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[[image:alexhamilton.jpg|thumb|Alexander Hamilton by [[John Trumbull]], 1792.]]

[[image:alexhamilton.jpg|thumb|Alexander Hamilton by [[John Trumbull]], 1792.]]

'''Alexander Hamilton''' (January 11, 1757 - July 12, 1804) was one of the most important, and most [[conservative]] and [[Patriotic|nationalistic]], of the [[Founding Fathers]] of the [[United States]].  After wartime service as chief of staff to General [[George Washington]], he became a leading lawyer in [[New York]].  He called for a strong new [[constitution]] to replace the weak national government, and in 1788 he wrote half the ''[[Federalist Papers]]'', which mobilized supporters of the Constitution and continues to be the single most influential interpretation of [[republicanism]] and what the Constitution means.  He was a leading intellectual of his time, and the driving force of the [[Washington D.C.|Washington]] Administration that shaped the young nation.   

'''Alexander Hamilton''' (January 11, 1757 - July 12, 1804) was one of the most important, and most [[conservative]] and [[Patriotic|nationalistic]], of the [[Founding Fathers]] of the [[United States]].  One of the greatest American intellectuals ever, Hamilton became a [[Christian]] about a decade before he sacrificed his life for the Nation and for his Christian [[faith]].<ref>http://www.catholiceducation.org/en/culture/history/alexander-hamilton-from-caesar-to-christ.html</ref>

 

After wartime service as chief of staff to General [[George Washington]], he became a leading lawyer in [[New York]].  He called for a strong new [[constitution]] to replace the weak national government, and in 1788 he wrote half the ''[[Federalist Papers]]'', which mobilized supporters of the Constitution and continues to be the single most influential interpretation of [[republicanism]] and what the Constitution means.  He was a leading intellectual of his time, and the driving force of the [[Washington D.C.|Washington]] Administration that shaped the young nation.   

Hamilton realized that the basis of [[British]] power was its system of centralized [[tax]] collection and its funded [[national debt]] together with its sophisticated [[banking]] structure and its open market in public securities. For a state to wage [[war]] successfully, it had to tax efficiently and borrow cheaply -- to become a powerful nation, America had to follow the British financial example. Hamilton's conclusion horrified [[Thomas Jefferson]] and his followers -- they saw a deliberate adoption of British methods as an evil corruption -- a betrayal of the values of [[Republicanism]] inherent in the [[American Revolution]].

Hamilton realized that the basis of [[British]] power was its system of centralized [[tax]] collection and its funded [[national debt]] together with its sophisticated [[banking]] structure and its open market in public securities. For a state to wage [[war]] successfully, it had to tax efficiently and borrow cheaply -- to become a powerful nation, America had to follow the British financial example. Hamilton's conclusion horrified [[Thomas Jefferson]] and his followers -- they saw a deliberate adoption of British methods as an evil corruption -- a betrayal of the values of [[Republicanism]] inherent in the [[American Revolution]].