The Riverside Biographical Series
NUMBER 10
ALEXANDER HAMILTON
BY
CHARLES A. CONANT
[Illustration: A Hamilton]
ALEXANDER HAMILTON
BY
CHARLES A. CONANT
BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY
The Riverside Press, Cambridge
1901
COPYRIGHT, 1901, BY CHARLES A. CONANT
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
_Published October, 1901_
ALEXANDER HAMILTON
I
YOUTH AND EARLY SERVICES
The life of Alexander Hamilton is an essential chapter in the story of
the formation of the American Union. Hamilton's work was of that
constructive sort which is vital for laying the foundations of new
states. Whether the Union would have been formed under the
Constitution and would have been consolidated into a powerful nation,
instead of a loose confederation of sovereign states, without the
great services of Hamilton, is one of those problems about which
speculation is futile. It is certain that the conditions of the time
presented a rare opportunity for such a man as Hamilton, and that
without some directing and organizing genius like his, the
consolidation of the Union must have been delayed, and have been
accomplished with much travail.
The difference between the career of Hamilton in America and that of
the two greatest organizing minds of other countries--Cæsar and
Napoleon--marks the difference between Anglo-Saxon political ideals
and capacity for self-government and those of other races. Where the
organization of a strong government degenerated in Rome and France
into absolutism, it tended in America, under the directing genius of
Hamilton, to place in the hands of the people a more powerful
instrument for executing their own will. So powerful a weapon was thus
created that Hamilton himself became alarmed when it was seized by the
hands of Jefferson, Madison, and other democratic leaders as the
instrument of democratic ideas, and those long strides were taken in
the states and under the federal government which wiped out the
distinctions between classes, abolished the relations of church and
state, extended the suffrage, and made the government only the servant
of the popular will.
The development of two principles marked the early history of the
Republic,--one, the growth of sentiment for the Union under the
inspiration of Hamilton and the Federalist party; the other, the
growth of the power of the masses, typified by the leadership of
Jefferson and the Democratic party. These two tendencies, seemingly
hostile in many of their aspects, waxed in strength together until
they became the united and guiding principles of a new political
order,--a nation of giant strength whose power rests upon the will of
all the people. It was the steady progress of these two principles in
the heart of the American people which in "the fullness of time" made
it possible for the Union to be preserved as a union of free men under
a free constitution. To Hamilton, the creator of the machinery of the
Union, and to John Marshall, the great Chief Justice, who interpreted
the Constitution as Hamilton would have had him do, in favor of the
powers of the Union, this result was largely due.
If Cæsar, fighting the battles of Rome on the frontier of Germany,
and kept from party quarrels at home, and Napoleon, born outside of
France and free by his campaign in Egypt from the compromising
intrigues of Parisian politics, were preëminently fitted by these
accidents to transmute the spirit of revolution from chaos into order,
Hamilton stood in somewhat the same position in America. Born in the
little island of Nevis in the West Indies (January 11, 1757), he came
to the United States when his mind was already mature, in spite of his
fifteen years. He came without the local prejudices or state pride
which influenced so many of the Revolutionary leaders, and was
therefore peculiarly qualified to fasten his eyes steadfastly upon the
single end of the creation of a nation rather than the ascendency of
any single state. He was so free from local attachments that he even
hesitated at first on which side he should cast his lot,--whether with
the imperial government of Great Britain, which appealed strongly to
his love of system and organized power, or with the struggling
revolutionists, with their poor and undisciplined army and uncertain
future. The possibility of winning distinction in the service of Great
Britain must have attracted him, but the justice of the colonial cause
spoke more strongly to his sense of right and his well-ordered mind.
The great services of Hamilton were nearly all performed before he was
forty years of age. His precocity was partly derived from his birth in
the tropics and partly, perhaps, from the unfortunate conditions of
his early life. A mystery hangs over his birth and parentage, which
repeated inquiries have failed to clear away. He is believed to have
been the son of James Hamilton, a Scottish merchant of Nevis, and a
lady of French Hugenot descent, the divorced wife of a Dane named
Lavine. But the history of his parents and their marriage is shrouded
in much obscurity. The father, although reduced to poverty, lived
nearly if not quite as long as his illustrious son, but the mother was
reported to have died while Hamilton was only a child, leaving the
memory of her beauty and charm in one of the chambers of his infant
mind. Hamilton sought in his later years to establish regular
communication with his father, and he had a brother in the West Indies
with whom he corresponded; but the fact that all these relatives
remained so much in the background gave some color to the slanders of
his enemies concerning his birth.
