The Federalist Papers

Born circa 1757 on the Caribbean island of Nevis, Alexander Hamilton was a lawyer, military commander, and statesman who was instrumental in convincing the Congress of the Confederation to draft a new Constitution. After serving as one of 55 delegates at the 1787 Constitutional Convention, Hamilton wrote 51 of the 85 installments of what would become known as The Federalist Papers.

While scholars consistently look to The Federalist Papers to divine Hamilton’s personal and political views on a wide range of subjects, his beliefs and philosophy are not easily reducible. At times, Hamilton speaks at great length about the people’s capacity to be led astray by their passions, spurred toward factionalist infighting or dangerous and tyrannical demagogues. This, combined with Hamilton’s dismissive attitude toward the inclusion of a bill of rights in the Constitution, has led some observers to describe Hamilton as anti-egalitarian or even anti-democratic. Yet he also wholeheartedly supported the direct election of House representatives by the people, a cornerstone of representative democracy. Hamilton also faced charges by his contemporaries and later historians of being a monarchist, given his support of a strong federal executive branch led by an “energetic” individual person. Yet his devotion to republicanism is seen in the checks he supports on the executive branch, which limit the powers of the President compared to those belonging to contemporary European monarchs. Hamilton’s least ambiguous views concern his steadfast beliefs in a central government strong enough to protect the nation from foreign and domestic threats, and a method of collecting federal revenue that allows the government to fulfill those duties.

After the ratification of the Constitution, Hamilton served under President George Washington as the United States’ first Secretary of the Treasury. In that role, he established the first de facto national bank, advantageous trade agreements with Great Britain, and a system for collecting tariffs. His hopes of someday becoming President himself were severely curtailed when he became embroiled in the 1797 Reynolds affair, which scholars point to as the first political sex scandal in American history.

By 1800, national politics had become dominated by two major parties: the Federalist Party, to which Hamilton belonged, and the Democratic-Republican Party, which arose in large part as a response to Hamilton’s increasingly centralized policies and perceived aristocracy. Yet despite the fact that Thomas Jefferson was one of the founders—along with Madison—of the Democratic-Republican Party, Hamilton devoted considerable political capital toward ensuring Jefferson’s election over second-place finisher Aaron Burr. This deepened a rift between Hamilton and Burr which culminated in an 1804 duel, in which Burr shot and killed Hamilton before he reached the age of 50.