The debate between who left a longer lasting impression and who would create a better America in general has been a widely asked question for decades. Recently, it has been narrowed down to Washington's himself right hand men. Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton are both huge influences on today's America, but who had a better contribution. Thomas Jefferson believed in equality for the common man. Alexander Hamilton wanted a string government and economy. I am here to try to convince you that Hamilton developed the economy and government we have today, therefore making a longer lasting impression and contributing more to the foundation of America than his rival Thomas Jefferson. That being said, I don't believe that Jefferson didn't contribute at all. I think he made a huge impact on the equality of the modern man and woman, but Hamilton still would've run the country better.

The first fact that made me choose Hamilton over Jefferson is the way he'd structure the government. Hamilton was a Federalist in strong support of the constitution, in fact, he was the man who wrote the persuading set of essays the Federalist Papers in order to sway everyone for the Constitution. He favored a strong central government to keep the country in order and developed the Army and Navy to defend our country from foreign invaders. This here is the polar opposite of what Jefferson wanted. He favored a weak central government that gave more power to the states than to the central government. Does this sound familiar? This sounds a lot like the Articles of Confederation, which caused the country to go into debt and the states to nearly go to war with each other. Also, Hamilton, despite being a strong Federalist, favored a more loose interpretation of the Constitution. This means that he gave more freedom to the people. Jefferson wanted the interpretation of the Constitution to be strict. Strict as in, if it wasn't in the Constitution, you shouldn't do it.

Second, the economy and personal liberties. Hamilton did believe that these liberties should have some restriction. I'm not saying that I agree with this, but I can explain to you where he is coming from. Personal liberties, such as speech and press for example, can easily get a person in trouble with someone else, or in the worst case scenario, another country. We were still recovering from our own Revolutionary War with Britain at the time and if someone spoke out about or wrote something inappropriate to the Brits, we could easily end up in all out war again. My second point I mentioned in the first sentence was the economy. Hamilton wanted a balanced economy, America's income coming form agriculture, trade, finance, and manufacturing. That way if something happened to one of these things then America wouldn't be in a debt crisis. Jefferson believed that the backbone for America's economy should be agriculture. This could easily back fire on Jefferson as storms and natural disasters could easily take agriculture out and America would have a higher risk of going into debt if something like that ever happened. If Jefferson could've had his way, we would all still be living a rural life without cities, working on a farm 24/7. Also Hamilton wanted the government to aid in these things, unlike Jefferson, who wanted the Government to stay as far away from this as they could. Hamilton also developed the first National Bank. The National Bank is where all of our money is pooled when we pay taxes and is then distributed to the Army, education, and the rest of America in general to keep it running smoothly. A national bank is basically the founding stone for a strong economy. Now, doesn't that sound important? Well, Jefferson was against it. He also wanted to eliminate taxes, which contradicts his statement about wanting to pay off national debt. Now how are you going to pay off debt if the government doesn't have any money Jefferson? Hamilton wanted to keep internal taxes, but use the debt as a way to establish credit, which can open up financial doors. Credit plays a strong factor in a good economy by serving as allowing people more money if they pay taxes in a timely manner. It sets up good business and financial relationships and gives special privileges to those who can pay their taxes.

Finally, I will touch on some good qualities Jefferson has and wrap up my argument. Jefferson had many more fair morals to the people, such as lowering voting qualifications and putting lots of trust in the common people. He preferred a more Democratic Government over Hamilton wanting to model the government on the British system. Yet in the end, Jefferson trusted the people to a fault. People are cruel and corrupted beings and would abuse the trust Jefferson has given to them and drive this country into the ground. Therefore, I believe that Alexander Hamilton would develop a better country with a strong national government, defense forces, and economy that still remain today. The government today though would easily please both men, so I'm pretty sure we got it right.