Alexander Hamilton Quotes
Shall the majority govern or be governed? Shall the nation rule or be ruled? Shall the general will prevail, or the will of a faction? Shall there be government or no government?
Reacting to the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794:
Alexander Hamilton, 1755-1804, Aide-de-camp to General Washington, Member of the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention, U. S. Secretary of the Treasury (Federalist, NY), Quoted in McDonald, Alexander Hamilton, A Biography, 1982
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
She was the first female Chief Justice in California.
Faction was the word Madison used for Political Party.
He was referring to the House which could check the elite few of the Senate and the Senate which could check the temporary will of the majority.
Jefferson and a number of other Founding Fathers were so against aristocracy and monarchy that the assumed that the only way to prevent it was to have all government officials subjected to annual elections. Jefferson was not at the constitutional convention, while annual elections were considered, the compromise that became the Constitution required 2 year elections for the House and 6 years for the Senate with 4 years for the Presidency.
Alexander Hamilton was an American statesman, politician, legal scholar, military commander, lawyer, banker, and economist. He was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He was an influential interpreter and promoter of the U.S. Constitution, as well as the founder of the nation's financial system, the Federalist Party, the United States Coast Guard, and the New York Post newspaper. As the first secretary of the treasury, Hamilton was the main author of the economic policies of George Washington's administration. He took the lead in the federal government's funding of the states' debts, as well as establishing the nation's first two de facto central banks, the Bank of North America and the First Bank of the United States, a system of tariffs, and friendly trade relations with Britain. His vision included a strong central government led by a vigorous executive branch, a strong commercial economy, government-controlled banks, support for manufacturing, and a strong military.
