679 --> 00:08:38,400 Speaker 1: who wrote his famous history of the Naval War of 140 00:08:38,440 --> 00:08:41,160 Speaker 1: eighteen twelve and was published when he was twenty five. 141 00:08:41,679 --> 00:08:45,719 Speaker 1: Hamilton saw his book become the standard text in New 142 00:08:45,800 --> 00:08:49,120 Speaker 1: York legal studies the rest of his life. In October 143 00:08:49,160 --> 00:08:53,080 Speaker 1: seventeen eighty two, Hamilton passed the bar and was legally 144 00:08:53,120 --> 00:08:55,880 Speaker 1: allowed to practice law in New York. Now, by this stage, 145 00:08:55,960 --> 00:08:59,640 Speaker 1: the war is winding down and which would begin to 146 00:08:59,720 --> 00:09:01,640 Speaker 1: be an national country, And this is part of what 147 00:09:01,760 --> 00:09:07,040 Speaker 1: makes Hamilton so important. Hamilton had a vision of America 148 00:09:07,080 --> 00:09:10,520 Speaker 1: as a country, not a collection of thirteen colonies, or 149 00:09:10,600 --> 00:09:13,200 Speaker 1: later on, not as a collection of thirteen states, but 150 00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:17,400 Speaker 1: rather as a truly national system. In seventeen eighty one, 151 00:09:17,760 --> 00:09:21,760 Speaker 1: Hamilton proposed to Robert Morris, who was Congress's Superintendent of 152 00:09:21,800 --> 00:09:25,439 Speaker 1: Finance that we needed a national bank. He also suggested 153 00:09:25,480 --> 00:09:28,440 Speaker 1: the Congress of the power to raise taxes. At the time, 154 00:09:28,720 --> 00:09:31,679 Speaker 1: the Continental Congress couldn't actually levy any taxes. They had 155 00:09:31,679 --> 00:09:33,760 Speaker 1: to ask that colonies and then later when they became 156 00:09:33,840 --> 00:09:37,199 Speaker 1: states to voluntarily give the money. But they didn't have 157 00:09:37,240 --> 00:09:41,119 Speaker 1: any power to actually raise money. So Morris liked Hamilton's 158 00:09:41,160 --> 00:09:45,079 Speaker 1: ideas and fought for them in Congress. Morris then appointed 159 00:09:45,080 --> 00:09:48,920 Speaker 1: Hamilton to the possession of receiver of Continental taxes in 160 00:09:48,960 --> 00:09:51,800 Speaker 1: New York in May of seventeen eighty two. Remember this 161 00:09:51,880 --> 00:09:54,080 Speaker 1: is a few months before he even passes the bar. 162 00:09:54,559 --> 00:09:58,520 Speaker 1: So he's inventing the national bank, developing a tax system, 163 00:09:58,880 --> 00:10:02,480 Speaker 1: becoming the receiver of taxes in New York while he's 164 00:10:02,520 --> 00:10:06,280 Speaker 1: also studying to pass the bar. He accepted the position, 165 00:10:06,600 --> 00:10:10,520 Speaker 1: he didn't have much time to get collected taxes, and frankly, 166 00:10:10,760 --> 00:10:13,760 Speaker 1: at the point, there was no real power in that job. 167 00:10:13,920 --> 00:10:16,600 Speaker 1: He couldn't go in and subpoena people or send him 168 00:10:16,600 --> 00:10:20,000 Speaker 1: to jail or do anything. That was all basically nagging. 169 00:10:20,640 --> 00:10:24,600 Speaker 1: But from October seventeen eighty two to August of seventeen 170 00:10:24,600 --> 00:10:27,360 Speaker 1: eighty three, basically from the time he passed the bar 171 00:10:27,480 --> 00:10:30,760 Speaker 1: to seventeen eighty three, he served in Congress as it 172 00:10:30,920 --> 00:10:34,280 Speaker 1: represented the state of New York. While i was there, 173 00:10:34,480 --> 00:10:36,720 Speaker 1: he helped draft the peace treaty between the US and 174 00:10:36,760 --> 00:10:40,080 Speaker 1: Great Britain that ended the war. He proposed that naval 175 00:10:40,080 --> 00:10:43,200 Speaker 1: activities be banned from the Great Lakes between the US 176 00:10:43,280 --> 00:10:46,520 Speaker 1: and British controlled Canada. That suggestion was ignored, and, by 177 00:10:46,559 --> 00:10:49,920 Speaker 1: the way, by eighteen twelve, naval power on the Great 178 00:10:49,960 --> 00:10:52,120 Speaker 1: Lakes would become a real issue and one of the 179 00:10:52,160 --> 00:10:55,280 Speaker 1: major points of combat during the War of eighteen twelve. 180 00:10:56,000 --> 00:10:58,880 Speaker 1: In August of seventeen eighty three, after eight months as 181 00:10:58,880 --> 00:11:02,959 Speaker 1: a congressman, Hamilton returned to New York and finally used 182 00:11:02,960 --> 00:11:06,520 Speaker 1: his law degree to establish a legal practice. He represented 183 00:11:06,559 --> 00:11:09,079 Speaker 1: several tories. Remember there were about a third of the 184 00:11:09,080 --> 00:11:11,520 Speaker 1: American people actually were on the side of the British, 185 00:11:11,600 --> 00:11:14,240 Speaker 1: a third were for independence, and a third just wanted 186 00:11:14,280 --> 00:11:17,199 Speaker 1: to hide. The fact is as a lawyer, he felt 187 00:11:17,200 --> 00:11:20,800 Speaker 1: people deserved representation, so he represented a number of Tories 188 00:11:20,840 --> 00:11:24,120 Speaker 1: who had various claims because their property had been stolen 189 00:11:24,480 --> 00:11:26,720 Speaker 1: or their bills hadn't been paid, and a lot of 190 00:11:26,720 --> 00:11:30,560 Speaker 1: people thought that Hamilton was betraying the new country by 191 00:11:30,760 --> 00:11:34,280 Speaker 1: this kind of representation. But Hamilton really taking a position 192 00:11:34,320 --> 00:11:37,559 Speaker 1: that John Adams had taken after the Boston Massacre when 193 00:11:37,600 --> 00:11:41,560 Speaker 1: he had defended the British soldiers in Boston. Hamilton thought 194 00:11:41,600 --> 00:11:46,120 Speaker 1: that the lawyer had applied the law that people deserved representation, 195 00:11:46,240 --> 00:11:49,480 Speaker 1: and that the war was over, that the time had 196 00:11:49,480 --> 00:11:52,079 Speaker 1: come to move forward, to look to the future, and 197 00:11:52,240 --> 00:11:55,680 Speaker 1: that going after the loyalists, as the Tories were called, 198 00:11:56,000 --> 00:11:59,400 Speaker 1: would simply weaken the country because it would drive people away, 199 00:11:59,440 --> 00:12:03,599 Speaker 1: which they did. Very substantial number of the wealthier loyalist 200 00:12:03,720 --> 00:12:07,840 Speaker 1: left America, went to Britainer to Canada. Hamilton, in fact, 201 00:12:08,320 --> 00:12:11,280 Speaker 1: had a very different view. In June seventeen eighty four, 202 00:12:11,760 --> 00:12:15,079 Speaker 1: he defended a loyalist in the Rutgers versus Waddington case, 203 00:12:15,520 --> 00:12:19,040 Speaker 1: which rose from the Trespass Act of seventeen eighty three. 