Hamilton Vs Thomas Jefferson Analysis

At the end of the American Revolution, two political philosophies had a large influence on American politics. Some of the nation’s founders had different ideas of how the Constitution was to be acted upon. Two men named Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson had very different, but definite visions of what American society should become. Hamilton’s main point was having a strong central government, while Jefferson thought that the future of America shouldn't rely on industries, but instead should be centered around agriculture. Over time these two ideas of government grew further apart and eventually led to the formation of America's first political parties, that would later earn the labels of the “Federalists” and “Republicans”. Even though

They had different beliefs about who should govern, the structure of the government, and economics. Jefferson thought a lot of farmers, even saying that “Those who till the soil are God’s finest creation…” . He thought that a person should be able to make and provide for themselves and their families. He also wanted to restrict the federal government power and lower voting qualifications so everyone could vote. Hamilton on the other hand, believed that the common people, or farmers, were foolish. He believed that the rich and educated should be the ones that rule. Because of these thoughts he wanted to raise voting qualifications to make sure that only the well-to-do could make the decisions. To Jefferson agriculture should be the backbone of the nation and trade and manufacturing did not deserve government aid. Like every other idea of Jefferson's, Hamiltons were the opposite. Hamilton wanted a balance of agriculture, trade, and manufacturing. For the structure, Jefferson thought that there should be a strong state government, while Hamilton wanted a strong central government. Also, Hamilton thought that the American government should be like the British government, but Jefferson preferred more of a democratic government. Hamilton wanted to establish a national bank like that in England too. Jefferson opposed these reforms, fearing that the bank represented too much English influence, and he

The Federalist Party had vanished by 1816, but Jefferson’s Democratic-Republican Party prevailed and continues to exist today. Different parties have tried to form but they never held out. By the 1860s two major parties had evolved into from Jefferson’s party. They were the Democrats and the Republicans. Early Republicans and Democrats ideas differ from the modern ideas we know today. A twenty-first century Republican is “undoubtedly proud of the early party’s stand against slavery, but is likely to cringe at its support of protectionist tariffs rather than free trade.” (Eddins, 2012). Today most Republicans believe that government should tax people less, maintain a strong military, and intervene in people’s lives as little as possible. On the other hand Democrats support government programs that help those in need, as well as protection of public education, civil rights, and environmental issues. Although the Democratic-Republican party over powered the Federalists, we wouldn’t be where we are today without either of these political