Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton

Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton were two great visionaries; they had both had ideas that would change America into what it is today. Although they were both visionaries, they both had very different visions of what America could be. Jefferson was a strong proponent of the Bill of Rights; he supported agriculture and a strong state government. Hamilton wanted a large federal government, akin to the British Monarchy. He believed that industry and trading were the keys to the nation’s success. Jefferson wanted a quite agricultural collection of states; Hamilton wanted an industrial power house of a nation that would dominate the world market. Fast Forward 200 years and we see a combination of these juxtaposed positions. America’s strong government has been a main player in foreign trading and politics. Its people as a whole though embody more of a Jefferson approach, they support human rights, farming and reduced foreign dependency. The American government embodies Hamiltonian ideals whilst the people are pro Jefferson. This duality creates an interesting dynamic that gives America the ability to eat its cake and have it too. On one side its strong Hamilton influenced government can drill deep for oil into the Gulf of Mexico, start wars overseas and set up prisons on a communist countries soil. The American people rally against this government – the occupy Wall Street movement, protests against federal spending and human rights abuses. Jefferson and Hamilton clashed on many ideas about what the country could be, and today the Government and the People clash about what the country has become.