204 00:12:19,640 --> 00:12:24,040 Speaker 1: Hamilton argued the Trespacked Act was inconsistent with things in 205 00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:26,440 Speaker 1: the Treaty of Peace that he had helped write. Remember, 206 00:12:26,600 --> 00:12:29,000 Speaker 1: he helps write the treaty, helps pass the treaty, so 207 00:12:29,120 --> 00:12:32,240 Speaker 1: he's now in court debating what the treaty means, and 208 00:12:32,360 --> 00:12:35,079 Speaker 1: he clearly has a great deal of expertise. He was 209 00:12:35,200 --> 00:12:38,120 Speaker 1: very worried that if the case was one and the 210 00:12:38,320 --> 00:12:41,840 Speaker 1: loyalist was punished, it would drive thousands of loyalists away 211 00:12:41,880 --> 00:12:46,280 Speaker 1: from New York, negatively impacting trade. He lost, but Hamilton 212 00:12:46,440 --> 00:12:48,440 Speaker 1: used the arguments he made in the case as the 213 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:51,920 Speaker 1: basis for the Federalist Papers number twenty two and seventy eight, 214 00:12:52,200 --> 00:12:55,480 Speaker 1: where he argued, quote, the interpretation of the law is 215 00:12:55,520 --> 00:12:59,199 Speaker 1: the proper and peculiar province of the courts. The case 216 00:12:59,360 --> 00:13:03,440 Speaker 1: also set the state precedent for judicial review established by 217 00:13:03,440 --> 00:13:07,480 Speaker 1: the Supreme Court in eighteen oh three. Now, Hamilton wanted 218 00:13:07,480 --> 00:13:10,960 Speaker 1: a strong and powerful federal government. The truth is, Hamilton 219 00:13:11,040 --> 00:13:14,520 Speaker 1: felt more comfortable with an aristocratic government. If he could 220 00:13:14,520 --> 00:13:16,559 Speaker 1: have figured out a way to get there, He'd love 221 00:13:16,600 --> 00:13:19,200 Speaker 1: to have had George Washington as a new king, but 222 00:13:19,559 --> 00:13:23,680 Speaker 1: that's not where the country is going. His deeper impact 223 00:13:23,880 --> 00:13:28,080 Speaker 1: that really mattered was that he wanted to have the 224 00:13:28,240 --> 00:13:32,360 Speaker 1: nation come together, and he looked for things that would 225 00:13:32,400 --> 00:13:57,199 Speaker 1: bring together everybody into thinking themselves as Americans. Hamilton maneuvered 226 00:13:57,240 --> 00:13:59,800 Speaker 1: and worked very hard. He ended up playing a major 227 00:14:00,080 --> 00:14:05,680 Speaker 1: role in the Constitutional Convention, and he really understood that 228 00:14:05,720 --> 00:14:11,600 Speaker 1: it was very, very important that we become a unified country. 229 00:14:12,320 --> 00:14:15,760 Speaker 1: His role in the Convention was important. And the Convention 230 00:14:15,840 --> 00:14:18,160 Speaker 1: is an interesting example of two things we tend not 231 00:14:18,200 --> 00:14:22,040 Speaker 1: to remember. One it was a coup. Data The people 232 00:14:22,040 --> 00:14:24,800 Speaker 1: who went to the Convention were sent to the Convention 233 00:14:25,200 --> 00:14:29,080 Speaker 1: to reform the Articles of Confederation. When they got there, 234 00:14:29,120 --> 00:14:30,840 Speaker 1: they looked around and said, this is crazy. These things 235 00:14:30,880 --> 00:14:34,720 Speaker 1: will never work. So without any kind of basic approval 236 00:14:34,880 --> 00:14:38,280 Speaker 1: from back home, they decided they'd write a new constitution 237 00:14:38,640 --> 00:14:42,240 Speaker 1: and completely replaced the Articles of Confederation. They did a 238 00:14:42,320 --> 00:14:45,400 Speaker 1: second thing which we often tend to forget. They decided 239 00:14:45,400 --> 00:14:50,320 Speaker 1: they'd meet in secret. So the most important document defining America, 240 00:14:50,400 --> 00:14:54,560 Speaker 1: the Constitution, is written in secret by a group of 241 00:14:54,600 --> 00:14:59,680 Speaker 1: people who have basically violated their rules by giving themselves 242 00:14:59,680 --> 00:15:02,640 Speaker 1: a much bigger assignment than they were elected for. They 243 00:15:02,680 --> 00:15:06,080 Speaker 1: have to work out an amazing number of details, and 244 00:15:06,520 --> 00:15:12,560 Speaker 1: it involves very deep political negotiation. They finally come together 245 00:15:13,120 --> 00:15:17,880 Speaker 1: with a program and they pass out a constitution. Now 246 00:15:18,440 --> 00:15:21,520 Speaker 1: because they understood a little bit different than some of 247 00:15:21,520 --> 00:15:25,000 Speaker 1: our current leadership, that you couldn't sustain something if it 248 00:15:25,080 --> 00:15:28,720 Speaker 1: wasn't supported by the people. They said, you know, all 249 00:15:28,760 --> 00:15:31,040 Speaker 1: the states have to In fact, endorse it. I think 250 00:15:31,440 --> 00:15:33,840 Speaker 1: nine of them had to endorse the constitution for it 251 00:15:33,880 --> 00:15:37,240 Speaker 1: to go into effect. Well, that meant you had to 252 00:15:37,280 --> 00:15:39,240 Speaker 1: go back. Each state would have a different way of 253 00:15:39,240 --> 00:15:41,680 Speaker 1: doing it. Some would do it by vote, some would 254 00:15:41,680 --> 00:15:45,280 Speaker 1: do it by having the state legislature involved. But each 255 00:15:45,320 --> 00:15:48,600 Speaker 1: state had to find a way to ratify the constitution. 256 00:15:49,080 --> 00:15:51,600 Speaker 1: So here's this document which had been drafted in secret. 257 00:15:52,000 --> 00:15:55,040 Speaker 1: It's suddenly sprung in the country. It is outlining a 258 00:15:55,160 --> 00:15:59,400 Speaker 1: very complicated system which, frankly, even today in government class 259 00:15:59,440 --> 00:16:03,240 Speaker 1: people have a time mastering all the details of the Constitution. 260 00:16:03,840 --> 00:16:08,120 Speaker 1: And Hamilton, along with two other people, John Jay of 261 00:16:08,280 --> 00:16:13,640 Speaker 1: New York and James Madison of Virginia, decide to write 262 00:16:14,320 --> 00:16:18,080 Speaker 1: what is in fact, the most elegant and most powerful 263 00:16:18,400 --> 00:16:21,640 Speaker 1: campaign brochure ever written. And it's important to think of 264 00:16:21,680 --> 00:16:25,200 Speaker 1: it that way. The Federalist papers nowadays seem like this 265 00:16:25,960 --> 00:16:32,000 Speaker 1: very sophisticated academic document that people study, but that's not 266 00:16:32,040 --> 00:16:35,040 Speaker 1: what it was. It was a collection of eighty five 267 00:16:35,280 --> 00:16:40,440 Speaker 1: articles essays written by Hamilton, Madison, and Jay. They appeared 268 00:16:40,480 --> 00:16:44,520 Speaker 1: anonymously in New York newspapers in seventeen eighty seven and 269 00:16:44,600 --> 00:16:49,840 Speaker 1: seventeen eighty eight, under the pen name Publius. And I 270 00:16:49,920 --> 00:16:51,960 Speaker 1: have to say, having spent large parts of my life 271 00:16:51,960 --> 00:16:57,440 Speaker 1: dealing with the Federalist papers, they're unbelievably brilliant. Now the 272 00:16:57,600 --> 00:17:02,600 Speaker 1: vast majority of them were written by Hamilton. Fifty two 273 00:17:02,640 --> 00:17:05,960 Speaker 1: out of the eighty five are written by Hamilton. They 274 00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:09,440 Speaker 1: address every major question about the nature of the new government. 