Alexander Hamilton Quotes
The ancient democracies, in which the people themselves deliberated, never possessed one feature of good government. Their very character was tyranny; their figure, deformity. When they assembled, the field of debate presented an ungovernable mob, not only incapable of deliberation, but prepared for every enormity.
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), Debate at New York Constitutional Ratification Convention, June 21, 1788
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Many of the early democracies had failed when in crises the citizens turned to a strong leader who soon became a monarch. The early democracies did not have the mature democratic institutions that we now know are so important for the success of a democracy.
1st Baron Macaulay. He favored a House of Commons that was representative of property owners, a powerful House of Lords which were limited to the Aristocracy, and a Monarch who also had a great deal of power. He was not a democratic enthusiast.
Eldest son of Robert Walpole
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.
