What was Alexander Hamilton’s vision for the presidency?
About this video
A scholar explains Alexander Hamilton's vision of a strong executive, which he wrote about in 11 of the Federalist Papers. For Hamilton, a strong executive was needed for geopolitical and economic reasons: to let the US act powerfully on the world stage and respond to crises. Shays' Rebellion in 1786 showed him how a weak government could be brought to a halt.
You'll be able to
- explain why Hamilton wanted a strong executive.
- describe how Shays' Rebellion influenced the push for an effective executive.
Key words
- Federalist Papers
- Essays written to persuade people to support the new Constitution; Hamilton wrote many of them.
- geopolitical
- Relating to a country's power and relationships with other countries.
- Shays' Rebellion
- A 1786 uprising of farmers in western Massachusetts that brought the government to a halt.
Transcript
Yes, I brought Hamilton too. Hamilton was, I think, one of the leading architects and one of the leading visionaries of what a strong executive would look like. For Hamilton, who writes about this in 11 of the Federalist Papers. The real idea of having a strong executive was geopolitical and economic. It was a way of ensuring that the United States would be able to act meaningfully, powerfully on the world stage, to be able to actually exercise authority and dominion, to be able to respond to crises. One of the things that happens in the buildup, to the constitutional convention is Shay's Rebellion in Western Massachusetts in the winter of 1786, when a bunch of farmers armed with little more than pitchforks are able to basically bring the entire government apparatus to a halt. Hamilton says, we need an effective executive. We need a strong executive who actually can ensure that the government as a whole
is able to function and is able to respond to crises of all shapes and sizes, whether from within or without.
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