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Alexander Hamilton

b: Nevis, Caribbean, Jan 11, 1757

d: New York City, New York, USA, Jul 12, 1804

Alexander Hamilton was the first United States Secretary of the Treasury, a Founding Father, economist, and political philosopher. Aide-de-camp to General George Washington during the American Revolutionary War, he was a leader of American nationalists calling for a new Constitution; he was one of America's first constitutional lawyers, and wrote most of the Federalist Papers, a primary source for Constitutional interpretation. Hamilton was the primary author of the economic policies of the George Washington Administration, especially the funding of the state debts by the Federal government, the establishment of a national bank, a system of tariffs, and friendly trade relations with Britain. He created and dominated the Federalist Party, and was opposed by Thomas Jefferson and his Democratic-Republican Party. Jefferson denounced Hamilton as too loose with the Constitution, too favorable to monarchy and particularly to Britain, and too partial to the moneyed interests of the cities at home, but Hamilton's policies were generally enacted. A believer in a militarily strong national government, Hamilton helped defeat the tax revolt of western farmers in 1794, and built a new army to oppose France in the Quasi War of 1798, but Federalist President John Adams found a diplomatic solution that avoided war. Hamilton opposed Adams, as well as the opposition candidates Jefferson and Aaron Burr, in the election of 1800; he supported Jefferson over Burr when the House of Representatives had to choose in an electoral tie between them. In 1804, tensions with Burr escalated to a duel, in which Hamilton was killed.

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"No government could give us tranquility and happiness at home, which did not possess sufficient stability and strength to make us respectable abroad."

...if circumstances should at any time oblige the government to form an army of any magnitude, that army can never be formidable to the liberties of the people, while there is a large body of citizens little if at all inferior to them in discipline and the use of arms, who stand ready to defend their own rights and those of their fellow citizens.

A nation which can prefer disgrace to danger is prepared for a master, and deserves one.

A national debt, if it is not excessive, will be to us a national blessing.

A promise must never be broken.

Be bold in what you stand for and careful what you fall for.

Constitutions should consist only of general provisions; the reason is that they must necessarily be permanent, and that they cannot calculate for the possible change of things.

Even to observe neutrality you must have a strong government.

Here, sir, the people govern; here they act by their immediate representatives.

I never expect to see a perfect work from imperfect men.

I think the first duty of society is justice.

I would never join any club that would have the likes of me as a member.

In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men the great difficulty lies in this: You must first enable the government to control the governed, and in the next place, oblige it to control itself.

In the general course of human nature, A power over a man's subsistence amounts to a power over his will.

In the usual progress of things, the necessities of a nation in every stage of its existence will be found at least equal to its resources.

Inequality will exist as long as liberty exists. It unavoidably results from that very liberty itself.

It will be of little avail to the people that the laws are made by men of their own choice if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood.

Learn to think continentally.

Man is a reasoning rather than a reasonable animal.

Men often oppose a thing merely because they have had no agency in planning it, or because it may have been planned by those whom they dislike.

Power over a man's subsistence is power over his will.

Real firmness is good for anything; strut is good for nothing.

Such a wife as I want... must be young, handsome I lay most stress upon a good shape, sensible a little learning will do, well-bread, chaste, and tender. As to religion, a moderate stock will satisfy me. She must believe in God and hate a saint.

Supposing you have tried and failed again and again. You may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing that we call " failure" is not the falling down, but the staying down.

The best we can hope for concerning the people at large is that they be properly armed.

Those who stand for nothing fall for anything.

We must make the best of those ills which cannot be avoided.

We need to look at multiple lives to test and shape our own.

When men exercise their reason coolly and freely on a variety of distinct questions, they inevitably fall into different opinions on some of them. When they are governed by a common passion, their opinions, if they are to be called, will be the same.

Your people, sir, is nothing but a great beast.