To offset the disadvantages of birth, Hamilton had neither the
fascinating manners which go straight to the hearts of men, nor the
imposing personal presence which in the orator often invests trifling
platitudes with sonorous dignity. He was possessed of a light and
well-made frame, and was erect and dignified in bearing, but was much
below the average height. His friends were wont to call him "the
little lion," because of the vigor and dignity of his speech. He had
the advantage of a head finely shaped, large and symmetrical. His
complexion was fair, his cheeks were rosy, and in spite of a rather
large nose his face was considered handsome. His dark, deep-set eyes
were lighted in debate with a fire which controlled great audiences
and cowed his enemies. But it was chiefly the power of pure intellect
which gave him control over the minds of other men. There was nothing
mean or low in his character, but he had not a high opinion of the
average of humanity, and therefore lacked somewhat in that ready
sympathy with the minds of others which is so useful to politicians
and party leaders.
Hamilton was early thrown upon his own resources. His father became a
bankrupt, and he was cared for by his mother's relatives. His
education was aided by the Rev. Hugh Knox, a Presbyterian clergyman,
with whom Hamilton kept up an affectionate correspondence in later
years. The boy was only thirteen years of age when he was placed in
the office of Nicholas Cruger, a West Indian merchant. Here his
self-reliance and methodical habits made him master of the business
and head of the establishment when his employer had occasion to be
away. His remarkable capacity, and his occasional writings for the
daily press, led to a determination by his relatives and friends to
send him to a wider field. He was accordingly supplied with funds and
sent to Boston, where he arrived in October, 1772, still less than
sixteen years of age. He was fortunately provided with some strong
letters of recommendation from Dr. Knox, and was soon at a grammar
school at Elizabethtown, N.J., where he made rapid progress. He
desired to enter Princeton, but his project of going through the
courses as rapidly as he could, without regard to the regular classes,
was in conflict with the rules. He therefore turned to King's College,
New York, now Columbia University, where he was able, with the aid of
a private tutor, to pursue his studies in the manner which he wished.
The decision of Hamilton to take the side of the colonies in the
conflict with England was made early in 1774, partly as the result of
a visit to Boston. Among the well-to-do classes of New York, the
dominant feeling was in favor of Great Britain, and the control of the
Assembly was in the hands of the friends of the Crown. Hamilton found
Boston the hotbed of resistance to England, and listened attentively
to the reasoning by which the "strong prejudices on the ministerial
side," which he himself declares he had formed, gave way to "the
superior force of the arguments in favor of the colonial claims." The
opportunity soon came for him to make public proclamation of his
position. A great meeting was held in the "Fields"[1] (July 6, 1774),
to force the hand of the Tory Assembly in the matter of joining the
other colonies in calling a Congress. Hamilton attended, and after
listening to the speeches was so strongly impressed with what was left
unsaid that he worked his way to the platform and began an impassioned
argument for the colonial side. Below the normal stature and of
slender form, he looked even younger than his seventeen years, but was
recognized by the crowd as a collegian and received with great
enthusiasm.
[Footnote 1: The "Fields" of that day occupied what is now City Hall
Park, then the upper limit of New York. King's College was in the
immediate neighborhood, the name still lingering in College Place.]
Hamilton was soon at the forefront of the fight for civil liberty,
which was carried on by means of pamphlets and newspaper addresses.
His papers, which appeared without signature, showed so much ability
that they were attributed to the most eminent of the patriot leaders.
After the die was cast at Lexington for armed conflict, Hamilton early
in 1776 received the command of a company of artillery. Its thorough
discipline attracted the favorable notice of Greene and other leaders.
Greene introduced Hamilton to Washington, who had early occasion, in
the disastrous battle of Long Island, when Hamilton protected the rear
with great coolness and courage, to measure the mettle of his young
artillery officer.
Washington on March 1, 1777, offered Hamilton the rank of
Lieutenant-Colonel on his staff. In this position Hamilton found
congenial occupation for his pen in the great mass of letters,
reports, and proclamations which issued from headquarters. These
communications, many of which still survive, while bearing the impress
of Washington's clear, directing mind, bear also the mark of the
skill and logic of the younger man. Hamilton rendered valuable service
after the surrender of Burgoyne, in persuading Gates to detach a part
of his forces to aid Washington. On this occasion, although he had in
his pocket a positive order from Washington, he displayed a tact and
diplomatic skill which were unusual in his dealings with men. It fell
to the lot of Hamilton to meet André while a prisoner in the hands of
the Americans, and his letters regarding the affair to Miss Schuyler,
who afterwards became his wife, are among the most interesting
contributions to this pathetic episode of Revolutionary history.