275 00:17:09,720 --> 00:17:13,080 Speaker 1: They walk people through the reasoning that led the government 276 00:17:13,119 --> 00:17:15,480 Speaker 1: to be designed the way it was. They are far 277 00:17:15,560 --> 00:17:19,600 Speaker 1: and away the best primary source for understanding what the 278 00:17:19,640 --> 00:17:23,680 Speaker 1: founding fathers intended, and they weren't. I remember, this is 279 00:17:23,680 --> 00:17:25,720 Speaker 1: the country where probably only about a third of the 280 00:17:25,720 --> 00:17:28,879 Speaker 1: people could read. And here you have this document. When 281 00:17:28,920 --> 00:17:31,280 Speaker 1: I say campaign brochure, you just pick it up and 282 00:17:31,280 --> 00:17:34,960 Speaker 1: look at it. This wasn't some two page, fancy colored 283 00:17:35,160 --> 00:17:40,199 Speaker 1: document with seven pictures. This is pure print. And what 284 00:17:40,359 --> 00:17:44,359 Speaker 1: happened was, of course, relatively smart people read it and 285 00:17:44,440 --> 00:17:47,439 Speaker 1: then would sit around the tavern and explain it. So 286 00:17:47,480 --> 00:17:50,800 Speaker 1: the people who couldn't read were listening and asking questions 287 00:17:50,800 --> 00:17:53,480 Speaker 1: from the people who could read, and the net result 288 00:17:53,600 --> 00:17:57,199 Speaker 1: was one of the greatest educational moments in history. The 289 00:17:57,200 --> 00:18:01,359 Speaker 1: American people came together. They concluded both that it was 290 00:18:01,400 --> 00:18:04,560 Speaker 1: the right thing to do, and that it was creating 291 00:18:04,560 --> 00:18:09,000 Speaker 1: a government which was legitimate. Now. The Federalist Papers originally 292 00:18:09,280 --> 00:18:12,639 Speaker 1: were published primarily in two New York state newspapers, the 293 00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:15,640 Speaker 1: New York Packet and the Independent Journal. They were then 294 00:18:15,680 --> 00:18:18,719 Speaker 1: reprinted in other newspapers in New York and in cities 295 00:18:18,720 --> 00:18:22,120 Speaker 1: around the country. Then a bound edition was produced with 296 00:18:22,200 --> 00:18:25,359 Speaker 1: revisions and corrections by Hamilton, and that was published in 297 00:18:25,400 --> 00:18:29,240 Speaker 1: seventeen eighty eight. Another edition would be published some thirty 298 00:18:29,320 --> 00:18:32,600 Speaker 1: years later by Jacob Gideon in eighteen eighteen with revisions 299 00:18:32,600 --> 00:18:35,520 Speaker 1: and corrections by Madison, which was the first one that 300 00:18:35,560 --> 00:18:39,040 Speaker 1: actually identified each essay by its author's name. So think 301 00:18:39,040 --> 00:18:42,040 Speaker 1: about that. You get this series of articles and newspapers 302 00:18:42,040 --> 00:18:45,960 Speaker 1: and then a book by Publius, and you end up 303 00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:49,119 Speaker 1: reading what the arguments are and you go, well, you know, 304 00:18:49,720 --> 00:18:52,359 Speaker 1: they've really thought this through. And in fact, if you 305 00:18:52,440 --> 00:18:55,040 Speaker 1: take the time to read it, you'll realize that Hamilton 306 00:18:55,200 --> 00:18:58,680 Speaker 1: was a genius. He and Madison are the two primary writers, 307 00:18:59,119 --> 00:19:04,080 Speaker 1: and their grand of the most important fundamentals of freedom 308 00:19:04,920 --> 00:19:09,080 Speaker 1: is just astonishing. I think as long as humans want 309 00:19:09,119 --> 00:19:12,040 Speaker 1: to understand how to be free, the Federalist Papers will 310 00:19:12,080 --> 00:19:14,280 Speaker 1: have a role to play and will be a primary 311 00:19:14,320 --> 00:19:17,600 Speaker 1: source document on the nature of freedom. Now, while he's 312 00:19:17,600 --> 00:19:19,840 Speaker 1: in the middle of creating a new country, he also 313 00:19:19,880 --> 00:19:22,760 Speaker 1: becomes a member of the board of trustees of what 314 00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:25,119 Speaker 1: used to be King's College when he went to it, 315 00:19:25,440 --> 00:19:28,600 Speaker 1: but now was Columbia College, which of course has evolved 316 00:19:28,640 --> 00:19:32,639 Speaker 1: into Columbia University. He helped develop a detailed outline of 317 00:19:32,680 --> 00:19:36,080 Speaker 1: the new academic departments and faculty appointments. He assisted in 318 00:19:36,160 --> 00:19:40,720 Speaker 1: analyzing their finances and budget allocations, and he would work 319 00:19:40,920 --> 00:19:43,280 Speaker 1: on the board at Columbia and serve Columbia for the 320 00:19:43,320 --> 00:19:46,760 Speaker 1: next twenty years until he died. While people always identify 321 00:19:46,880 --> 00:19:50,560 Speaker 1: Jefferson with founding the University of Virginia, the fact is 322 00:19:50,960 --> 00:19:55,280 Speaker 1: Hamilton was on the board of Columbia College long before 323 00:19:55,680 --> 00:19:59,639 Speaker 1: Jefferson got around to creating the University of Virginia. Hamilton's 324 00:19:59,680 --> 00:20:03,960 Speaker 1: most famous role is first Secretary of the Treasury. Washington 325 00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:06,960 Speaker 1: brought him in immediately. There were two great important jobs. 326 00:20:07,160 --> 00:20:09,600 Speaker 1: I think the most important was Secretary of Treasury. The 327 00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:13,439 Speaker 1: second most important was the Secretary of State. Jefferson has 328 00:20:13,480 --> 00:20:17,000 Speaker 1: made Secretary of State, Hamilton has made Secretary of the Treasury, 329 00:20:17,400 --> 00:20:22,320 Speaker 1: and they are amazingly different in their approach to things. 330 00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:27,240 Speaker 1: Jefferson is an intellectual. He spent a great deal time 331 00:20:27,359 --> 00:20:30,280 Speaker 1: representing the United States in France. He watched the early 332 00:20:30,320 --> 00:20:33,919 Speaker 1: stages of the French Revolution. He was actually sympathetic in 333 00:20:33,960 --> 00:20:36,720 Speaker 1: the early days against the monarchy, even though the monarchy 334 00:20:36,800 --> 00:20:39,920 Speaker 1: had supported the United States and its War of Independence. 