Alexander Hamilton
New York delegate, co-author of The Federalist, first secretary of the treasury.
Answers come only from his own recorded words, with every quotation checked against its source.
Who he was
Alexander Hamilton was a New York delegate to the Federal Convention, co-wrote The Federalist with Madison and Jay, and served as the first secretary of the treasury.
He proposed a national bank in letters to James Duane (1780) and Robert Morris, wrote the Report on a National Bank (December 1790), and, at Washington's request, the Opinion on the Constitutionality of the Bank (February 1791), which grounded the bank in the necessary and proper clause and implied powers.
Why he is at the Seat
Hamilton is the other side of the bank question Madison answers. Seated together, the two show how the founders themselves divided over the reach of federal power.
What we hold
- Editions
- Lodge, The Works of Alexander Hamilton, Federal Edition (12 vols., 1904)
- J.C. Hamilton, The Works of Alexander Hamilton (7 vols., 1850-51; includes letters to him)
- The Federalist (Avalon Project)
- Letters of Delegates to Congress, 1774-1789 (Library of Congress, 1976-2000)
- Size
- About 1.7 million words classed as his own text, plus 1.5 million in collections that mix his letters with letters to him. Word counts are whole files, so they include editors' headnotes and footnotes.
- Coverage
- 11.2% of the 7,637 documents Founders Online catalogues as his (a lower bound), the lowest of the major founders.
Known limits
- Much of his Treasury-era and legal correspondence is missing; the full Papers are only on Founders Online.
- Lodge's index has no authors or dates, so many passages are undated, and the same paper can appear twice from two editions.
Questions he answers well
The questions his engine was tested on before it opened.
- Was a national bank constitutional?
- Should Congress charter a national infrastructure bank, and does it have the power to?
Published answers
- How strong should the executive be?
- How should the United States act toward Britain and France in the 1790s?
- How far do the implied powers of Congress reach?
- Did the Constitution need a bill of rights?
- Should the government encourage manufactures?
- What is the role of the judiciary, and why is it the least dangerous branch?
- Why does good government need an energetic executive?
- Why should the federal government assume the states' debts?
- Was a national bank constitutional?
- Was a national bank constitutional?
More in Prior Questions.