Hamilton's Political Economy and the National Bank

Abstract

Alexander Hamilton was a major protagonist in the struggle to build a strong national government backed by the powers necessary to wield centralized power. Hamilton's political and economic writings are complementary bodies of work since they both have common ends - the development of a strong national government and the establishment of strong political-economic institutions. The complementary nature of Hamilton's political and economic writings are most apparent in his defense of the proposal to found a new national bank. This paper will examine in depth Hamilton's writings, concentrating on the bank proposal. The development of this strong and stable financial institution would play both political and economic roles in the new republic. In particular, the national bank would institutionalize citizen support for the new government and thereby ensure the longer-term stability and strength of the national government.