335 00:20:40,400 --> 00:20:43,000 Speaker 1: And then I think Jefferson, like everybody else, was horrified 336 00:20:43,280 --> 00:20:46,919 Speaker 1: as the French Revolution went crazy and began guilloteeing people, 337 00:20:47,359 --> 00:20:51,440 Speaker 1: imposing a dictatorship of the left. But he came home 338 00:20:51,920 --> 00:20:55,000 Speaker 1: he was very concerned about a strong central government. This 339 00:20:55,119 --> 00:20:58,480 Speaker 1: is one of the first places where he and Hamilton 340 00:20:58,560 --> 00:21:02,440 Speaker 1: have a profound disagreement. Jefferson agrees to support the new 341 00:21:02,520 --> 00:21:07,960 Speaker 1: Constitution only if Madison will carry a series of amendments 342 00:21:07,960 --> 00:21:10,640 Speaker 1: which became known as the Bill of Rights. And it's 343 00:21:10,680 --> 00:21:14,080 Speaker 1: important to recognize it. Where Hamilton is trying to strengthen 344 00:21:14,119 --> 00:21:19,360 Speaker 1: the government, Jefferson is really worried that a strong government 345 00:21:19,400 --> 00:21:23,879 Speaker 1: will infringe on our liberties. By contrast, Hamilton had a 346 00:21:24,000 --> 00:21:28,479 Speaker 1: more idealized vision than humans could have power without being 347 00:21:28,480 --> 00:21:31,240 Speaker 1: corrupted by it. I would say that Jefferson was almost 348 00:21:31,240 --> 00:21:35,359 Speaker 1: certainly more correct about humans than Hamilton. But Hamilton was 349 00:21:35,400 --> 00:21:38,840 Speaker 1: almost certainly more correct about the economy and about how 350 00:21:38,880 --> 00:21:41,399 Speaker 1: money worked. And that makes it one of the most 351 00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:44,800 Speaker 1: amazing things in American history that you end up at 352 00:21:44,800 --> 00:21:48,159 Speaker 1: this magic moment, first of all with Washington, who is 353 00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:53,480 Speaker 1: the moral giant, the man of honor, the person everybody 354 00:21:53,520 --> 00:21:57,000 Speaker 1: relies on, the person on whose shoulders all of us stand, 355 00:21:57,040 --> 00:22:01,000 Speaker 1: the genuine father of his country. But Washington, he doesn't 356 00:22:01,040 --> 00:22:04,000 Speaker 1: know all these details. That's not his strength. He'd led 357 00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:06,280 Speaker 1: a war for eight years. He was a great planner. 358 00:22:06,320 --> 00:22:09,840 Speaker 1: He's actually a very innovative planner who bread an entire 359 00:22:09,920 --> 00:22:13,440 Speaker 1: new species of more powerful mule. For example, he worked 360 00:22:13,520 --> 00:22:17,680 Speaker 1: very assiduously at understanding the business of running the largest 361 00:22:17,720 --> 00:22:22,000 Speaker 1: plantation in America. But Washington was a very good, very 362 00:22:22,040 --> 00:22:27,000 Speaker 1: shrewd selector of people. He knew that Jefferson loved foreign affairs, 363 00:22:27,040 --> 00:22:31,320 Speaker 1: and Jefferson understood Europe, and he knew that Hamilton could 364 00:22:31,320 --> 00:22:36,240 Speaker 1: master finance. At a time when we'd had enormous inflation, 365 00:22:36,760 --> 00:22:40,000 Speaker 1: the money issued by the Continental Congress had collapsed in value. 366 00:22:40,480 --> 00:22:42,840 Speaker 1: There was a huge amount of debt held by the public. 367 00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:44,960 Speaker 1: There was a huge amount of debt held by the 368 00:22:45,040 --> 00:22:48,800 Speaker 1: Dutch and others, And the question was, were we going 369 00:22:48,840 --> 00:22:53,359 Speaker 1: to dissolve into being incapable of paying our debts, having 370 00:22:53,400 --> 00:22:58,080 Speaker 1: our currency collapse and not being acceptable as a financial 371 00:22:58,440 --> 00:23:01,520 Speaker 1: risk around the world, or were we going to in 372 00:23:01,600 --> 00:23:06,160 Speaker 1: fact fund the debt, pay it off, and pay off 373 00:23:06,200 --> 00:23:10,000 Speaker 1: the debt that we recrued overseas? And along comes Hamilton. 374 00:23:10,920 --> 00:23:13,800 Speaker 1: Hamilton is a student of Adam Smith, who published The 375 00:23:13,840 --> 00:23:17,000 Speaker 1: Wealth of Nations in seventeen seventy six as one of 376 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:19,960 Speaker 1: the Great Magic Moments. The book, which most explains the 377 00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:23,359 Speaker 1: importance of freedom and markets, was published the same year 378 00:23:23,640 --> 00:23:26,840 Speaker 1: as The Declaration of Independence, which explains the importance of 379 00:23:26,880 --> 00:23:29,960 Speaker 1: political freedom, and the two go hand in hand. They 380 00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:34,120 Speaker 1: reinforce each other, and Hamilton understands what Smith is doing. 381 00:23:34,480 --> 00:23:38,000 Speaker 1: Smith's not a theoretician. He's not writing about theory. Smith 382 00:23:38,119 --> 00:23:40,800 Speaker 1: is an observer of a world that is emerging, the 383 00:23:40,880 --> 00:23:44,560 Speaker 1: world of manufacturing, the world of commerce, and Heed's describing 384 00:23:44,600 --> 00:23:47,320 Speaker 1: how it's working. When Smith has a section on the 385 00:23:47,359 --> 00:23:50,440 Speaker 1: needle factory and how efficient it is and how productive 386 00:23:50,480 --> 00:23:52,600 Speaker 1: it is, it's because he's actually been in a needle 387 00:23:52,640 --> 00:23:57,080 Speaker 1: factory and watched at work. And so Hamilton comes along. Remember, 388 00:23:57,080 --> 00:24:00,800 Speaker 1: now he's been a lawyer. He's been an artillery he's 389 00:24:00,840 --> 00:24:05,320 Speaker 1: been a personal aid to General Washington. He's become a lawyer. 390 00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:09,040 Speaker 1: Now he pivots and he becomes a financier, and he's 391 00:24:09,119 --> 00:24:11,240 Speaker 1: brilliant enough that he gets right to the heart of 392 00:24:11,240 --> 00:24:15,200 Speaker 1: the matter. There were twelve volumes of Hamilton's personal papers. 