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[[image:alexhamilton.jpg|300px|thumb|Alexander Hamilton by John Trumbull 1792.]]

[[image:alexhamilton.jpg|300px|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 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 Administration that shaped the young nation.   

'''Alexander Hamilton''' (January 11, 1757 - July 12, 1804) was one of the most important and 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 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 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 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.