Conservatives and Liberals

During the 1790s there were two distinct groups that clearly emerged in society. These two groups were commonly known as the conservatives and the liberals. Both opposed each others ideas when it came to the subject matter of government in the United States. Among these two groups were some of the greatest men known in history, and I am going to talk about two men in particular. Thomas Jefferson, a liberal, and Alexander Hamilton, a conservative, shared different ideas on what should become of our government following the creation of our new Constitution.

Alexander Hamilton was one of the greater known conservatives of his time. His main belief was that America should be ruled under one strong central government. This idea of his thrived from monarchies which were popular in Europe at this time. It was from the familiarity of Europe's strong central monarchy which his conservative philosophy did sprout. Not only did Hamilton believe that national government should acquire the most power, but that they should also be able to decide such important things as; mercantile interests like tariffs and taxes. He also thought that there should be a national bank established so that the federal government could control cash flow and regulate the debt situation. Hamilton's ideas of national control did not stop there. He also believed that the President and Congress, by means of the "elastic clause", should be able to extend their authority past what had been states in the Constitution. He also wanted the government to take control over civilians and expressed his thoughts by proposing the idea for tax on whisky in order to control the unruly westerners. If Thomas Jefferson was Hamilton's opposer, can you guess what his ideas might have been?

Thomas Jefferson was a proudly known liberal during the late 1700's. He was not afraid to express his ideas or challenge conservative propositions. He often spoke out about state authority and how states should be able to obtain