393 00:24:15,800 --> 00:24:19,640 Speaker 1: They were introduced by Henry Cabot Lodge, who wrote this 394 00:24:19,800 --> 00:24:25,880 Speaker 1: extraordinary explanation of Hamilton about eighteen eighty two, and Lodge says, 395 00:24:27,600 --> 00:24:33,600 Speaker 1: Hamilton's genius was understanding facts, and he allowed facts to 396 00:24:33,680 --> 00:24:37,080 Speaker 1: then develop theories. He didn't start with theories and try 397 00:24:37,119 --> 00:24:40,880 Speaker 1: to twist the facts. And so Hamilton looked at if 398 00:24:40,920 --> 00:24:43,240 Speaker 1: you want a healthy country, and you want to be 399 00:24:43,280 --> 00:24:46,000 Speaker 1: able to have a sound credit, and in a crisis, 400 00:24:46,040 --> 00:24:47,639 Speaker 1: you want to be able to borrow money from the 401 00:24:47,720 --> 00:24:50,800 Speaker 1: Dutch and others, what do you have to do? And 402 00:24:50,920 --> 00:24:53,440 Speaker 1: he said, well, first of all, you have to acknowledge 403 00:24:53,520 --> 00:24:55,760 Speaker 1: all of the debts coming out of the Continental Congress 404 00:24:55,840 --> 00:24:58,840 Speaker 1: during the war. Second, you have to acknowledge all the 405 00:24:58,880 --> 00:25:01,840 Speaker 1: debts that you sign your name for in terms of 406 00:25:01,880 --> 00:25:04,520 Speaker 1: the Dutch and others. And then you have to build 407 00:25:04,520 --> 00:25:07,680 Speaker 1: an ability to gradually pay them off. And You did 408 00:25:07,720 --> 00:25:11,320 Speaker 1: that by always running a small surplus and taking that 409 00:25:11,400 --> 00:25:14,040 Speaker 1: small surplus and what was called a sinking fund, and 410 00:25:14,200 --> 00:25:17,679 Speaker 1: paying down the debt. Now, Hamilton also had the advantage 411 00:25:17,880 --> 00:25:20,240 Speaker 1: of studying what William Pitt the Younger had done in 412 00:25:20,280 --> 00:25:23,280 Speaker 1: Great Britain in the seventeen eighties, so he knew this 413 00:25:23,320 --> 00:25:27,000 Speaker 1: could work. His problem was how do you get it 414 00:25:27,080 --> 00:25:31,960 Speaker 1: through a Congress, which isn't all that excited about, first 415 00:25:31,960 --> 00:25:35,159 Speaker 1: of all, domestic debt, because what had happened was a 416 00:25:35,240 --> 00:25:39,119 Speaker 1: lot of the veterans who'd earned these IOUs had sold 417 00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:42,359 Speaker 1: them out of despair. So you had speculators, many of 418 00:25:42,400 --> 00:25:45,520 Speaker 1: them in New York and Massachusetts, who had gone across 419 00:25:45,560 --> 00:25:49,520 Speaker 1: the South, buying up these IOUs sometimes at ten or 420 00:25:49,520 --> 00:25:52,480 Speaker 1: fifteen cents on the dollar. And now if you're going 421 00:25:52,520 --> 00:25:56,840 Speaker 1: to actually pay them off, that means that the veteran's 422 00:25:56,880 --> 00:25:59,960 Speaker 1: not going to get very much, but all these speculators 423 00:26:00,119 --> 00:26:04,280 Speaker 1: going to get rich. Similarly, in a Great American tradition, 424 00:26:04,600 --> 00:26:08,560 Speaker 1: Congress wasn't all that excited about raising hard taxes from 425 00:26:08,560 --> 00:26:10,840 Speaker 1: its own people in order to ship the money to 426 00:26:10,880 --> 00:26:13,320 Speaker 1: the Dutch who had loaned us the money with which 427 00:26:13,320 --> 00:26:16,359 Speaker 1: we fought the war. So Hamilton had to put together 428 00:26:16,880 --> 00:26:20,720 Speaker 1: a political movement that would be in favor of a 429 00:26:20,840 --> 00:26:23,920 Speaker 1: national economy, be in favor of what we would call 430 00:26:24,080 --> 00:26:28,080 Speaker 1: sound money. And he started by writing a report on 431 00:26:28,119 --> 00:26:32,000 Speaker 1: the public credit, which is an amazing document. It's probably 432 00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:35,400 Speaker 1: as good an introduction to thinking about finance as anybody 433 00:26:35,400 --> 00:26:37,920 Speaker 1: ever has. He followed it up about a year later 434 00:26:38,119 --> 00:26:41,639 Speaker 1: by writing a report on manufactures, which is the best 435 00:26:41,680 --> 00:26:44,879 Speaker 1: document ever written on how a country can go about 436 00:26:45,280 --> 00:26:49,200 Speaker 1: creating a strong manufacturing base. It's one which, by the way, 437 00:26:49,560 --> 00:26:54,600 Speaker 1: modern liberal economists hate because it argues for focusing on 438 00:26:54,640 --> 00:26:58,840 Speaker 1: America first and using tariffs and other things to protect 439 00:26:58,840 --> 00:27:02,760 Speaker 1: American jobs. Because if you had a purely free trade 440 00:27:02,840 --> 00:27:06,400 Speaker 1: environment in the seventeen nineties, the British were so much 441 00:27:06,440 --> 00:27:08,520 Speaker 1: more advanced than we were, they would have wiped out 442 00:27:08,520 --> 00:27:11,360 Speaker 1: all of our industries and sell Hamilton in a very 443 00:27:11,359 --> 00:27:14,840 Speaker 1: practical way says that's not going to work, though. What 444 00:27:14,920 --> 00:27:16,600 Speaker 1: you have to do is find a way to grow 445 00:27:16,640 --> 00:27:21,159 Speaker 1: American jobs with American manufacturing, and then pay off the 446 00:27:21,240 --> 00:27:25,200 Speaker 1: debt from this growing economy. He also proposed that there'd 447 00:27:25,200 --> 00:27:28,440 Speaker 1: be a national bank, something he talked about a decade earlier, 448 00:27:28,720 --> 00:27:31,120 Speaker 1: and that the bank would be independent from the government, 449 00:27:31,359 --> 00:27:33,879 Speaker 1: but the government would own twenty percent of the bank stock. 450 00:27:34,440 --> 00:27:37,600 Speaker 1: Now potentially he could get it through the Congress. There 451 00:27:37,600 --> 00:27:40,600 Speaker 1: were some people who argued that the Constitution does not 452 00:27:40,720 --> 00:27:43,480 Speaker 1: give them the power to establish a national bank. This 453 00:27:43,640 --> 00:27:48,320 Speaker 1: was Jefferson's position, but Washington stepped in and said, well, 454 00:27:48,359 --> 00:27:53,520 Speaker 1: the Constitution can be loosely interpreted, and he approved Hamilton's plan. So, 455 00:27:53,600 --> 00:27:57,440 Speaker 1: with Hamilton and Washington both in favor of the national bank, 456 00:27:57,680 --> 00:28:01,679 Speaker 1: it got created. Hamilton then turned attention to establishing a 457 00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:04,440 Speaker 1: national currency, because we gotta remember, up to this point, 458 00:28:04,680 --> 00:28:07,520 Speaker 1: you have all these states producing money, much as the 459 00:28:07,520 --> 00:28:10,359 Speaker 1: Scottish banks had each been producing their own money, and 460 00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:15,600 Speaker 1: you had this extraordinarily week and frankly useless money that 461 00:28:15,680 --> 00:28:20,040 Speaker 1: the Continental Congress had created. So he establishes a national 462 00:28:20,160 --> 00:28:24,320 Speaker 1: mint and begins to put together with the Mint Act 463 00:28:24,320 --> 00:28:28,840 Speaker 1: of seventeen ninety two, creating a national currency. That led 464 00:28:28,880 --> 00:28:55,880 Speaker 1: to a fundamental split. There was a Federalist Party which 465 00:28:56,040 --> 00:29:00,640 Speaker 1: was deeply committed to the Constitution, deeply committed to a 466 00:29:00,760 --> 00:29:05,080 Speaker 1: national economy, in many ways biased in favor of New 467 00:29:05,120 --> 00:29:08,520 Speaker 1: England and New York and to some extent Pennsylvania. And 468 00:29:08,560 --> 00:29:11,760 Speaker 1: then there was a Democratic Republican Party, which was really 469 00:29:11,760 --> 00:29:15,600 Speaker 1: the anti Federalist and that was created by Jefferson and Madison. 