Adams and Hamilton: Architects of Centralized Federal Authority

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After George Washington left office, the second president of the United States, John Adams came into office in 1797. John Adams was a federalist and a pessimistic president, he was skeptical about society and believed they need to be governed. In 1798, congress passed the Alien and Sedition Acts signed in to law by John Adams. These acts were passed in preparation for an anticipated war with France and asserted power to a centralized government. Like John Adams, Alexander Hamilton is one of our founding fathers of the constitution. He is a federalist and believed in an economy built on independence. Together, Adams and Hamilton had a vision of a centralized federal authority. A centralized federal authority being a government that is safest in the hands of wealthy and independent individuals. A challenge to this is the ability of the states to override the authorities. The national bank was created by Alexander Hamilton to stabilize and improve the nations economy. The national bank can solidify the control of federal authority by buying up the states debts. The federal government will buy the debt and owe the money instead, so it ties the states to the success of the federal government. The creation of the national bank allows the federal government to be dominant over the states. …show more content…

The Alien and Sedition act established a sense of security though the Alien Friends Act but it also established immigration in America through the Naturalization Act. Another example being the Monroe Doctrine setting a standard with foreign relations. The Monroe Doctrine set a a neutrality in regards to future European dilemmas and in a friendly manner asked Europe to stay out of their business. Through the Luisiana purchase the U.S was able to expand its territory and gain control of more land and of the people living in the

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