Put Burr on the $10 bill
Notes from Underground
Adam Roberts
Issue date: 3/30/09 Section: Opinion
Want to see why the economy collapsed? Just look at the $10 bill.
Alexander Hamilton deserves to be remembered as one of the great villains of American history. He was trying to undo the country's hard-won freedom before the Revolutionary War was even over.
Congress wasn't buying into his plan to enact tariffs - part of his larger scheme to create federal income, property and poll taxes - so Hamilton wrote to General Washington, asking him to lead a military coup.
Washington rebuked the idea, but Hamilton's tyrannical ambitions were just beginning. He tried to convince the Constitutional Convention to set up a monarchical government, with the president and senators serving for life.
When protests over some of Hamilton's taxes broke out in 1794, he persuaded President Washington to send more than 10,000 troops to Pennsylvania. As Hamilton interrogated the detainees, he tried to coerce them to give false testimony against William Findley and Albert Gallatin. Findley and Gallatin weren't rebels or terrorists - they were moderate congressmen who opposed Hamilton's economic plans. Hamilton hoped to get enough "evidence" to hang his political enemies for treason.
It was Hamilton who promoted the idea of "implied powers" - the idea that the written words of the Constitution shouldn't limit the power that the federal government exercises. He criticized Jefferson for having "an excessive concern for liberty." More than anyone else, Hamilton was responsible for the Alien and Sedition Acts.
Hamilton not only tried to manipulate the United States into declaring open war against France, but also wanted us to invade Spanish territory, marching all the way through Mexico and down to South America. He was also fond of making military threats against the state of Virginia.
Most of his military advice may have been ignored, but tragically, Hamilton's economic schemes weren't. And we're still paying the price today.
Long before communism was even a word, there was an equally disastrous idea called mercantilism. It was founded on bankrupt economic principles, and called for state intervention and centralized control over the economy. Mercantilism had already been debunked by Adam Smith and David Hume when Hamilton took power, but he defended it anyway. His 1791 "Report on the Subject of Manufactures" was the genesis of the "American System" of high tariffs and corporate bailouts.
Hamilton's most controversial project was the National Bank. Although it did provide a national currency, the bank also created 72 percent inflation and was allowed to expire. When the second reiteration of the bank was created in 1812, one of the first things it did was set up a program to encourage land speculation. The bank gave out bad loans to people who couldn't pay them back. It created a real estate bubble, and when the bubble burst, the results were massive foreclosures, bank failures and a rise in unemployment.
Hamilton also convinced the federal government to intentionally create the national debt, which he called "a public blessing." He actually opposed attempts to pay it off. He knew that if the country's rich stockholders held government bonds, they would be more likely to support large federal programs and regressive taxation, such as the Whiskey Tax and Stamp Act that Hamilton championed.
Hamilton was right. Today, you won't find anyone more in favor of the federal government's $9.8 trillion bailout than wealthy CEOs. It's no coincidence that both Barack Obama and George W. Bush compared their secretaries of the Treasury - Henry Paulson and Timothy Geithner - to Hamilton. It's also no coincidence that AIG employees donated $100,000 to Obama's 2008 presidential campaign and $160,000 to Bush's in 2004. They gave more than $100,000 in 2008 to Sen. Chris Dodd, who is now under fire for allowing the $165 million AIG bonus.
There's no wonder that Thomas J. Lorenzo, author of last fall's book "Hamilton's Curse," calls the man "The Founding Father of Crony Capitalism."
If we give Hamilton the blame for every time the United States has followed the blueprints he set out for her, it's clear that no one in American history has done more damage to more people than Alexander Hamilton.
In the creation story of America, Hamilton plays the role of the serpent. He tempted Adams (and Washington) away from the freedom and promise of America. To the extent that we've followed the path of Adam Smith and Thomas Jefferson - a market economy with a strong educational system and a functional safety net for the poor - we've prospered. When we've deviated and bitten into Hamilton's apple of mercantilism, we've failed.
In an eerie coincidence, Hamilton's portrait on the $10 is the only one that faces left.
On July 11, 1804, Vice-President Aaron Burr killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel. If anyone deserves to be on the $10, it's Burr.
Adam Roberts is a columnist for The Arkansas Traveler. His column appears every Monday.
Alexander Hamilton deserves to be remembered as one of the great villains of American history. He was trying to undo the country's hard-won freedom before the Revolutionary War was even over.
Congress wasn't buying into his plan to enact tariffs - part of his larger scheme to create federal income, property and poll taxes - so Hamilton wrote to General Washington, asking him to lead a military coup.
Washington rebuked the idea, but Hamilton's tyrannical ambitions were just beginning. He tried to convince the Constitutional Convention to set up a monarchical government, with the president and senators serving for life.
When protests over some of Hamilton's taxes broke out in 1794, he persuaded President Washington to send more than 10,000 troops to Pennsylvania. As Hamilton interrogated the detainees, he tried to coerce them to give false testimony against William Findley and Albert Gallatin. Findley and Gallatin weren't rebels or terrorists - they were moderate congressmen who opposed Hamilton's economic plans. Hamilton hoped to get enough "evidence" to hang his political enemies for treason.