470 00:29:15,920 --> 00:29:17,760 Speaker 1: It used to be said, and John F. Kennedy used 471 00:29:17,760 --> 00:29:20,960 Speaker 1: to use this line that Jefferson and Madison went to 472 00:29:21,000 --> 00:29:24,960 Speaker 1: New York butterfly collecting and happened to run into Aaronburgh, 473 00:29:25,000 --> 00:29:27,200 Speaker 1: who ran the political machine in New York, and the 474 00:29:27,280 --> 00:29:30,080 Speaker 1: three of them happened to create the Democratic Republican Party 475 00:29:30,480 --> 00:29:33,640 Speaker 1: while they were butterfly collecting. The butterfly Colleking, I think 476 00:29:33,680 --> 00:29:36,960 Speaker 1: never actually happened, but was the cover for their trip. 477 00:29:37,400 --> 00:29:41,160 Speaker 1: Well to show you how successful Jefferson was as a politician. 478 00:29:41,640 --> 00:29:45,600 Speaker 1: The Federalist Party basically disappears by around eighteen twelve, and 479 00:29:46,000 --> 00:29:49,680 Speaker 1: the Democratic Republican Party evolves into the Democratic Party, and 480 00:29:49,840 --> 00:29:53,480 Speaker 1: it is today the longest surviving political party in the 481 00:29:53,520 --> 00:29:57,800 Speaker 1: world and as an amazing capacity for adapting and mutating 482 00:29:57,800 --> 00:30:02,800 Speaker 1: and evolving and enormous to nacity of survival. But Hamilton 483 00:30:03,640 --> 00:30:08,360 Speaker 1: was the leader of the Federalist Party, and Hamilton has 484 00:30:08,680 --> 00:30:15,520 Speaker 1: created an economic system heavily favoring the city's heavily favoring manufacturing. Remember, 485 00:30:15,760 --> 00:30:20,160 Speaker 1: if you're a farmer in the South in particular, you 486 00:30:20,200 --> 00:30:25,360 Speaker 1: are not all that happy to have manufacturing protected because 487 00:30:25,400 --> 00:30:28,320 Speaker 1: that raises the price of what you pay for. So 488 00:30:28,400 --> 00:30:31,120 Speaker 1: there's a certain bias in favor of lower tariffs and 489 00:30:31,200 --> 00:30:35,800 Speaker 1: agricultural areas and higher tariffs and manufacturing areas. The Federalist 490 00:30:35,840 --> 00:30:39,760 Speaker 1: Party represented the manufacturing side. Now at the same time, 491 00:30:40,360 --> 00:30:43,760 Speaker 1: in order to get all of this done, they had 492 00:30:43,800 --> 00:30:47,760 Speaker 1: to find some ability to have a mutual agreement, and 493 00:30:48,040 --> 00:30:51,560 Speaker 1: the pact they created both a great deal of negotiating 494 00:30:52,360 --> 00:30:57,200 Speaker 1: was a dinner that Madison and Jefferson had with Hamilton. 495 00:30:57,960 --> 00:31:00,440 Speaker 1: At the time, the government had moved initially New York, 496 00:31:00,680 --> 00:31:04,080 Speaker 1: then had moved to Philadelphia. The Southerners really wanted the 497 00:31:04,120 --> 00:31:08,400 Speaker 1: government to be between Virginia and Maryland. The Northerners didn't 498 00:31:08,440 --> 00:31:11,400 Speaker 1: quickly wanted to go that far south, but the Southerners 499 00:31:11,440 --> 00:31:15,240 Speaker 1: didn't particularly want to follow Hamilton's financial plans, and so 500 00:31:15,520 --> 00:31:19,040 Speaker 1: they cut a deal. Again, less said about the complexities 501 00:31:19,040 --> 00:31:22,720 Speaker 1: of history. They negotiated for several months. They finally thought 502 00:31:22,760 --> 00:31:25,960 Speaker 1: they had a deal, and they sat down, had dinner 503 00:31:26,560 --> 00:31:29,600 Speaker 1: and looked at each other. Now, remember by this stage 504 00:31:30,240 --> 00:31:34,520 Speaker 1: they're both still in Washington's cabinet. Jefferson is still the 505 00:31:34,680 --> 00:31:37,200 Speaker 1: Secretary of State. Hamilton's still the Secretary of the Treasury. 506 00:31:37,760 --> 00:31:40,920 Speaker 1: Madison is in the Congress, but he's Jefferson's closest ally 507 00:31:41,200 --> 00:31:44,320 Speaker 1: and also probably the leading figure in the Congress. They're 508 00:31:44,360 --> 00:31:49,480 Speaker 1: both financing newspapers. I mean, Jefferson subsidizing a newspaper whose 509 00:31:49,560 --> 00:31:53,240 Speaker 1: job it is to attack Hamilton. Hamilton is subsidizing a 510 00:31:53,240 --> 00:31:56,040 Speaker 1: newspaper whose job it is to attack Jefferson. And they 511 00:31:56,080 --> 00:31:59,600 Speaker 1: all know this. It's a very small town, but they 512 00:31:59,640 --> 00:32:02,520 Speaker 1: have this bigger problem. Had got to find a way 513 00:32:02,560 --> 00:32:06,160 Speaker 1: to create a sound currency, to create a sound economic policy, 514 00:32:06,560 --> 00:32:09,760 Speaker 1: and they need a place to put the government. And 515 00:32:09,800 --> 00:32:13,960 Speaker 1: so finally they agree. Jefferson gets the capital Washington, DC, 516 00:32:14,640 --> 00:32:18,840 Speaker 1: between Virginia and Maryland, and Hamilton gets his economic policies, 517 00:32:19,400 --> 00:32:22,120 Speaker 1: and with that you have the birth of the modern 518 00:32:22,160 --> 00:32:28,000 Speaker 1: American system. Now in the middle of all that, Washington leaves, 519 00:32:28,600 --> 00:32:32,920 Speaker 1: and his successor was his vice president. Partially, I think 520 00:32:33,240 --> 00:32:36,760 Speaker 1: as a function of geographic equity, because Washington was from 521 00:32:36,800 --> 00:32:40,480 Speaker 1: Virginia and John Adams is from Massachusetts. So again it's 522 00:32:40,520 --> 00:32:45,200 Speaker 1: a step towards binding the country together. However, the Federalist Party, 523 00:32:45,200 --> 00:32:49,200 Speaker 1: which had been largely created by Hamilton, who had in fact, 524 00:32:49,680 --> 00:32:53,400 Speaker 1: as a part of that process, created all sorts of 525 00:32:53,400 --> 00:32:57,640 Speaker 1: mechanisms of propaganda, had built a political machine. But he 526 00:32:57,800 --> 00:33:01,120 Speaker 1: and Adams had a big falling out, and as a result, 527 00:33:01,400 --> 00:33:06,800 Speaker 1: Hamilton was very bitter about Adams. Adams found himself being undermined, 528 00:33:07,480 --> 00:33:11,760 Speaker 1: and in seventeen ninety six he had replaced Washington because 529 00:33:11,760 --> 00:33:15,960 Speaker 1: he had been vice president. By eighteen hundred, he has 530 00:33:16,000 --> 00:33:20,680 Speaker 1: lost so much popularity that he loses to Thomas Jefferson 531 00:33:21,160 --> 00:33:24,120 Speaker 1: in what in some ways is the first modern example 532 00:33:24,640 --> 00:33:30,480 Speaker 1: of a genuine opposition party peacefully taking power. Jefferson becomes president. 