Hamilton's quarrel with Washington, about which much has been written,
came after nearly four years' service over a trivial delay in obeying
a call from the General. Washington rebuked his aide for disrespect,
to which Hamilton hotly retorted, "I am not conscious of it, sir; but
since you have thought it, we part." Washington endeavored to prevent
the execution of his project, but Hamilton would not be reconciled
and returned to service in the line. He led his men with great
impetuosity upon one of the British redoubts at Yorktown, and carried
the position in ten minutes, with much more promptness than the
French, to whom the other redoubt had been assigned.
While the war was still in progress Hamilton was looking ahead with
the constructive genius which afterwards found such wide opportunities
in the cabinet of Washington. He addressed a letter in 1780 to Duane,
a member of Congress, in which he made a remarkable analysis of the
defects of the Articles of Confederation, urged that Congress should
be clothed with complete sovereignty, and made suggestions regarding
its powers which were afterwards embodied to a large extent in the
Constitution. He addressed an anonymous letter to Robert Morris early
in the same year, treating of the financial affairs of the
confederacy. He discussed carefully the paper currency and the causes
of its depreciation, and proposed to restore soundness to the finances
by gradual contraction of the volume of paper, a tax in kind, and a
foreign loan, which was to form the basis of a national bank. When the
clumsiness and helplessness of the system of government by committees
was finally appreciated by the Continental Congress in 1781, and
several executive departments were established, Hamilton was suggested
by John Sullivan to Washington for head of the Treasury Department.
Washington replied that "few of his age have a more general knowledge,
and no one is more firmly engaged in the cause, or exceeds him in
probity and sterling virtue." Robert Morris was chosen for the
Treasury, but Hamilton opened a correspondence with him regarding the
work of the department, which established a firm friendship between
the older and younger man.
Hamilton desired the unification of the debt and the creation of a
national bank, for the combined objects of cementing the Union and
putting the finances of the country upon a stable basis. "A national
debt," he wrote, "if it is not excessive, will be a national
blessing, a powerful cement of union, a necessity for keeping up
taxation, and a spur to industry." Whether all these benefits fall
within the economic effects of a debt may well be doubted, but the
second advantage assigned was undoubtedly one of the chief motives of
Hamilton in recommending its creation. The Bank of North America was
established by Morris upon a much more modest scale than was proposed
by Hamilton. The younger man, looking to the future needs of the
country and to the example of European banks, recommended an
institution with a capital of ten or fifteen millions, with authority
to establish branches, and with the sole right to issue paper currency
equal to the amount of its capital. He contemplated a close relation
between the bank and the government, and the taking up, under contract
with the United States, of all the paper issues of the Continental
Congress.
Hamilton made a connection while still under twenty-four which fixed
his status as a citizen of New York, and proved of value to him in
many ways. While on his mission to Gates at Albany, he met Miss
Elizabeth Schuyler, daughter of General Philip Schuyler, one of the
social as well as political leaders of the best element in New York.
The acquaintance with Miss Schuyler was renewed in the spring of 1780
and ripened into an engagement, followed by their marriage on December
14 of that year. With the conclusion of the war, Hamilton was left
with nothing but his title to arrears of pay in the army, and with a
wife and child to support. He refused generous offers of assistance
from his father-in-law, applied himself for four months to the study
of the law, and in the summer of 1782 was admitted to the bar at
Albany. While waiting for clients he continued his studies on
financial and political questions and his vigorous arguments through
the public prints for a strong federal union. He declined several
offers of public place, but finally accepted an appointment from
Robert Morris (June, 1782) as continental receiver of taxes for New
York. This afforded him an opportunity of meeting the New York
legislature, which had been summoned in extra session at Poughkeepsie,
in July, to receive a report from a committee of Congress.
Congress in May, 1782, had taken into consideration the desperate
condition of the finances of the country, and divided among four of
its members the duty of explaining the common danger of the states. It
was at the request of the delegation which went north that Governor
Clinton called an extra session, and a communication was submitted on
the necessity of providing for a vigorous prosecution of the war.
Hamilton went to Poughkeepsie to aid his father-in-law, General
Schuyler, and it was upon the motion of the latter that the Senate
resolved itself into a committee of the whole on the state of the
nation. Two days of deliberation were sufficient to produce a series
of resolutions, probably drafted by Hamilton, which were unanimously
adopted by the Senate and concurred in by the House.
These resolutions set forth that recent experience afforded "the
strongest reason to apprehend from a continuance of the present
constitution of the continental government a subversion of public
credit" and danger to the safety and independence of the states.
