I am uncomfortable trying to choose between these two men who, where both great in their own ways. If you look around you today you will see Hamilton’s ideas for economy and strong central government, then if you look somewhere else you see Jefferson’s ideas on a Democratic government. They both balanced each other out in a way. If Hamilton wanted an industrialized America then Jefferson wanted a rural America. I’m not stating that they chose to be just opposites of each other but, I find it hard to compare to extremes of every problem.
Now the question is “Who had the more enduring vision of the United States? Hamilton or Jefferson?” Which can basically be loosely rephrased to “Do you want to be an extremist on this side or the other side?” In both their ideas and views you find great ideas and suggestions to how America should be, but I’ve found somewhere in the middle is where America needs to be. For example Hamilton wanted a VERY strong federal government while Jefferson wanted a loose one that only really mattered or even did anything in times of trouble and the state governments would run themselves in times of peace. But based on history from that time Hamilton’s strong government federal government is the reason we broke away from England. While Jefferson’s views on a VERY strong state government was obviously proved a terrible idea in the Articles of Confederation.
The one reoccurring thought I’m having while writing this is a thing that a coach always says to me, which is “talk is nothing, you can say you’re better or stronger than anyone but it means nothing, what really means something is action, action is what really matters.” I think this can directly apply to this debate of who left the more enduring vision because while Jefferson had great ideas of America, it was Hamilton who would put his own ideas into action, not Jefferson. Jefferson would talk down about slavery and still owned slaves, he literally wrote all men where created equal onto one of America’s most famous documents yet he still thought another race was below him. That’s why in the end I choose Alexander Hamilton, not because he was smarter or had better ideas than Jefferson. It is because Hamilton would directly put his ideas into action because, he would personally see all his ideas through because he wanted a more prosperous America.
