Comparing Thomas Jefferson And Alexander Hamilton

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Each individual’s concept of a perfect government varies–some advocate for a federalist structure, while others prefer a republican form. Sometimes, people with contrasting perspectives must work together, and they might even find themselves running the government. A great example of this scenario would be none other than Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. Both men were founding fathers, and while Hamilton was the Secretary of the Treasury, Jefferson was the Secretary of State and later the third President of the United States. During their time working together, they had different ideas of running the nation, such as Jefferson wanting an agrarian democracy and Hamilton wanting a strong central government. While both men were molding …show more content…
Hamilton goes ahead and shows how different he was from Jefferson by idealizing a government that is run solely on the elite. Hamilton didn’t like Jefferson’s idea of a government being controlled by the people, so he favored that the government “should not be run by amateurs but by a trained educated elite” (“Alexander”). Hamilton was inherently aristocratic and preferred the government to be controlled by the elite, unlike Jefferson, who preferred the power given to the people. Even if it isn’t all black and white, Jefferson and Hamilton still contradict each other when it comes to who should control the government; in this case, Hamilton wants elites to run the government, Jefferson wants the people to have the power, and how powerful the government should be. As they shaped the government, the men's disputes and contradictions relating to the economy, authority of government, and trade significantly influenced the government and created a platform for the two-party system. Both men have dynamic economic viewpoints: Hamilton wanted an economy characterized by trade and industrialization, while Jefferson wanted an agrarian economy with an emphasis on
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