Turning to practical remedies, it was pointed out that the source of
the public embarrassments was the want of sufficient power in
Congress, particularly the power of providing a revenue. The
legislature of New York, therefore, invited Congress "to recommend and
each state to adopt the measure of assembling a general convention of
the states especially authorized to revise and amend the
confederation, reserving a right to the respective legislatures to
ratify their determinations." These resolutions the government was
requested to transmit to Congress and to the executives of the other
states. Hamilton appeared before the legislature and discussed the
subject of revenue, and one of the results of his manifest interest in
the subject and his knowledge of finance was his selection by the
legislature as one of the members of Congress from New York.
The impress of the organizing mind and far-sighted purposes of
Hamilton was felt during his brief service in Congress. He took his
seat from New York in November, 1782, and resigned in August, 1783. He
cast his influence from the beginning in favor of a strong executive
organization, and did his best to strengthen the heads of the recently
created departments of finance and foreign affairs. He was of great
service to Robert Morris, and almost carried the project of a general
duty on importations, which was finally defeated by the obstinacy of
Rhode Island. Such a measure, if carried out, would have afforded the
central government a permanent revenue. It would have greatly
mitigated the evils of the time, but would perhaps by that very fact
have postponed the more complete union of the states which was to come
under the Constitution of 1789. This was only one of the many projects
germinating in the fertile mind of Hamilton. In a letter to Washington
(March 17, 1783) he wrote:--
"We have made considerable progress in a plan to be recommended to
the several states for funding all the public debts, including those
of the army, which is certainly the only way to restore public credit
and enable us to continue the war by borrowing abroad, if it should be
necessary to continue it."
That it might be necessary to continue the war Hamilton seriously
feared, in spite of the fact that the provisional treaty of peace with
Great Britain was then before Congress. A grave question had arisen
whether faith had been kept with France in the negotiation of this
treaty. Congress had resolved unanimously (October 4, 1782) that "they
will not enter into any discussion of overtures of pacification but in
_confidence_ and in _concert_ with His Most Christian Majesty," the
King of France. Adams and Jay, against the advice of Franklin,
negotiated secretly with Great Britain, and only the moderation of
Vergennes, French Minister of Foreign Affairs, prevented serious
friction between the allies.
Hamilton, though far from being a partisan of France, believed in
acting towards her with the most scrupulous good faith. He advocated a
middle course between subserviency to Great Britain and implicit
confidence in the disinterestedness of France. He declared (March 18,
1783), when the peace preliminaries were considered, that it was "not
improbable that it had been the policy of France to procrastinate the
definite acknowledgment of our independence on the part of Great
Britain, in order to keep us more knit to herself, and until her own
interests could be negotiated." Notwithstanding this caution regarding
French purposes, he "disapproved highly of the conduct of our
ministers in not showing the preliminary articles to our ally before
they signed them, and still more so of their agreeing to the separate
article." His own view was expressed in some resolutions which he
offered, and which Congress adopted (May 2, 1783), asking a further
loan from the French King, "and that His Majesty might be informed
that Congress will consider his compliance in this instance as a new
and valuable proof of his friendship, peculiarly interesting in the
present conjuncture of the affairs of the United States."
II
THE FIGHT FOR THE CONSTITUTION
Hamilton was not a conspicuous national figure during the four years
which elapsed between the termination of his term in Congress and his
appearance in the Federal Convention of 1787. He was working none the
less earnestly and persistently, however, in favor of a stronger
union. Movements towards this union took form almost simultaneously in
different parts of the country under the impulse of a common need. The
wise and thoughtful words of Washington, in his circular letter to the
governor of each state on surrendering the command of the army (June
8, 1783), sank into many hearts, and did much to soften local
prejudices against giving more power to the central government. The
State of Virginia in December, 1783, ceded her northwestern territory
to Congress, and granted a general impost. Significance was given to
the act by the policy of the governor in communicating it to the
executive authority of the other states, with the suggestion that they
do likewise.
Jefferson was as cordial a supporter as Madison at that time of the
project of a federal union. As a member of Congress, he prepared a
plan for intercourse with the powers of Europe and the Barbary States,
in which he described "the United States as one nation upon the
principles of the federal constitution." Only two states--Rhode Island
and Connecticut--voted to substitute weaker words in describing the
union. It was voted by eight states to two (March 26, 1784) that in
treaties and in all cases arising under them, the United States formed
"one nation." The need for uniform rules for the regulation of
commerce on the Potomac and the creation of roads and canals led to a
number of conferences during the next two years between Virginia and
Maryland, in one of which Washington played the part of referee. The
legislature of Maryland finally took a step which shot a bright ray
of light through the darkness surrounding the prospects of a permanent
union. In a letter to the legislature of Virginia (December, 1785), it
proposed that commissioners from all the states should be invited to
meet and regulate the restrictions on commerce for the whole. Madison
in Virginia gave cordial welcome to the invitation. He had already
gone beyond the sentiment of his state in his zeal for union, but at
his instigation a meeting of delegates from the states was called by
Virginia at Annapolis, Md., for September, 1786.
