Jefferson and Hamilton by Claude G. Bowers
"Jefferson and Hamilton" by Claude G. Bowers examines the pivotal political struggle between Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton during the formative years of the United States, particularly in the late 18th century. The book contrasts Jefferson's faith in the common man with Hamilton's skepticism about popular governance, highlighting their differing visions for the new republic—whether it should lean toward democracy or aristocracy. Bowers portrays Hamilton as a brilliant yet flawed leader, whose inability to inspire collaboration and understand the sentiments of the populace ultimately hindered his success.
Conversely, Jefferson emerges as a figure who, despite facing numerous challenges, effectively rallied support from various groups, including farmers and disillusioned veterans. The narrative chronicles significant events, such as the contentious debates over financial policies, the rise of partisan media, and the impact of the French Revolution, all of which shaped their conflict. Bowers details the eventual election of Jefferson as president in 1800, a moment seen as a triumph for the principles of democracy and the agency of ordinary citizens. This exploration provides a nuanced understanding of the foundational political tensions that influenced the early United States.
Jefferson and Hamilton by Claude G. Bowers
First published: 1925
Type of work: Political history
Time of work: End of the Eighteenth century
Locale: New York, Philadelphia, Washington, Paris, and London
Principal Personages:
George Washington Thomas Jefferson Alexander Hamilton Gouverneur Morris James Madison Albert Gallatin , a Jeffersonian from PennsylvaniaAaron Burr Mrs. William Bingham , a social leader of PhiladelphiaJohn Jay , United States Minister to Great BritainThomas Pinckney , United States Minister to Great BritainCharles C. Pinckney , Jefferson’s opponent for the presidencyJohn Adams , a statesman from Massachusetts
Analysis
The dramatic and picturesque aspects of the birth of the United States are presented in Claude G. Bowers’ book about the political struggle of the last quarter of the eighteenth century. The surrender at Yorktown ended one phase of the Revolution, only to begin another, a battle of fundamentals of government. Should the new republic develop along aristocratic or democratic lines? Leaders in the conflict were Thomas Jefferson, who believed in the political sense of the common people, and Alexander Hamilton, who did not trust an illiterate people to develop government.
Professor Bowers shows how much more logical Hamilton’s distrust was than Jefferson’s faith in the common man. Yet because Jefferson was willing to try to organize and discipline not only the independent and individualistic towns but the remote farms and the vast open spaces of the West into a unity, he was able, in spite of the weaknesses and lack of ability of his helpers, to achieve success against a powerful opposition. Hamilton, despite his genius and the unquestioned ability of many in the Federalist Party, failed because he did not understand his countrymen and the spirit of the times.
Though Jefferson’s name heads the title, Bowers begins his study with a look at Alexander Hamilton after setting the stage in the capital of New York City, on September 12, 1789, as the Congress was about to meet. As he points out, Hamilton looked the born leader. Though he was not of commanding stature, he impressed men by the dignity of his bearing. But Hamilton had other qualities: an ability to write clearly and to assemble and present facts to convince an audience and not merely appeal to their emotions. Strangely, Hamilton was most certain of his genius as a military leader, though never given an opportunity to demonstrate it. He was honest and generally a man of integrity, with a capacity for long stretches of concentrated work.
Bowers also points out his flaws. Perhaps his success, despite his humble origin, and the praise given his brilliant youthful efforts had convinced him that he was superior to most people. Therefore he was unable to inspire enthusiastic co-operation. He showed himself opinionated and dictatorial, and his early insults to Jefferson in Cabinet meetings grew out of his feeling that he was really Washington’s Prime Minister. Jefferson disliked him as a man, in addition to distrusting his political beliefs.
The first step in the Jefferson contest with Hamilton was taken when James Madison tried in Congress in April, 1790, to force discrimination between the Revolutionary soldiers holding warrants given in payment of wages, and the speculators who had been buying them at a small portion of their value. After the House voted down his motion, it was learned that nearly half of those opposing had been acquiring warrants, confident that they would be redeemed at full value.
This was a set-back for the Jeffersonians, but the public discussion that followed helped defeat by a few votes Hamilton’s next proposal that the government assume the debts of the states. Great was the consternation of speculators who had counted on passage of the proposal.
On March 24, 1790, Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State for the United States, had arrived in New York. He was willing to agree to a reconsideration of the Assumption Bill, in return for moving the capital out of New York. But following its transfer to Philadelphia, he rarely agreed again with Hamilton. They clashed over Hamilton’s plan to use an excise tax on liquor as means of raising money to pay off the states’ debts. But when the Federal machine pushed the bill through, Jefferson, having reached the end of his patience, prepared to challenge the policies and powers of his political opponent.
So far there had been no clash over their basic conflict. That came when Jefferson sent to a Philadelphia printer a copy of Thomas Paine’s THE RIGHTS OF MAN, with a covering note expressing his delight at this reply to the political heresies of the time. The printer used Jefferson’s letter, under his signature as Secretary of State, for the preface to the work. Many Americans, to whom democracy was anathema and republicanism was viewed with cynicism, were enraged that a pamphlet suppressed in England should be reprinted in the United States; but the discussion aroused served Jefferson’s purpose and was actually the opening move in the ten-year war between Jefferson and Hamilton.
The Federalists were well organized. The various Chambers of Commerce were like Federalist clubs; the intellectuals mostly championed Hamilton; and the press was generally either for him or indifferent. However, Jefferson believed he could count on the farmers, the ex-soldiers cheated of their war pay, those exasperated by the excise tax, and liberals antagonistic to the aristocratic pose of those governing them.
Earlier, Jefferson had declared that he would rather have a newspaper without a government than a government without a newspaper. Now he set out to find a journal equivalent to the Gazette of the United States, edited by John Fenno to extol the Federalist doctrine. For him Madison turned up Philip Freneau, the “poet of the Revolution,” who founded The National Gazette in Philadelphia. Soon its bold satire had everybody talking.
Angry, Hamilton made anonymous attacks on Freneau, and the struggle became so violent that President Washington tried to bring peace, but the approaching political campaign, which eventually made Adams president, provided more ammunition for the battles between the Federalists and the Jeffersonians.
The outbreak of the French Revolution helped Jefferson, for his was the popular side. Hamilton’s followers, on the other hand, sympathized with the French aristocracy. The beheading of the French monarchs swung the scales. The Federalist war party was able to pass the Alien and Sedition Acts giving the President power to expel dangerous aliens and to punish citizens who defamed the government. Jefferson then won a victory over the Federalists by easing tensions caused by the XYZ Papers. But the final confrontation came on the eve of the election of 1800, in the new capital of Washington.
Most Federalists were scheming to elect Aaron Burr instead of Jefferson. Hamilton was too great a patriot, despite his personal feelings about his rival, to favor Burr, and so he helped make possible the outcome of ten days of balloting, the election of Jefferson to the presidency of the United States.
After that, Hamilton went into isolation. The brilliant party he had created had fallen, as he himself would fall four years later before Burr’s pistol. Ex-president Adams, for whom Bowers displays a lukewarm admiration, returned to Massachusetts. But as Jefferson took his oath of office, there was on the political scene evidence of the right of the common people to create their own government and make their own laws.