Differences of Hamilton and Jefferson
...e states from the Revolution. Jefferson, a Virginian, objected to this. Most of the Southern states had already paid a considerable portion of their war debts and had no wish to pay those of the North. Another issue on which the two men intensely disagreed was the establishment of a national bank. Hamilton believed that a national bank modeled after the Bank of England, a strong private institution in which the government would be the major stockholder, would be beneficial. He advocated the bank as a means of forming a bond between the government and American business. Jefferson, however, felt that a national bank would encourage people to desert agriculture for risky business ventures and get-rich-quick schemes, as will as give the commercial interests too much power in the federal government. Jefferson also felt that a national bank would be unconstitutional, a belief which led to debate on the interpretation of the Constitution. Jefferson felt that it was the right of the states to charter banks while Hamilton felt it was necessary and proper for a national bank to exist. Jefferson and Hamilton disagreed immensely about the interpretation of the Constitution concerning rights of the state and national government. Jefferson and his fellow states’ rights advocates embraced the theory of “strict construction.” Jefferson believed that all powers not explicitly given to the central government were rights reserved for the states. Jefferson felt his beliefs were protected in the Tenth Amendment, which stated that powers not delegated to the United States, nor prohibited to states, are reserved to states or people. Hamilton, on the other hand, believed in “loose construction.” He felt that what the Constitution did not clearly forbid it allowed to the central government. Hamilton defended his argument by citing the necessary and proper clause. The final issue on which Hamilton and Jefferson disagreed was foreign policy. Since the Revolution, Britain had refused to sign a trade treaty with the United States. Jefferson advocated an embargo against Britain, as well as wanted Britain to relinquish the forts in the Northwest Territory, which were held in violation of the peace treaty of 1783. Hamilton, howev...