Hamilton snatched at the opportunity which this invitation presented.
Several of his friends were elected to the legislature of New York,
and made the appointment of delegates to Annapolis their paramount
object. In spite of much hostility, they succeeded in wresting
authority from the legislature for a commission of five. Hamilton and
Benson were the only two of these delegates who appeared at Annapolis.
They found only four other states represented there. It was
determined that the best that could be done by the little gathering
was to urge upon the states a general convention, to meet at
Philadelphia on the second Monday of the next May, "to consider the
situation of the United States, and devise such further provisions as
should appear necessary to render the constitution of the federal
government adequate to the exigencies of the Union." Hamilton was not
a member of the committee appointed to prepare the report, but it was
his draft which, with some modifications to meet the sensibilities of
the Virginians, was accepted and adopted.
A path was now blazed in which those who favored a stronger union
could walk in harmony. Hamilton returned to New York with the
intention of exerting his whole strength in behalf of the convention.
He secured an election to the legislature, and at once took the lead
of the members opposed to the separatist policy of Governor Clinton.
He assailed the governor on the question of granting an impost to
Congress in a practicable form, but was beaten by the solid vote of
the party in power. He succeeded better with his resolution for the
appointment of five delegates to the convention at Philadelphia. The
Senate cut down the number to three, and two of them--Chief Justice
Robert Yates and John Lansing, Jr.--were resolute supporters of the
governor; but Hamilton carried the vital point that New York should be
represented in the Federal Convention, and he was himself one of the
delegates. It was not until late in February, 1787, that this action
was taken,--little more than three months before the meeting of the
convention,--and it was a few days later when formal approval was
given to the project by the Federal Congress.
Hamilton, although one of the three delegates from New York to the
convention, was embarrassed throughout the proceedings by the open
hostility of his associates to any vigorous steps towards a strong
union. He had definite ideas and strong feelings, however, and could
not restrain himself from setting forth his views of what the new
government should be. When Dickinson proposed that the convention
should seek union through a revision of the old Articles of
Confederation, Hamilton took the floor (June 18, 1787) to show how
inadequate such a measure would be, and to set forth his own long
matured views. He spoke for six hours, reviewing the history of the
colonies before the Revolution, during its progress, and afterwards,
the steps which had been taken towards union, and the imperative
necessity which had been disclosed for a government possessing
complete powers within its fields of action. He urged that the
convention "adopt a solid plan without regard to temporary opinions."
He laid bare unsparingly the defects of the confederacy, and insisted
that the Articles of Confederation could not be amended with benefit
except in the most radical manner. He opposed strongly the creation of
a general government through a single body like Congress, because it
would be without checks. He continued:--
"The general government must not only have a strong soul, but strong
organs by which that soul is to operate. I despair that a republican
form of government can remove the difficulties; I would hold it,
however, unwise to change it. The best form of government, not
attainable by us, but the model to which we should approach as near as
possible, is the British constitution, praised by Necker as 'the only
government which unites public strength with individual security.' Its
house of lords is a most noble institution. It forms a permanent
barrier against every pernicious innovation, whether attempted on the
part of the crown or of the commons."
Hamilton made little concealment of his belief that the new government
should not be exclusively republican. He said on June 26, 1787:--
"I acknowledge I do not think favorably of republican government; but
I address my remarks to those who do, in order to prevail on them to
tone their government as high as possible. I profess myself as zealous
an advocate for liberty as any man whatever; and trust I shall be as
willing a martyr to it, though I differ as to the form in which it is
most eligible. Real liberty is neither found in despotism nor in the
extremes of democracy, but in moderate governments. Those who mean to
form a solid republic ought to proceed to the confines of another
government. If we incline too much to democracy, we shall soon shoot
into a monarchy."
In pursuance of these views, Hamilton urged that all branches of the
new government should originate in the action of the people rather
than of the states. In this respect he came closer to democracy than
some of his opponents, but he proposed to give strength and permanence
to the government by providing that the Senators and the executive
should hold office during good behavior. He contended that by making
the chief executive subject to impeachment, the term monarchy would
not be applicable to his office. Another step differing radically from
the Constitution as adopted, and showing the unswerving purpose of
Hamilton to give supremacy to the central government, was the proposal
that the executive of each state should be appointed by the general
government and have a negative on all state legislation.
