Editing Thomas Jefferson (section)

===Banks===
[[File:Alexander Hamilton portrait by John Trumbull 1806.jpg|thumb|Jefferson opposed Treasury Secretary [[Alexander Hamilton]]'s proposal to establish a government bank, and the two emerged as political rivals during [[Presidency of George Washington|George Washington's presidency]].]]

Jefferson distrusted government banks and opposed public borrowing, which he thought created long-term debt, bred monopolies, and invited dangerous speculation as opposed to productive labor.<ref>[[#Malone81|Malone, 1981]], pp. 140–143.</ref> In one letter to Madison, he argued each generation should curtail all debt within 19 years, and not impose a long-term debt on subsequent generations.<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], pp. 224–225.</ref>

In 1791, President Washington asked Jefferson, then secretary of state, and Hamilton, the secretary of the treasury, if the Congress had the authority to create a [[First Bank of the United States|national bank]]. While Hamilton believed so, Jefferson and Madison thought a national bank would ignore the needs of individuals and farmers, and would violate the [[Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Tenth Amendment]] by assuming powers not granted to the federal government by the states.<ref>[[#Bailey2007|Bailey, 2007]], p. 82; [[#Wood2010|Wood, 2010]], p. 144; [[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], p. 249.</ref> Hamilton successfully argued that the [[implied powers]] given to the federal government in the Constitution supported the creation of a national bank, among other federal actions.

Jefferson used agrarian resistance to banks and speculators as the first defining principle of an opposition party, recruiting candidates for Congress on the issue as early as 1792.<ref>[[#Ferling13|Ferling, 2013]], pp. 221–222.</ref> As president, Jefferson was persuaded by Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin to leave the bank intact but sought to restrain its influence.<ref>[[#Wood2010|Wood, 2010]], pp. 293–295.</ref>{{efn|The First Bank of the U.S. was eventually abolished in 1811 by a heavily Republican Congress.<ref>[[#Wood2010|Wood, 2010]], pp. 295–296.</ref>}}