Why Was Alexander Hamilton A Founding Father

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In our history classes throughout school, we at one point in time may have been taught about our Founding Fathers of the United States of America, the men who aided in building the country we now know today. When we hear the words “Founding Fathers” we may picture specific men like George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson for example. However our history classes tend to pass over one specific Founding Father: Alexander Hamilton. The man that graces the ten dollar bill and who was America’s first Treasury secretary is grossly overlooked and often swept under the rug of American History, leaving us to wonder why exactly is Alexander Hamilton a Founding Father of our country. Why is he important enough to put on our currency, …show more content…

Once Washington placed Alexander Hamilton in the position as the first Secretary of the Treasury in 1789 that is exactly what Hamilton planned on doing. Alexander Hamilton was quite probably one of the best choices for Treasury Secretary due to his knowledge of political economy he gained from working on trade in St. Croix and his hardworking attitude instilled in him at an early age. The war was not without its consequences and the new country suffered greatly with their finances. Unable to tax the colonies, the Continental Congress issuing their own “continentals” as their form of credit, and the issuing of several different forms of currency that decreased to 1/150th of its value by 1781. With their currency now virtually worthless the new country was struggling to repay their debts from the war and were weary of taxing the colonies to aid in their efforts since taxation was the ultimate cause of the war , the American economy was in a …show more content…

Hamilton’s Report on a National Bank was one of his most “lengthy, meticulously researched and highly persuasive” pieces of writings and arguably his most important, which highlights the importance of establishing a national bank for the United States economy. With virtually no previous knowledge or writings on such subject matter, Alexander had to rely on his own intelligence and intellectual abilities to create his own financial systems and foundations on which to build his national bank. Hamilton believed that his proposed idea of a national bank could contribute much to the new country including turning it into a creditworthy nation that is able of paying their debts and taxes and able to support trade within itself and with other

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