On the Constitutionality of a National Bank
()
About this ebook
In 1791, The First Bank of the United States was a financial innovation proposed and supported by Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury. Establishment of the bank was part of a three-part expansion of federal fiscal and monetary power, along with a federal mint and excise taxes. Hamilton believed that a national bank was necessary to stabilize and improve the nation's credit, and to improve financial order, clarity, and precedence of the United States government under the newly enacted Constitution.
Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804) was a founding father of the United States, one of the most influential interpreters and promoters of the Constitution, the founder of the American financial system, and the founder of the Federalist Party. As the first Secretary of the Treasury, Hamilton was the primary author of the economic policies for George Washington’s administration. Hamilton took the lead in the funding of the states’ debts by the federal government, the establishment of a national bank, and forming friendly trade relations with Britain. He led the Federalist Party, created largely in support of his views; he was opposed by the Democratic Republican Party, led by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, which despised Britain and feared that Hamilton’s policies of a strong central government would weaken the American commitment to Republicanism.
Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804) was an American statesman, legal scholar, military leader, lawyer, and economist. After serving as a senior aide to General George Washington during the American Revolutionary War, Hamilton practiced law and founded the Bank of New York. As the need to replace the confederal government became apparent, Hamilton advocated for a Constitutional Convention to be held in Philadelphia. Following the convention, Hamilton wrote 51 of the 85 Federalist Papers, essays and articles intended to promote the ratification of the new Constitution. He then served as head of the Treasury Department under President Washington, later campaigning for Thomas Jefferson’s presidential nomination. In 1804, following a dispute, Hamilton was killed in a duel by politician and lawyer Aaron Burr.
Read more from Alexander Hamilton
The Federalist Papers & Anti-Federalist Papers: Complete Edition of the Pivotal Constitution Debate: Including Articles of Confederation (1777), Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights & Other Amendments – All With Founding Fathers' Arguments & Decisions about the Constitution Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Federalist Papers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Federalist Papers and the Constitution of the United States: The Principles of the American Government Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReynolds Pamphlet Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The U.S. Constitution: Anti-Federalist Edition Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAlexander Hamilton: Adultery and Apology: Observations on Certain Documents in the History of the United States for the Year 1796 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Federalist Papers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Federalist Papers: The Ideas that Forged the American Constitution Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnderstanding Policy Change: How to Apply Political Economy Concepts in Practice Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSelected Writings Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Federalist Papers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Federalist Papers (with Introductions by Edward Gaylord Bourne and Goldwin Smith) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Works of Alexander Hamilton: Volume 1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHamilton's Economic Policies: Works & Speeches of the Founder of American Financial System Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Federalist Papers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Federalist (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Federalist Papers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Federalist Papers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Federalist Papers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Works of Alexander Hamilton: Volume 4 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to On the Constitutionality of a National Bank
Related ebooks
Software Product Management: Finding the Right Balance for YourProduct Inc. Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsYour High-Performing Virtual Family Office: Maximizing Your Financial and Personal Lives Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhole Truth: A Fresh Money-Making Method to Wholesale, the Most Misunderstood Side of Your Business Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBoom Towns: Restoring the Urban American Dream Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow To Sell Your Own House Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTopics of Family Business Governance: Insights on Structures, Strategies, and Executives Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPurchase and Refinance Mortgage Process: A Handbook and Guide for Real Estate Mortgage! Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMaster limited partnership The Ultimate Step-By-Step Guide Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Law Of Contact: King Maker, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFans! Not Customers: Third Edition: How to Create Growth Companies in a No Growth World Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Foundation and Endowment Investing: Philosophies and Strategies of Top Investors and Institutions Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Unconventional Thinking of Dominant Companies: The New Formula for Market Domination Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRule Haiku: Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBusiness and Finance Quote Book Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dare Disturb The Universe: A Memoir of Venture Capital Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Ultimate Guide to US Financial Regulations: A Primer for Lawyers and Business Professionals Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhat Consumers Need to Know About Buying Real Estate: What Consumers Need to Know, #2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Legality of Salvation (A lawyer's perspective on the cross) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Time to Speak: Selected Writings and Arguments Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Reversed in Part: 15 Law School Grads on Pursuing Non-Traditional Careers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Life of Andrew Jackson Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Book of Financial Wisdom Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe End of All Taxes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Value Killers: How Mergers and Acquisitions Cost Companies Billions—And How to Prevent It Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReed's Parliamentary Rules: A Manual of General Parliamentary Law Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRobert's Rules of Innovation: A 10-Step Program for Corporate Survival Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
