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George Washington's Debt Crisis

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Recommended: Introduction to us national debt

$19.3 trillion dollars, this is the amount of the United States’ national debt, but the overall figure is approximately $66 trillion dollars. Indeed, the next President has an abundance of problems to solve, but solving them requires money. Considering this, our Nation’s debt is the biggest issue our next president will have to resolve. So, how did we get so far into debt? Most people would start small, but not the United States of America. Our debt first surfaced during the Revolutionary War in 1776 when George Washington borrowed $75 million dollars to pay for the war and Its casualties(SPCR 2011). Even though it was promptly compensated for, this action started a trend of borrowing to govern. George Washington took the easy way out by printing more money and borrowing from himself. The government hadn’t yet begun to tax, so progress in paying back the money was slowed. So, more money was printed. This action wasn’t a concern until wars began to pile up. The consequence was that the U.S. began to accrue debt. Some blame George Washington for today’s debt crisis, some say it’s Alexander Hamilton’s fault, and some even blame President Obama; but, there isn’t one specific person to blame for our current debt crisis. …show more content…

Like an investment, the government puts money into society, hoping to get a more substantial amount of money back. But with unemployment low the government is investing money into society and the investments are not paying off. The unemployed (7.8 million people) can’t or won’t pay and middle class doesn’t make an effective salary. If a significant amount of people are not working that means the government is missing out on vital income tax. And the middle class alone can’t fight off the $19.3 trillion dollars of debt. Rich people, play a prime role in the crisis with the fact that they get taxed the least, but if their taxes were to increase it would make a make the most

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Due to their recent war with the French, Britain and its colonies were in debt. Britain turned to the colonies as a source of revenue to pay back money, and Parliament passed acts placing taxes and tariffs on the colonies and American trade. Following the revolution, the United States was in debt to France, who helped them fight Britain during the war and supplied money, troops, and supplies. Some Americans demanded paper currency and equal distribution of property (Doc. G). Although the manufacturing industry was growing in America, it was growing very slowly.

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The topic of the night was the national debt crisis. Alexander Hamilton, a strong supporter of federal assumption, and James Madison, a loyal Virginian, were among the guests of this carefully calculated soiree. Personal motivations of wealth and power guided their conversations. Hamilton’s economic plan was devised to benefit the urban elite, who were, in his mind, the keystone of American economics. States like Virginia that had managed to pay off large amounts of their debt, now risked being charged more in new taxes under Hamilton’s plan.

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All through his book Gordon explains how the debt has influenced and shaped the history of America economy. Hamilton wanted to reshape the American economy, thus he proposed the virtues of the national debt claiming that when it is limited it may be a national blessing. While providing the audience with a history of the American debt, Gordon aims at proving Hamilton 's beliefs. Indeed, the author wants to show that if the debt is used wisely, it may turn out to be a useful political and economic instrument. To support the assertion that the budget deficit is not necessarily evil, he includes different events of the American history.

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Dear Friends George Washington was leader in charge of the Continental Army throughout the American Revolutionary conflict. Washington had experienced the direct effects of increasing taxes compulsory on American immigrants by the British, as well as came to consider that it was in the superlative interests of the immigrants to declare self-government from England. Also, Washington provided, as a delegate, to the initial Continental Congress in the year 1774 in Philadelphia. With the instance the Second Continental Congress organized a year afterwards, the American Revolution had start in earnest, as well as Washington was named leader in head of the Continental military Washington confirmed to be a better universal than armed strategist. His

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Since there was debt because of the war, the economy was already very bad in Britain – therefore they taxed the colonies. When the colonies started boycotting British products and threatened to stop trading with them all together, it was successful because Britain’s economy wasn’t strong enough to handle those things. The merchants in Britain couldn’t afford to have trade with America end. If the British merchants were hurt, this would thus hurt The economy as a whole in Britain. In later decades, in the War of 1812, America would try to stop trade with Britain again using a method called embargo, which would not be effective because they did not have the debt that the War had caused.

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He successfully argued for the assumption of state debts by the federal government and the establishment of the first national bank – a private, but partially government-owned institution. He firmly established the principles of financial trading. Due to his efforts, the creditworthiness of the United States was restored. Hamilton’s accomplishments as Treasury Secretary were not achieved without a struggle. His congressional opponents tried to exhaust him by demanding detailed reports on the workings of the treasury department with incredibly short delivery dates.

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Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of Treasury of the United States, had a lot going for himself being a man that came from poverty to success, and he was a man “all powerful and fails at nothing which he attempts” admitted a congressman in 1791 (Tindall and Shi). Born in the Caribbean in the West Indies, abandoned by his father and orphaned at the age of 13 by his late mother who had died. Later moved to New York, became a lawyer and transitioned to nationalism thus giving him the important role of handling the weight of the debt America had accumulated $54 million deep after the Revolutionary War (Digital History). Hamilton saw the need for some financial credit to be given to America and he had the right idea by proposing a National Bank to his first president George Washington. Word dispersed of that proposal leading a

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There was approximately $12 million in foreign debt, $44 million owed to the various Colonies by the Second Congress, and roughly $25 million in state debts (Economic state, 2015, para. 3). There was no mechanism in place to help the individual states pay off their debts. Other aftermaths included losing protection of British ships as the Americans attempted to resume world trade, and an unwillingness on the part of the British to let Americans trade anywhere in their still formidable trade empire. All of this coupled with a rapid decline in demand of wartime products led to widespread inflation and unemployment in the early years of the

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