Hamilton had no expectation that his plan would be adopted. What he
sought was to key the temper of the delegates up to a pitch which
would bring them as nearly to his ideal of what the new government
should be as was possible under the circumstances of the times. His
long speech was attentively listened to, and even Yates reported that
it "was praised by everybody, but supported by none." Notwithstanding
these criticisms, the Constitution, as it was finally adopted,
embodied many of the features of the project which was outlined by
Hamilton. A legislative body of two houses, the choice of the
executive by electors, a veto for the executive over legislative acts,
the grant of the treaty-making power to the executive and the Senate,
the confirmation of appointments by the Senate, the creation of a
federal judiciary, and the provision that state laws in conflict with
the Constitution should be void; these and many other features of the
existing Constitution were parts of the plan of Hamilton.
It was not the open preference which Hamilton expressed for the
British form of government which caused distrust of his plan. This was
neither startling nor offensive to the great majority of those who
heard him. Representative government under a republican head had not
then been tried upon a large scale in any part of the world. Such
small republics as existed in ancient times and in Italy had been
confined within narrow areas, and had in many cases presented examples
of factional strife which were far from encouraging to the friends of
liberty. The Americans, in revolting against Great Britain, revolted
only against what they considered the false interpretation given by
King George to the guarantees of the English constitution, wrested by
their ancestors from King John and his successors and consecrated by
the Revolution of 1688. It was far from the thoughts of the most
extreme, with perhaps an occasional personal exception, to cut loose
from the traditions of English liberty, tear down the ancient
structure, and build from the ground up, as was done a few years
later in France by the maddened victims of the oppression of the
nobles.
The sentiment most strongly opposed to the views of Hamilton was not
democratic sentiment, in the strictest sense of the word, but devotion
to local self-government. Hamilton was democratic enough to insist, in
the discussion of the manner of choosing members of the House of
Representatives, "It is essential to the democratic rights of the
community that the first branch be directly elected by the people."
What he desired was strength at the centre of authority, from whatever
source that authority was derived. Coming from a little West Indian
island where the traditions of parliamentary government had little
footing, he attached no such importance as most of his associates to
the reserved rights of the states. He was the man for the hour as the
champion of a strong government, but it would not have been fortunate
in some respects if his views had been adopted in their extreme form.
There never was the slightest chance, as he doubtless knew, that they
would be adopted by the descendants of English freemen who had founded
self-governing states in accord with their own principles on the
western shores of the Atlantic.
Having delivered a single strong speech, which pointed the way towards
a strong union, Hamilton remained comparatively in the background
during the remainder of the convention. It was inevitable, however,
that he should make himself heard upon the proposal that the new
government should have power "to emit bills on the credit of the
United States." The power to issue unfunded paper had received his
censure four years before, as one of the defects of the existing
Articles of Confederation. He now opposed in the most emphatic manner
the grant of authority to the new government to issue paper money in
the form of its own notes, and to force them into circulation as a
substitute for gold and silver coin. When Gouverneur Morris moved to
strike out the power to issue bills on the credit of the United States
and was supported by Madison, it was supposed that, if the motion
prevailed, the power to issue government paper money and make it a
legal tender for debts was guarded against for all time. The power was
stricken out of the Constitution by a vote of nine states against two.
Madison decided the vote of Virginia, and declared that "the pretext
for a paper currency, and particularly for making the bills a tender,
either for public or private debts, was cut off." It is not surprising
that Mr. Bancroft, the jealous friend of the Constitution, in spite of
the opening of the door at a later period by the Supreme Court of the
United States, declared:
"This is the interpretation of the clause, made at the time of its
adoption alike by its authors and by its opponents, accepted by all
the statesmen of that age, not open to dispute because too clear for
argument, and never disputed so long as any one man who took part in
framing the Constitution remained alive."
Hamilton spoke on a few other occasions on subsidiary points connected
with the draft of the Constitution, but it was only at the close of
the convention that he again came resolutely to the front to exert a
strong influence over his associates. When the final draft of the new
frame of government had been completed, several delegates showed
symptoms of refusing to affix their signatures. The great weight of
Franklin was thrown into the scale to urge that the delegates go back
to the people presenting the semblance of harmony instead of
divisions. "I consent to this Constitution," he declared, "because I
expect no better, and because I am not sure that it is not the best."
Washington sought also to secure unanimity, and Hamilton declared:--
"I am anxious that every member should sign. A few by refusing may do
infinite mischief. No man's ideas are more remote from the plan than
my own are known to be; but is it possible to deliberate between
anarchy and convulsion on the one side, and the chance of good to be
expected from the plan on the other?"