It was Hamilton who promoted the idea of "implied powers" - the idea that the written words of the Constitution shouldn't limit the power that the federal government exercises. He criticized Jefferson for having "an excessive concern for liberty." More than anyone else, Hamilton was responsible for the Alien and Sedition Acts.
Hamilton not only tried to manipulate the United States into declaring open war against France, but also wanted us to invade Spanish territory, marching all the way through Mexico and down to South America. He was also fond of making military threats against the state of Virginia.
Most of his military advice may have been ignored, but tragically, Hamilton's economic schemes weren't. And we're still paying the price today.
Long before communism was even a word, there was an equally disastrous idea called mercantilism. It was founded on bankrupt economic principles, and called for state intervention and centralized control over the economy. Mercantilism had already been debunked by Adam Smith and David Hume when Hamilton took power, but he defended it anyway. His 1791 "Report on the Subject of Manufactures" was the genesis of the "American System" of high tariffs and corporate bailouts.
Hamilton's most controversial project was the National Bank. Although it did provide a national currency, the bank also created 72 percent inflation and was allowed to expire. When the second reiteration of the bank was created in 1812, one of the first things it did was set up a program to encourage land speculation. The bank gave out bad loans to people who couldn't pay them back. It created a real estate bubble, and when the bubble burst, the results were massive foreclosures, bank failures and a rise in unemployment.
Hamilton also convinced the federal government to intentionally create the national debt, which he called "a public blessing." He actually opposed attempts to pay it off. He knew that if the country's rich stockholders held government bonds, they would be more likely to support large federal programs and regressive taxation, such as the Whiskey Tax and Stamp Act that Hamilton championed.
Hamilton was right. Today, you won't find anyone more in favor of the federal government's $9.8 trillion bailout than wealthy CEOs. It's no coincidence that both Barack Obama and George W. Bush compared their secretaries of the Treasury - Henry Paulson and Timothy Geithner - to Hamilton. It's also no coincidence that AIG employees donated $100,000 to Obama's 2008 presidential campaign and $160,000 to Bush's in 2004. They gave more than $100,000 in 2008 to Sen. Chris Dodd, who is now under fire for allowing the $165 million AIG bonus.
There's no wonder that Thomas J. Lorenzo, author of last fall's book "Hamilton's Curse," calls the man "The Founding Father of Crony Capitalism."
If we give Hamilton the blame for every time the United States has followed the blueprints he set out for her, it's clear that no one in American history has done more damage to more people than Alexander Hamilton.
In the creation story of America, Hamilton plays the role of the serpent. He tempted Adams (and Washington) away from the freedom and promise of America. To the extent that we've followed the path of Adam Smith and Thomas Jefferson - a market economy with a strong educational system and a functional safety net for the poor - we've prospered. When we've deviated and bitten into Hamilton's apple of mercantilism, we've failed.
In an eerie coincidence, Hamilton's portrait on the $10 is the only one that faces left.
On July 11, 1804, Vice-President Aaron Burr killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel. If anyone deserves to be on the $10, it's Burr.
Adam Roberts is a columnist for The Arkansas Traveler. His column appears every Monday.
Viewing Comments 1 - 8 of 10
R.B.
posted 3/30/09 @ 11:41 AM CST
Blaming Hamilton for today's economic crisis is patently absurd. The problems of today are a result of deregulation and lack of oversight, specifically where a strong Federal government has the power to step in and prevent problems like the mortgage issues from arising. (Continued…)
Jeremy
posted 3/30/09 @ 5:24 PM CST
I suggest that saying it is deregulation and lack of oversight does not make it so. I realize that this is thought to be so in the political realm, but that does not make it so in actuality. (Continued…)
Greg
posted 3/31/09 @ 5:33 PM CST
The government is not evil and Washington never said it was and, if he did, then he's an idiot. Appealing to the greatness of the founding father's wisdom is positively idiotic. (Continued…)
the_bob
naffel
posted 3/31/09 @ 11:41 PM CST
"Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master." - George Washington
Why should I come up with a different way of saying something that someone else has already found such an eloquent way of saying?
But then again he's a horrible isolationist slave owner. (Continued…)
Allison
posted 4/01/09 @ 9:01 AM CST
The Federal Reserve is a for-profit central bank and is privately owned. The Fed earns interest on money they create and loan to the U.S. government. (Continued…)
daniel
posted 4/01/09 @ 7:47 PM CST
The person who wrote this article is a f*ckin moron. Alexander Hamilton was one of if not the most smartest of the founding fathers. He basically laid out the system of our economy today and if you want to blame him for its downfall then go ahead and blame him for every economic crisis while your at it. (Continued…)
dan809
Dan
posted 4/01/09 @ 8:09 PM CST
I have to say the author of the article is a moron. He has a small idea of what he's talking about and has seemed to twist some of Hamilton's ideas. He did want a strong centralized government, but not translated into a monarchy. (Continued…)
jon lenglain
posted 4/11/09 @ 6:34 AM CST
This article is ridiculous. Adam Smith and David Hume were imperial economists, whose advice for the US was to promote British imports and concentrate on their comparative advantages in agriculture. (Continued…)
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