533 00:33:30,960 --> 00:33:35,600 Speaker 1: Hamilton is now basically out of power. The Federalists are 534 00:33:35,640 --> 00:33:40,600 Speaker 1: in fact declining rapidly, and Hamilton goes back to New 535 00:33:40,680 --> 00:33:44,240 Speaker 1: York to make money, and he ends to make a 536 00:33:44,240 --> 00:33:47,160 Speaker 1: lot of money. He founds the New York Evening Post 537 00:33:47,200 --> 00:33:49,920 Speaker 1: and this becomes the New York Post. New York Post 538 00:33:50,000 --> 00:33:53,760 Speaker 1: founded in eighteen oh one oldest continuous newspaper in the 539 00:33:53,840 --> 00:33:58,160 Speaker 1: United States still publishing, and it is the fourth largest 540 00:33:58,200 --> 00:34:03,120 Speaker 1: newspaper to America. Founded by Alexander Hamilton, who on the 541 00:34:03,280 --> 00:34:07,560 Speaker 1: very first day had a statement of principles which was 542 00:34:07,600 --> 00:34:12,120 Speaker 1: co authored by the editor William Coleman and Alexander Hamilton says, quote, 543 00:34:12,480 --> 00:34:15,759 Speaker 1: the design of this paper is to diffuse among the 544 00:34:15,800 --> 00:34:20,400 Speaker 1: people correct information on all interesting subjects, to inculcate just 545 00:34:20,640 --> 00:34:24,600 Speaker 1: principles in religion, morals, and politics, and to cultivate a 546 00:34:24,680 --> 00:34:30,000 Speaker 1: taste for sound literature. Hamilton at this stage is successful, 547 00:34:30,920 --> 00:34:35,760 Speaker 1: has been a national figure, has helped invent the modern 548 00:34:35,800 --> 00:34:39,879 Speaker 1: American system, and probably could have lived a very long 549 00:34:39,920 --> 00:34:45,880 Speaker 1: life except for the tragedy that Hamilton tended to inspire hatred. 550 00:34:46,520 --> 00:34:49,400 Speaker 1: Jefferson had people who disliked him, but generally they didn't 551 00:34:49,400 --> 00:34:52,640 Speaker 1: hate him. Hamilton, partly, I think, because he was so 552 00:34:52,680 --> 00:34:55,840 Speaker 1: smart and he was so aggressive, he was so arrogant 553 00:34:56,400 --> 00:35:00,360 Speaker 1: that people who couldn't compete with him intellectually just earned 554 00:35:00,400 --> 00:35:04,360 Speaker 1: with hatred. Tragically, for him, his son was killed in 555 00:35:04,400 --> 00:35:07,600 Speaker 1: a duel in eighteen oh one defending his father's honor, 556 00:35:08,440 --> 00:35:13,040 Speaker 1: and then Hamilton it's crosswise of Aaron burn. Now, Aaron 557 00:35:13,080 --> 00:35:18,040 Speaker 1: Burr is a genuine scoundrel, a truly bad man. He'd 558 00:35:18,040 --> 00:35:20,279 Speaker 1: been the boss of New York. He'd helped Jefferson and 559 00:35:20,360 --> 00:35:23,560 Speaker 1: Madison create the Democratic Party. But it was typical of 560 00:35:23,600 --> 00:35:26,200 Speaker 1: how bad he was that when he and Jefferson both 561 00:35:26,200 --> 00:35:29,200 Speaker 1: agreed to run, Jefferson for president, Burr for vice president. 562 00:35:29,560 --> 00:35:33,320 Speaker 1: Nobody had thought through that the original Constitution didn't provide 563 00:35:33,320 --> 00:35:37,280 Speaker 1: for any way to tell who was running for president, 564 00:35:37,360 --> 00:35:40,839 Speaker 1: who was not, and who was all done based on 565 00:35:40,880 --> 00:35:44,080 Speaker 1: the number of electoral VOCU got. I think the theory 566 00:35:44,120 --> 00:35:46,760 Speaker 1: and the only days being that whoever came in first 567 00:35:46,760 --> 00:35:49,440 Speaker 1: would be president, whoever came in second would be vice president, 568 00:35:49,640 --> 00:35:53,319 Speaker 1: which is what had happened in seventeen ninety six when 569 00:35:53,360 --> 00:35:56,799 Speaker 1: Adams became president and Jefferson became vice president. But an 570 00:35:56,840 --> 00:36:01,600 Speaker 1: eighteen hundred, in a truly weird moment, and Jefferson were tied. 571 00:36:02,760 --> 00:36:06,080 Speaker 1: Now everybody knew Burr was supposed to be the vice president, 572 00:36:06,640 --> 00:36:12,520 Speaker 1: but Burr saw an opportunity, so he tried to become president. 573 00:36:13,239 --> 00:36:17,120 Speaker 1: He was outmaneuvered Hamilton spoke out against him, further increasing 574 00:36:17,120 --> 00:36:20,920 Speaker 1: how much Bird disliked Hamilton. Jefferson gets elected, Burr becomes 575 00:36:21,000 --> 00:36:25,040 Speaker 1: vice president. He then goes back to New York runs 576 00:36:25,080 --> 00:36:28,920 Speaker 1: for governor and loses, with Hamilton once against speaking out 577 00:36:28,960 --> 00:36:32,799 Speaker 1: against it. Hamilton is the person that Birth thinks has 578 00:36:32,920 --> 00:36:36,040 Speaker 1: ruined his life, so Burr challenges him to a duel, 579 00:36:36,520 --> 00:36:39,400 Speaker 1: and dueling back down was very common. It begins to 580 00:36:39,440 --> 00:36:42,800 Speaker 1: disappear about forty years later, and one of the people 581 00:36:42,800 --> 00:36:46,600 Speaker 1: who helped in dueling was Abraham Lincoln. When he was 582 00:36:46,680 --> 00:36:49,640 Speaker 1: challenged to a duel, the person being challenged always gets 583 00:36:49,680 --> 00:36:53,160 Speaker 1: to choose the weapons. Lincoln chose shotguns at three feet 584 00:36:53,680 --> 00:36:55,720 Speaker 1: and the other guy said, why that would be murdered. 585 00:36:55,960 --> 00:36:58,440 Speaker 1: Lincoln said, right, you challenge me, you want to have 586 00:36:58,440 --> 00:37:01,400 Speaker 1: a duel, so he shotguns of three The guy said, okay, 587 00:37:01,440 --> 00:37:04,680 Speaker 1: I didn't actually mean it, and the duel disappeared. But 588 00:37:05,120 --> 00:37:09,640 Speaker 1: at seven am on July eleventh, eighteen o four, in Weehawken, 589 00:37:09,760 --> 00:37:12,520 Speaker 1: New Jersey, a town where Hamilton's son had already been 590 00:37:12,600 --> 00:37:16,520 Speaker 1: killed in a duel three years earlier, Hamilton and Burr 591 00:37:16,600 --> 00:37:20,840 Speaker 1: stood ten paces apart, announced they were ready, turned and fired. 