answer:
explanation:
we live, without question, in hamiltonâs america,â says stephen f. knott, professor of national security affairs at the united states naval war college and co-author of âwashington and hamilton: the alliance that forged america.â
âhamilton had the foresight to see the united states emerging as an economic and military power that would surpass great britain and the other european powers. all of hamiltonâs policies as treasury secretary and as president washingtonâs closest advisor were designed to convince his fellow americans to, as hamilton put it, âthink continentally.â he wanted the citizenry to think of themselves first and foremost as americansânot new yorkers or virginians.
âhamilton became the nationâs first treasury secretary at a time when the citizens of south carolina and new hampshire had about as much in common with one another as they did with someone from tasmania. hamilton succeeded in creating an american sense of identity in part by creating institutions that would bind the people to the national government, not their respective states, such as the national bank and the assumption by the national government of the state debts from the revolutionary war.â
knott tells history that without hamiltonâs contributions, it would have been next to impossible for the united states to have emerged as a superpower during the 20th century. âhamiltonâs economic vision was contrary to that of jeffersonâs, and as such the united states might not have movedâor at least not moved as quicklyâin the direction of becoming a manufacturing nation and the worldâs largest economy by late in the 19th century,â he says.
âhamilton was the father of american capitalism, which arguably produced one of the highest standards of living in the world,â knott says. âhis policies at the treasury department were designed to enhance the development of manufacturing. his economic policies such as a national bank, tariffs to protect american manufacturing, and the stabilization of the nationâs finances, which enabled the country to establish a good credit rating, all contributed to the overall rise of the united states as an economic superpower.â
knott also notes that hamilton was the driving force behind the publication of the federalist papersâwriting 51 of the 85 essays while working in concert with james madison and john jayâthat laid the theoretical blueprint for an âenergetic executive,â a model followed closely by washington.
âfrom the beginning to the end of this most important first presidency, washington followed hamiltonâs advice, much to thomas jeffersonâs distress,â he says. âremove hamilton from washingtonâs cabinet, and you would have a number of very different precedents. hamilton was determined to infuse as many elements of energy and permanence into a new national government under the constitution that would allow the nation to defend itself from foreign attacks and domestic insurrections, and provide an environment conducive to economic development.â
knott says that hamiltonâs vision of a united states in which its citizens thought âcontinentallyâ had ramifications when the country faced its greatest crisis during the civil war. âthe concept of union, of american nationhood, was embedded deeply enough in parts of the north that union soldiers were prepared to die for that principle. it is no accident that hamilton was a revered figure during the gilded age, seen by presidents such as james garfield, benjamin harrison, and other republicans as the most impressive founding father.â