How Did Hamilton Support A Strong Central Government

The two party political system can in part be attributed to the conflicting viewpoints of Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. Jefferson and Hamilton were two of the three cabinet members in George Washington's cabinet. During Washington’s presidency he appointed Thomas Jefferson to be the first Secretary of State and Alexander Hamilton to be the first Secretary of Treasury. While both held government positions, they disagreed on the power the national government should hold. Jefferson was a constructionist, and therefore believed in a strict reading of the Constitution in which no interpretation was allowed. On the other hand, Hamilton was a loose constructionist, and believed that the Constitution could be interpreted by the reader. Hamilton and

Despite their opposing political views, Jefferson and Hamilton both perceived their form of government as the best for the people. Jefferson wanted a government in which the central government was not as powerful as the individual state powers. Contrary to this, Hamilton favored a government in which the central government was powerful and the states were not. Even though the two envisioned two different types of government, they both perceived their plan as the best way to serve the people. Jefferson said in 1787, “Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers… alone. The people themselves are its only safe depositories.”. In this quote Jefferson is expressing his opinion that countries that have a strong central government, will always fail. He says that in order to have a government succeed, is to put the power in the poeple. Much like