United States History For You
Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/51776 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A People's History of the United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fourth Turning Is Here: What the Seasons of History Tell Us about How and When This Crisis Will End Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Killing the Guys Who Killed the Guy Who Killed Lincoln: A Nutty Story About Edwin Booth and Boston Corbett Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Devil's Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America's Secret Government Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of Charlie: Wisdom from the Remarkable American Life of a 109-Year-Old Man Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bowling Alone: Revised and Updated: The Collapse and Revival of American Community Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Just Kids: An Autobiography Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Our Kind of People: Inside America's Black Upper Class Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Waco: David Koresh, the Branch Davidians, and A Legacy of Rage Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shakespeare: The World as Stage Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fifties Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Library Book Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Benjamin Franklin: An American Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Killing England: The Brutal Struggle for American Independence Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Killing the Mob: The Fight Against Organized Crime in America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for On the Constitutionality of a National Bank
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
On the Constitutionality of a National Bank - Alexander Hamilton
Contents
The Argument of the Secretary of the Treasury upon the Constitutionality of a National Bank
Appendix A: A Brief Biography of Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton
Appendix B: Jefferson’s Opinion on the Constitutionality of a National Bank
The Argument of the Secretary of the Treasury upon the Constitutionality of a National Bank
Alexander Hamilton
February 23, 1791
The Secretary of the Treasury, having perused with attention the papers containing the opinions of the Secretary of State and Attorney General, concerning the constitutionality of the bill for establishing a National Bank, proceeds, according to the order of the President, to submit the reasons which have induced him to entertain a different opinion.
It will naturally have been anticipated, that in performing this task, he would feel uncommon solicitude. Personal considerations alone, arising from the reflection that the measure originated with him, would be sufficient to produce it. The sense which he has manifested of the great importance of such an institution to the successful administration of the department under his particular care, and an expectation of serious ill-consequences to result from a failure of the measure, do not permit him to be without anxiety on public accounts. But the chief solicitude arises from a firm persuasion, that principles of construction, like those espoused by the Secretary of State and Attorney General, would be fatal to the just and indispensable authority of the United States.
In entering upon the argument, it ought to be premised, that the objections of the Secretary of State and Attorney General, are founded on a general denial of the authority of the United States to erect corporations. The latter, indeed, expressly admits, that if there be any thing in the bill which is not warranted by the constitution, it is the clause of incorporation.
Now, it appears to the Secretary of the Treasury, that this general principle is inherent in the very definition of government, and essential to every step of the progress to be made by that of the United States; namely, that every power, vested in a government, is in its nature sovereign, and includes by force of the term, a right to employ all the means requisite, and fairly applicable, to the attainment of the ends of such power and which are not precluded by restrictions and exceptions specified in the constitution or not immoral; or not contrary to the essential ends of political society.
This principle, in its application to government in general, would be admitted as an axiom; and it will be incumbent upon those who may incline to deny it, to prove a distinction, and to show, that a rule, which, in the general system of things, is essential to the preservation of the social order, is inapplicable to the United States.
The circumstance, that the powers of sovereignty are, in this country, divided between the national and state governments, does not afford the distinction required. It does not follow from this, that each of the portions of power, delegated to the one or to the other, is not sovereign with regard to its proper objects. It will only follow from it, that each has sovereign power as to certain things, and not as to other things. To deny that the government of the United States has sovereign power as to its declared purposes and trusts, because its power does not extend to all laws, would be equally to deny, that the state governments have sovereign power in any case, because their power does not extend to every case. The tenth section of the first article of the constitution exhibits a long list of very important things which they may not do; and thus the United States would furnish the singular spectacle of a political society without sovereignty; or of a people governed without government.
If it would be necessary to bring proof to a proposition so clear, as that which affirms that the powers of the federal government, as to its objects, are sovereign, there is a clause of its constitution which would be decisive: It is that which declares, that the constitution, and the laws of the United States made in pursuance of it, and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority, shall be the Supreme Law of the land. The power which can create the supreme law of the land, in any case, is doubtless sovereign as to such case.
This general and indisputable principle, puts at once an end to the abstract question, Whether the United States have power to erect a corporation; that is to say, to give a legal