Alexander Hamilton

--is both revered and questioned among American scholars, depending on oneÆs viewpoint of the value of democracy. This research examines these opposing feelings toward Hamilton.

Alexander Hamilton voiced the indignation felt by many of his contemporaries of the weak national authority under the Articles: ôThere is something diminutive and contemptible in the prospect of a number of petty states, with the appearance only of union . . . without any determined direction, fluctuating and unhappy at home, weak and insignificant by their dissension in the eyes of other nationsö (Rossiter 45).

Hamilton understood the extent of dissatisfaction with the Articles and drafted a report, signed by 55 prestigious leaders from several states, outlining its defects and calling for a convention to recommend remedies to Congress. At least 40 of the 55 delegates were holders of public securities; 14 were known to be land speculators; 24 were money lenders and investors; 11 were in commerce and manufacturing; and 15 owned large plantations. Only eight of the signers of the Declaration of Independence attended the Constitutional Convention; and only four of these finally signed the U.S. Constitution.

These delegates met at Independence Hall in Philadelphia and closed their doors to the public and the press. They then went to work in drafting what was supposed to be little more than amendments to the Articles of Confeder

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40-41). Needless to say, Hamilton did not win this floor debate. But he undoubtedly had influence over the proceedings. The final compromise among the delegates, now codified as the U.S. Constitution, involves a republican form of government, rather than pure democracy, with a series of checks and balances in the national government, further restrained by a federalist system of government between the national government and the states. Nevertheless, HamiltonÆs influence was strong. The U.S. Senate, for example, was not originally elected by the people; senators were chosen by the state legislatures. Similarly, direct popular election of the President also avoided by the Electoral College. This, of course, was an aristocratic theory designed to keep the public from directly electing the President while placing the actual decision in the hands of the propertied interests. Hamilton explained in the Federal Papers that the President would be chosen ôby those persons capable of analyzing the qualities and adapted to the station and acting under circumstances favorable to deliberationö (Rogers and Harrington 75). Even though the Electoral College still selects the President and tends to be dominated by wealthy individuals, the rise of
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Approximate Word count = 1987
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)

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