Such words had some weight, but not enough to secure unanimity. All
the states voted for the Constitution, but several delegates went on
record against it, and Hamilton's two associates from New York were
absent. It was this alone which saved New York from being recorded
against the Constitution. Hamilton did not shrink from putting down
his signature as the representative of his state. It was he who, in a
bold, plain hand, inscribed on the great sheet of parchment the name
of each state, as the delegations came forward, one after another, in
geographical order and affixed their signatures to the precious
document which was to found the government of the United States.
Hamilton returned to New York determined to use his utmost powers to
secure the ratification of the Constitution as the best attainable
means of averting the dangers of disunion. Although cordially
supported by John Jay and Edward Livingston, Hamilton, in the fight
for ratification in New York, was the natural leader. He found arrayed
against him the whole influence of Governor Clinton and the dominant
party in New York politics. Clinton was not absolutely opposed to
union, but he attached to it so many reservations that for practical
purposes he was an opponent of the new Constitution. The battle over
ratification began on the question of the choice of delegates to the
state convention. It was in this field that Hamilton fought the great
fight with his pen which has left to posterity the fine exposition of
the Constitution known as "The Federalist." A society was formed in
the city of New York to resist the adoption of the Constitution, and
articles soon began to appear in the local press criticising and
opposing it.
Preparing a vigorous letter, while gliding down the Hudson, in reply
to some of the first points of the opposition, Hamilton soon extended
the project into a series of strong papers, which appeared twice a
week for twenty weeks over the signature of "Publius." He secured the
aid of Madison and Jay, who wrote some of the papers, but the project
was Hamilton's, the majority of the papers were written by him, and
to him has been justly given the credit of the well-knit and powerful
arguments afterwards printed under the title of "The Federalist."
Taking up point by point the provisions of the new Constitution,
Hamilton, by skillful argument, drawn from the closest abstract
reasoning, the recent experience of the states, and the history of
foreign countries, sought to show that the new Constitution was based
upon sound principles of government, that it was well calculated to
carry out these principles, and that its acceptance was practically
the only course open to the American people to insure for themselves
the benefits of liberty, prosperity, and peace. "The Federalist,"
although a purely political argument, has survived the occasion which
called it forth, as one of the master documents of political writing.
That it has a distinct place in literature is admitted by so severe a
critic as Professor Barrett Wendell in his recent "Literary History of
America." It is worth while quoting his acute literary judgment of its
merits:--
"As a series of formal essays, the 'Federalist' groups itself roughly
with the 'Tatler,' the 'Spectator,' and those numerous descendants of
theirs which fill the literary records of eighteenth century England.
It differs, however, from all these, in both substance and purpose.
The 'Tatler,' the 'Spectator,' and their successors dealt with
superficial matters in a spirit of literary amenity: the 'Federalist'
deals in an argumentative spirit as earnest as that of any Puritan
divine with political principles paramount in our history; and it is
so wisely thoughtful that one may almost declare it the permanent
basis of sound thinking concerning American constitutional law. Like
all the educated writing of the eighteenth century, too, it is phrased
with a rhythmical balance and urbane polish which give it claim to
literary distinction."
While the written arguments of Hamilton in "The Federalist" have
survived for a hundred years and been consulted by foreign students in
the formation of new constitutions, a more severe task was imposed
upon him at the meeting of the state convention called to consider the
report of the convention at Philadelphia. It was in some respects the
hardest task ever set with any hope of success before a parliamentary
leader. Indeed, to the superficial observer there would have seemed to
be no hope of success, when in the elections to the state convention
the supporters of Governor Clinton chose forty-six delegates and left
on the side of Hamilton only nineteen of the sixty-five members. But
this statement of the case gives a somewhat darker color to the
situation than the real facts. There was a strong and growing body of
public sentiment for the Constitution in New York city and the
counties along the Hudson, which even led to the suggestion that they
should join the Union in any event and leave the northern counties to
shift for themselves. It was generally recognized, moreover, that
however strong the objections were to the Constitution, the choice lay
practically between this Constitution and none,--between the proposed
government and anarchy.
So strong was the sentiment that the Constitution must be accepted in
some form, that its opponents in the state convention did not venture
upon immediate rejection. Fortunately, their course in fighting for
delay only tended to make it clearer that New York would stand alone
if she failed to ratify. While the dream of independent sovereignty,
or the leadership in a federation which should dictate terms to the
surrounding states, was not without its attractions to the more
ambitious of the opposition leaders, there was a darker side to the
proposition which was much less attractive. Independence for New York
meant a heavy burden of taxation for a separate army and navy, for
guarding long frontiers on the east, north, and south, for supporting
an extensive customs service along the same frontiers, for maintaining
ministers at foreign courts and consuls in the leading cities of the
world, and for meeting all the other expenses of a sovereign nation.
