WHOSE LINE IS IT?Comparing Hamilton and Jefferson

“A national debt, if it is not excessive, will be to us a national blessing.”

• What is the subject of this quote?

• Who said it?

• How do you know? How does the sentiment expressed reflect his view of government, the people, or the world?

“I have great confidence in the common sense of mankind in general.”

• What is the subject of this quote?

• Who said it?

• How do you know? How does the sentiment expressed reflect his view of government, the people, or the world?

“A little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical…It is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government.”

• What is the subject of this quote?

• Who said it?

• How do you know? How does the sentiment expressed reflect his view of government, the people, or the world?

“In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men the great difficulty lies in this: You must first enable the government to control the governed, and in the next place, oblige it to control itself.”

• What is the subject of this quote?

• Who said it?

• How do you know? How does the sentiment expressed reflect his view of government, the people, or the world?

“Those who labor in the earth are the chosen people of God, if ever he had a chosen people, whose breasts he has made his peculiar deposit for substantial and genuine virtue.”

• What is the subject of this quote?

• Who said it?

• How do you know? How does the sentiment expressed reflect his view of government, the people, or the world?

“Constitutions should consist only of general provisions; the reason is that they must necessarily be permanent, and that they cannot calculate for the possible change of things.”

• What is the subject of this quote?

• Who said it?

• How do you know? How does the sentiment expressed reflect his view of government, the people, or the world?

“The voice of the people has been said to be the voice of God; and, however generally this maxim has been quoted and believed, it is not true to fact. The people are turbulent and changing, they seldom judge or determine right.”

• What is the subject of this quote?

• Who said it?

• How do you know? How does the sentiment expressed reflect his view of government, the people, or the world?

“If ever this great country is brought under a single government, it will be one of the most extensive corruption.”

• What is the subject of this quote?

• Who said it?

• How do you know? How does the sentiment expressed reflect his view of government, the people, or the world?

“Men often oppose a thing merely because they have had no agency in planning it, or because it may have been planned by those whom they dislike.”

• What is the subject of this quote?

• Who said it?

• How do you know? How does the sentiment expressed reflect his view of government, the people, or the world?

“Were it left up to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspaper without a government, I should not hesitate to prefer the latter.”

• What is the subject of this quote?

• Who said it?

• How do you know? How does the sentiment expressed reflect his view of government, the people, or the world?

“Whenever the people are well informed, they can be trusted with their own government; whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them to rights.”

• What is the subject of this quote?

• Who said it?

• How do you know? How does the sentiment expressed reflect his view of government, the people, or the world?

“Even to observe neutrality you must have a strong government.”

• What is the subject of this quote?

• Who said it?

• How do you know? How does the sentiment expressed reflect his view of government, the people, or the world?

“Why has government been instituted at all? Because the passions of man will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice without constraint.”

• What is the subject of this quote?

• Who said it?

• How do you know? How does the sentiment expressed reflect his view of government, the people, or the world?

“A naval force can never endanger our liberties, nor occasion bloodshed; a land force would do both.”

• What is the subject of this quote?

• Who said it?

• How do you know? How does the sentiment expressed reflect his view of government, the people, or the world?

WHAT DID THIS MEAN FOR THE UNITED STATES?

How did the differing viewpoints of Hamilton and Jefferson reflect fundamental divisions in American popular opinion?

How does this lead to the formation of political parties? Do you think this division was inevitable, or was there an alternative?

What differences separate the major political parties today? Are they similar to the issues that divided the Federalists and Republicans?