Relationship of Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson

Last updated

The Relationship of Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson started when the pair joined the cabinet of George Washington. Hamilton and Jefferson eventually came into conflict because their beliefs on government conflicted with each other. Since their deaths, Hamilton and Jefferson were generally seen as personifications of their beliefs, with people overlooking the pair's personalities when referring to their conflict and the public's view on the conflict shifting based on what is currently in the cultural zeitgeist.

Contents

T Jefferson by Charles Willson Peale 1791 2.jpg
Jefferson in 1791
Google Arts Project - Alexander Hamilton (1792 portrait) by John Trumbull.jpg
Hamilton in 1792

History

Before George Washington appointed the pair to his cabinet, Hamilton and Jefferson didn't know each other well. In their first year in Washington's cabinet, the pair rarely clashed. Hamilton and Jefferson's views on government clashed. Hamilton saw cities as a foundation of society, which was necessary for wealth creation. Jefferson saw centralized government as tyranny and wished for a country of farmers. Jefferson also saw cities as “great sores.” [1] Washington also partially created the clash, as he assured each of the men that their position in the cabinet. [2]

Hamilton's financial plan made Jefferson suspicious and combined with what Hamilton called for at the Constitutional Convention, made Jefferson see Hamilton as a threat to his views on central government. The principal objection Jefferson had against Hamilton's Financial plan was against the proposal to create a national bank. [3] Jefferson also saw Hamilton as trying to replicate what he saw as the evils of Europe, specifically regarding social structures. Jefferson responded to this by forming the Democratic-Republican Party and hiring Philip Freneau to form the National Gazette. Furthermore, Jefferson denounced Hamilton's actions to Washington; Jefferson claimed that Hamilton called the constitution a “shilly shally thing” and that Hamilton wanted to restore monarchy in America. [1]

On February 15, 1791, Jefferson sent a letter to Washington expressing constitutional concerns about Hamilton's planned national bank, believing that the federal government had no place regulating the internal commerce of states with a bank, and asking for a presidential veto. After reading Jefferson's letter, Washington gave Hamilton a response to respond to the criticism. In his response, Hamilton outlined his doctrine of implied powers, that the federal government could do things that were granted implicitly by the powers given to them under the constitution. [4] Washington sided with Hamilton, who Washington thought would bring the country to a financially better place. [1]

Hamilton responded by forming the Federalist party and by denying Jefferson's claim of Hamilton wanted to bring monarchy back to America. Hamilton also told Washington that Jefferson was a threat to his economic plan. [1] In 1792, Washington wrote letters to Hamilton and Jefferson to ask them to work together. [2] Despite their differences, Hamilton and Jefferson called for Washington to serve a second term when Washington spoke of retiring and wanted America to remain neutral in French Revolution Wars. [1] Hamilton and Jefferson came to a compromise at a dinner on June 20, 1790, where Hamilton got his national bank and Jefferson got the capitol of the United States moved to the proposed Washington D.C.. [5] [6] This was later known as the Compromise of 1790. [6] Jefferson claimed that he was tricked in this deal, and believed that it was one of the worst deals he ever made. [7]

Jefferson retired from Washington's cabinet in 1794. Hamilton didn't believe that the retirement would last long. During the next three years, the pair didn't speak much with or on each other. Neither spoke on either of their scandals during this period. In 1796, Jefferson ran for the presidency, which Hamilton's party, the Federalists, called him a hypocrite for. When Hamilton commanded a large army that Congress ordered, Jefferson called Hamilton “our Buonaparte.” [1]

In the election of 1800, Hamilton was too focused on ensuring the defeat of John Adams to pay any mind to Jefferson. When the election ended in a tie between Aaron Burr and Jefferson, Hamilton threw his support behind Jefferson, seeing Jefferson as the better of two evils. After Hamilton's death, Jefferson spoke well of him. [1]

Legacy

The Imaginative Conservative stated that the conflicts of Americas first decade were symbolized by Hamilton and Jefferson. [8] John Ferling stated in his book, Jefferson and Hamilton: The Rivalry That Forged a Nation that Hamilton and Jefferson were the most important people in the shaping of the United States of Ameria. [9] The public views on Hamilton and Jefferson swayed throughout American history based on what is currently is happening in the country. Jeffery Rosen has noted how modern political parties partially mimicked the Jefferson v. Hamilton conflicts of early American politics. [10] Historians have generally overlooked the Hamilton and Jefferson's personalities when analyzing controversies between the pair. [11] : 1 

Hamilton and Jefferson's relationship was a primary plot point of Hamilton: An American Musical (2015). A false quote attributed to Hamilton to Jefferson has spread across Facebook. [12] The Atlantic notes how the musical reframes Hamilton as the man of the people and Jefferson as a monarchist, which is the opposite of how history in America is commonly seen. [13]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Ferling, John (February 15, 2016). "How the Rivalry Between Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton Changed History". TIME. Retrieved November 2, 2025.
  2. 1 2 "Jefferson and Hamilton, Political Rivals | George Washington's Mount Vernon". Mount Vernon. Retrieved 2025-11-03.
  3. ↑ DiLorenzo, Thomas J.; Cowen, David (2020-01-29). "Hamilton v. Jefferson: The Central Bank Debate [POLICYbrief]". The Federalist Society. Retrieved 2025-11-03.
  4. ↑ Kapstein, Ethan B. (Spring 1997). "Hamilton and the Jeffersonian myth". World Policy Journal. 14 (1) – via GALE.
  5. ↑ "Founding Frenemies: Hamilton and The Virginians". Virginia Museum of History & Culture. Retrieved 2025-11-03.
  6. 1 2 "Compromise of 1790". American Battlefield Trust. Retrieved 2025-11-03.
  7. ↑ "The Room Where It Happens - Jefferson and Hamilton compromise on capital". Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. Retrieved 2025-11-03.
  8. ↑ Wilson, Clyde (2012-05-15). "Thomas Jefferson or Alexander Hamilton?". The Imaginative Conservative. Retrieved 2025-11-03.
  9. ↑ Ferling, John (October 7, 2014). Jefferson and Hamilton: The Rivalry That Forged a Nation. United States of America: Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. x.
  10. ↑ "Views of Hamilton and Jefferson Over Time | C-SPAN Classroom". www.c-span.org. Retrieved 2025-11-03.
  11. ↑ Hyland, Scott F., "The Highly Personal Dispute between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson: The Confrontation over Domestic Issues in Washngton's First Cabinet" (1971). All Master's Theses. 1629.
  12. ↑ Rouan, Rick. "Fact check: No, Alexander Hamilton didn't tell Thomas Jefferson he wanted to hit him with a chair". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2025-11-06.
  13. ↑ Semuels, Alana (2015-08-19). "In the Broadway Smash 'Hamilton,' Thomas Jefferson Is the Bad Guy". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2025-11-06.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.