5 Ways Alexander Hamilton Screwed Up America

Hamilton defended federal power 

In 1787, Hamilton lauded federal restraint and limited central authority, but when pushed into a corner by his opponents, he changed his tune and advocated for a strong central government and a strong executive branch. Those were the values he supported during the Philadelphia Convention. When his contemporaries would praise Enlightenment thinker John Locke, he would assert that the despotic Julius Caesar was the greatest man who ever lived.  

As Ron Paul points out in the foreword to the book, and McClanahan explores further “His [Hamilton’s] reading of the Constitution was at odds with how the document was explained to the state ratifying conventions in 1788” and yet he continued to push it forward, always ready to change his tune to get his way.

Tags: Alexander Hamilton, Brion McClanahan, How Alexander Hamilton Screwed Up America