It was fortunate for the state and the country that the leader of the
opposition to the Constitution in the New York convention was a man of
a high order of ability, whose mind was open in an unusual degree to
the influence of logical reasoning. This man was Melancthon Smith, who
is accorded by Chancellor Kent, the great authority on American law,
the credit of being noted "for his love of reading, tenacious memory,
powerful intellect, and for the metaphysical and logical discussions
of which he was a master." It is as much to his credit as that of
Hamilton that he finally admitted that he had been convinced by
Hamilton, and that he should vote for the Constitution. This result
was only reached, however, after a long and sometimes acrimonious
struggle, in which Hamilton was on his feet day after day explaining
and defending each separate clause of the Constitution,--not only in
its real meaning, but against all the distorted constructions put upon
it by the most acute and jealous of critics.
But events had been fighting with Hamilton. State after state had
ratified the new document, and news of their action had reached New
York. Nine states, the number necessary to put the Constitution in
force, were made up by the ratification of New Hampshire (June 21,
1788). Still New York hesitated, and Hamilton wrote to Madison: "Our
chance of success depends upon you. Symptoms of relaxation in some of
the leaders authorize a gleam of hope if you do well, but certainly I
think not otherwise." Virginia justified his hopes by a majority of 89
against 79 for ratification (June 25, 1788). The news reached New York
on July 3. The opposition there, though showing signs of relenting,
was still stubborn. Conditional ratification, with a long string of
amendments, was first proposed. Jay firmly insisted that the word
"conditional" must be erased. Finally, on July 11, he proposed
unconditional ratification. Melancthon Smith then proposed
ratification with the right to withdraw if the amendments should not
be accepted. Hamilton exposed the folly of such a project in a
brilliant speech, which led Smith to admit that conditional
ratification was an absurdity. Other similar proposals were brought
forward, but they were evidently equivalent to rejection by
indirection, which would have left New York out of the new Union.
Finally, Samuel Jones, another broad-minded member of the opposition,
proposed ratification without conditions, but "in full confidence"
that Congress would adopt all needed amendments. With the support of
Smith, this form of ratification was carried by the slender majority
of three votes (July 26, 1788). By this narrow margin it was decided
that New York should form a part of the Union, and that the great
experiment in representative government should not begin with the two
halves of the country separated by a hostile power, commanding the
greatest seaport of the colonies.
Hamilton thus played an important part in winning the first great
battle for the Constitution. Ratification was only one of many steps
which remained to be taken before the new government was in working
order. Hamilton hurried back to the Federal Congress, and carried an
ordinance fixing the dates and the place for putting the new
government in operation. When he returned to New York, he was beaten
for reëlection to Congress, and Governor Clinton and his party
retained such a firm grip upon the legislature that a deadlock
occurred between the Federalist House and the opposition Senate. New
York was unrepresented in the first electoral college, and had no
senators at the meeting of the First Congress. The state elections
which followed resulted in defeat for the Federalists in the election
of the governor, but they carried the legislature and elected two
senators,--General Schuyler and Rufus King. King had recently come
from Massachusetts, and Hamilton's insistence that he should be chosen
caused a breach with the Livingstons, which contributed to the defeat
of Schuyler two years later and the election of Aaron Burr. Hamilton's
course in this matter was one of many cases in which he showed that
he was not an astute politician, nor an adept at dealing with men. His
highest qualities were those more distinctly intellectual, which led
him to drive straight towards a desired object, with little patience
for smaller men or the obstacles which stood in his way.
III
ESTABLISHING THE PUBLIC CREDIT
The great work of Hamilton, which was to stamp his name forever upon
American history and our frame of government, was yet before him.
Washington was inaugurated in April, 1789, but it was not until
September 2 that an act passed Congress establishing the Treasury
Department. Hamilton was the selection of Washington for the new post.
It was a selection so well approved by all who were familiar with
Hamilton's great abilities as an organizer and financier that the
nomination was confirmed on the day that it reached the Senate. The
studies of many years, the programme which had been outlined in
letters to Morris and in the newspapers, were now to bear fruit under
the directing genius of Hamilton. Only ten days passed after his
appointment before Congress requested him to prepare a report upon
the public credit. Then came calls for reports on the collection and
management of the revenue; estimates of receipts and expenditures; the
regulation of the currency; the navigation laws; the post-office, and
the public lands. Money had to be found at once for the pressing needs
of the new government before the more elaborate projects of the young
minister of finance could be put in operation. But Hamilton did not
delay long even for the more important and permanent work. When
Congress met in January, he submitted his celebrated report "On Public
Credit," which laid the corner-stone of American finance under the
Constitution.