The E-Sylum:  Volume 7, Number 39, September 26, 2004, Article 24

NEW BOOKS ON HAMILTON AND NEW YORK HISTORY

  Arthur Shippee forwarded reviews of two books which also
  caught my eye.  They are not directly numismatic, nor do they
  dwell only on financial matters.  But  Ron Chernow's "Alexander
  Hamilton", and Russell Shorto's "The Island at the Center of the
  World." look like very interesting books related to the early
  history of New York City and the roles played by the founding
  fathers of the U.S. financial and monetary system.
  The reviews are by Walter Isaacson and was published in
  New York Magazine, 17 May 2004.  Here are some
  excepts:

  "In addition to The Federalist Papers, Hamilton made one
  other great contribution. As Washington's choice to be the
  first Treasury secretary, he created the financial structures
  that tied the nation together and made it, and New York, a
  commercial power. The capital was then in lower Manhattan,
  and on his second day in office, Hamilton arranged a large
  loan from the Bank of New York. He then set to work on
  a plan for the government's fiscal machinery, which resulted
  in his famous 40,000-word Report on Public Credit."

  "Hamilton wanted New York to become the nation's capital,
  which likewise aroused Jefferson's opposition. The city was
  so associated with Hamilton and his commercial vision that
  his enemies called it Hamiltonopolis. "They saw it," writes
  Chernow, "as an Anglophile bastion dominated by bankers
  and merchants who would contaminate the republican
  experiment." Washington and Jefferson were pushing instead
  for a rural site alongside the plantations of the Potomac.

  Realizing that Madison had the votes to block his cherished
  debt plan, Hamilton was willing to trade away the capital as
  a compromise. The stage was thus set for the most historic
  dinner party ever held in Manhattan. Present at Jefferson's
  rented house on Maiden Lane were Hamilton and Madison.
  The Virginians pointed out that the plan unduly penalized their
  state, which had paid off most of its debts. They would need
  something in return: a national capital on the banks of the
  Potomac.

  In some ways, Hamilton struck the better bargain. The debt
  plan determined forever that the states would be weaker than
  the central government. Creating this foundation for federal
  power and taxation in America was more important to
  Hamilton than winning the capital for New York. Indeed, the
  creation of vibrant financial markets helped make New York
  what it is today, and helped New York make America what
  it is today.  In the realm of economics, if not politics,
  Hamilton's New York vision of America would end up
  prevailing. "He was the messenger of America's economic
  future, Chernow notes, "setting forth a vision of an urban
  manufacturing society."

  "Hamilton had succeeded in binding the country together
  under one central economic and fiscal system.  Hamilton
  had promoted a forward-looking agenda of a modern
  nation-state with a market economy and an affirmative
  view of central government," Chernow writes. "It was the
  northern economic system that embodied the mix of
  democracy and capitalism that was to constitute the
  essence of America in the long run."

  More Info

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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