592 00:37:21,560 --> 00:37:25,880 Speaker 1: Hamilton missed, probably deliberately. Burr shot Hamilton just above his 593 00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:29,680 Speaker 1: right hip, and the next day Hamilton died in agony 594 00:37:30,040 --> 00:37:34,120 Speaker 1: at forty nine years of age. Now that of course 595 00:37:34,120 --> 00:37:37,879 Speaker 1: sets up the drama which becomes the musical, and it's 596 00:37:37,920 --> 00:37:40,919 Speaker 1: interesting in some ways, a little bit like Lincoln being 597 00:37:41,000 --> 00:37:44,440 Speaker 1: killed immediately after winning the war in the second inaugural, 598 00:37:44,800 --> 00:37:48,920 Speaker 1: which then permanently placed Lincoln in the unique position of 599 00:37:48,960 --> 00:37:52,839 Speaker 1: being a martyr to the country. Hamilton's death blocked him 600 00:37:52,880 --> 00:37:55,160 Speaker 1: from any future involvement, so we have no idea since 601 00:37:55,160 --> 00:37:57,080 Speaker 1: he was only forty nine, we have no idea what 602 00:37:57,120 --> 00:37:59,200 Speaker 1: the next twenty or thirty years or forty years would 603 00:37:59,200 --> 00:38:03,600 Speaker 1: have been liked. But it also meant that for a 604 00:38:03,640 --> 00:38:06,560 Speaker 1: while he sort of disappeared. It's one of the comments 605 00:38:06,600 --> 00:38:10,320 Speaker 1: that Henry Cabot Lodge makes in his introduction to Hamilton's 606 00:38:10,320 --> 00:38:13,719 Speaker 1: twelve Volumes. And that was unfortunate. I mean, the dominance 607 00:38:13,719 --> 00:38:17,719 Speaker 1: of the Jeffersonians led to and remember that they win 608 00:38:17,800 --> 00:38:21,400 Speaker 1: with Jefferson, then they come back and they win with Madison, 609 00:38:21,719 --> 00:38:24,560 Speaker 1: and then they come back and win again with Monroe. 610 00:38:24,880 --> 00:38:28,680 Speaker 1: So you have a very long Virginia dynasty which had 611 00:38:28,680 --> 00:38:31,960 Speaker 1: followed eight years of George Washington with only four years 612 00:38:31,960 --> 00:38:36,799 Speaker 1: by Adams from Massachusetts. And in that process Hamilton sort 613 00:38:36,800 --> 00:38:41,279 Speaker 1: of ceases to be the brilliant financial revolutionary who had 614 00:38:41,360 --> 00:38:46,640 Speaker 1: unified the country, the extraordinary propagandist who'd written the Federalist papers, 615 00:38:46,680 --> 00:38:49,960 Speaker 1: the efficient staffer who'd helped George Washington win the Revolutionary War, 616 00:38:50,400 --> 00:38:53,480 Speaker 1: and Hamilton just kind of faded for a while. He 617 00:38:53,520 --> 00:38:56,319 Speaker 1: then began to come back after the Civil War, as 618 00:38:56,360 --> 00:38:59,680 Speaker 1: we became a much more unified national country and people 619 00:39:00,000 --> 00:39:03,840 Speaker 1: ought in national terms. I think Hamilton is an immortal. 620 00:39:04,480 --> 00:39:09,560 Speaker 1: I think that what he did in creating the core system, 621 00:39:10,280 --> 00:39:13,799 Speaker 1: funding the debt, creating the framework in which America could 622 00:39:13,800 --> 00:39:18,280 Speaker 1: be accepted by other nations, establishing a national economy, creating 623 00:39:18,280 --> 00:39:21,160 Speaker 1: a Bank of the United States, all of these things 624 00:39:21,200 --> 00:39:25,400 Speaker 1: came together, combined with the sheer genius of the Federalist papers, 625 00:39:26,120 --> 00:39:28,120 Speaker 1: and I think that it's easy to look back and 626 00:39:28,160 --> 00:39:35,520 Speaker 1: forget that there was this relatively small handful of people Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, Madison, 627 00:39:36,040 --> 00:39:40,000 Speaker 1: Hamilton among the key who changed the history of the world. 628 00:39:40,640 --> 00:39:43,000 Speaker 1: They made it possible for us to forget the divine 629 00:39:43,080 --> 00:39:45,319 Speaker 1: right of kings. They made it possible for us to 630 00:39:45,360 --> 00:39:48,040 Speaker 1: come to believe that we are truly all endowed by 631 00:39:48,040 --> 00:39:51,560 Speaker 1: our creator with certain unalienable rights. They made it possible 632 00:39:51,560 --> 00:39:54,320 Speaker 1: for us to imagine that a continent and wide country 633 00:39:54,320 --> 00:39:57,399 Speaker 1: could govern itself, that the people of that country could 634 00:39:57,480 --> 00:40:01,160 Speaker 1: in fact be in a position to have better lives, 635 00:40:01,520 --> 00:40:05,520 Speaker 1: to create a nation, to develop a patriotism that transcended 636 00:40:05,920 --> 00:40:08,280 Speaker 1: any of the normal things which has split us apart. 637 00:40:08,960 --> 00:40:11,040 Speaker 1: And I think as we go through our own Travis 638 00:40:11,120 --> 00:40:14,480 Speaker 1: and we have our own difficulties of figuring out who 639 00:40:14,480 --> 00:40:16,960 Speaker 1: we are and how we're going to operate, it's useful 640 00:40:16,960 --> 00:40:18,960 Speaker 1: to go back and look at these folks and realize 641 00:40:19,360 --> 00:40:22,360 Speaker 1: that every generation has to find some people who have 642 00:40:22,480 --> 00:40:25,840 Speaker 1: that kind of capacity, and that Hamilton is certainly worthy 643 00:40:25,840 --> 00:40:30,480 Speaker 1: of study as somebody who had a remarkable impact or 644 00:40:30,560 --> 00:40:35,440 Speaker 1: not a wedlock, an orphan, self educated and in the end, 645 00:40:35,880 --> 00:40:46,960 Speaker 1: one of the greatest of Americans. Thank you for listening 646 00:40:46,960 --> 00:40:49,759 Speaker 1: to this episode of The Immortals. You can learn more 647 00:40:49,800 --> 00:40:54,520 Speaker 1: about Alexander Hamilton on our show page at newtsworld dot com. 648 00:40:54,719 --> 00:40:58,000 Speaker 1: News World is produced by Gingli Street, Sexty and iHeartMedia. 649 00:40:58,560 --> 00:41:03,240 Speaker 1: Our executive producer is Garnsey Slom, Our producer is Rebecca Howell, 650 00:41:03,440 --> 00:41:07,000 Speaker 1: and our researcher is Rachel Peterson. The artwork for the 651 00:41:07,040 --> 00:41:10,839 Speaker 1: show was created by Steve Penley. Special thanks to the 652 00:41:10,840 --> 00:41:14,480 Speaker 1: team at Gingwish three sixty. If you've been enjoying Newtsworld, 653 00:41:14,600 --> 00:41:17,600 Speaker 1: I hope you'll go to Apple Podcasts and both rate 654 00:41:17,680 --> 00:41:20,799 Speaker 1: us with five stars and give us a review so 655 00:41:20,880 --> 00:41:24,520 Speaker 1: others can learn what it's all about. Right now, listeners 656 00:41:24,520 --> 00:41:27,320 Speaker 1: of newts World can sign up for my three free 657 00:41:27,320 --> 00:41:31,920 Speaker 1: weekly columns at Gingwish three sixty dot com slash newsletter. 658 00:41:32,400 --> 00:41:34,759 Speaker 1: I'm Newt Gingridge. This is Newtsworld