Editing Alexander Hamilton (section)

==Return to civilian life (1782–1789)==

===Congress of the Confederation===
{{main|Congress of the Confederation}}

After Yorktown, Hamilton returned to New York City and resigned his commission in March 1782. He passed the bar in July after six months of self-directed education and, in October, was licensed to argue cases before the [[Supreme Court of New York]].<ref name=Murray2007>{{cite book |last=Murray |first=Joseph A. |title=Alexander Hamilton: America's Forgotten Founder |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2If-6zJM8VIC&pg=PT74 |year=2007 |publisher=Algora Publishing |isbn=978-0-87586-502-7 |page=74}}</ref> He also accepted an offer from [[Robert Morris (financier)|Robert Morris]] to become receiver of continental taxes for the [[New York state]].<ref>Chernow, pp. 165–171</ref> Hamilton was appointed in July 1782 to the [[Congress of the Confederation]] as a New York representative for the term beginning in November 1782.<ref>Syrett, p. III:117; for a one-year term beginning the "first Monday in November next", arrived in Philadelphia between November 18 and 25, and resigned July 1783.</ref> Before his appointment to Congress in 1782, Hamilton was already sharing his criticisms of Congress. He expressed these criticisms in his letter to James Duane dated September 3, 1780: "The fundamental defect is a want of power in Congress ... the confederation itself is defective and requires to be altered; it is neither fit for war, nor peace."<ref>Hamilton, Alexander. ''Alexander Hamilton: Writings''. Compiled by [[Joanne B. Freeman]]. New York: Literary Classics of the United States, Inc., 2001. pp. 70–71</ref>

While on Washington's staff, Hamilton had become frustrated with the decentralized nature of the wartime Continental Congress, particularly its dependence upon the states for voluntary financial support that was not often forthcoming. Under the [[Articles of Confederation]], Congress had no power to collect taxes or to demand money from the states. This lack of a stable source of funding had made it difficult for the [[Continental Army]] both to obtain its necessary provisions and to pay its soldiers. During the war, and for some time after, Congress obtained what funds it could from subsidies from the King of France, European loans, and aid requested from the several states, which were often unable or unwilling to contribute.<ref>Kohn; Brant, p. 45; Rakove, p. 324.</ref>

An amendment to the Articles had been proposed by [[Thomas Burke (North Carolina)|Thomas Burke]], in February 1781, to give Congress the power to collect a five percent impost, or duty on all imports, but this required ratification by all states; securing its passage as law proved impossible after it was rejected by Rhode Island in November 1782. [[James Madison]] joined Hamilton in influencing Congress to send a delegation to persuade Rhode Island to change its mind. Their report recommending the delegation argued the national government needed not just some level of financial autonomy, but also the ability to make laws that superseded those of the individual states. Hamilton transmitted a letter arguing that Congress already had the power to tax, since it had the power to fix the sums due from the several states; but Virginia's [[Rescission (contract law)|rescission]] of its own ratification of this amendment ended the Rhode Island negotiations.<ref name=chernow176>Chernow, [https://archive.org/details/alexanderhamilto00cher/page/n195 p. 176].</ref><ref>Brant, p. 100</ref>

===Congress and the army===
{{Further|Newburgh Conspiracy}}

While Hamilton was in Congress, discontented soldiers began to pose a danger to the young United States. Most of the army was then posted at [[Newburgh, New York]]. Those in the army were funding much of their own supplies, and they had not been paid in eight months. Furthermore, after [[Valley Forge]], the Continental officers had been promised in May 1778 a pension of half their pay when they were discharged.<ref>Martin and Lender, pp. 109, 160: at first for seven years, increased to life after Arnold's treason.</ref> By the early 1780s, due to the structure of the government under the Articles of Confederation, it had no power to tax to either raise revenue or pay its soldiers.<ref name=Tucker15>Tucker, p. 470.</ref> In 1782, after several months without pay, a group of officers organized to send a delegation to lobby Congress, led by Captain Alexander McDougall. The officers had three demands: the army's pay, their own pensions, and commutation of those pensions into a lump-sum payment if Congress were unable to afford the half-salary pensions for life. Congress rejected the proposal.<ref name=Tucker15/>

Several congressmen, including Hamilton, [[Robert Morris (financier)|Robert Morris]], and [[Gouverneur Morris]], attempted to use the so-called [[Newburgh Conspiracy]] as leverage to secure support from the states and in Congress for funding of the national government. They encouraged MacDougall to continue his aggressive approach, implying unknown consequences if their demands were not met, and defeated proposals designed to end the crisis without establishing general taxation: that the states assume the debt to the army, or that an impost be established dedicated to the sole purpose of paying that debt.<ref name=ellis141>Kohn; Ellis 2004, pp. 141–144.</ref>

Hamilton suggested using the Army's claims to prevail upon the states for the proposed national funding system.<ref>Kohn, p. 196.</ref> The Morrises and Hamilton contacted General [[Henry Knox]] to suggest he and the officers defy civil authority, at least by not disbanding if the army were not satisfied. Hamilton wrote Washington to suggest that Hamilton covertly "take direction" of the officers' efforts to secure redress, to secure continental funding but keep the army within the limits of moderation.<ref name=chernow177>Chernow, [https://archive.org/details/alexanderhamilto00cher/page/n196 pp. 177–180].</ref><ref>Hamilton's letter of February 13, 1783; Syrett, pp. III:253–255.</ref> Washington wrote Hamilton back, declining to introduce the army.<ref>Washington to Hamilton, March 4 and 12, 1783; Kohn; Martin and Lender, pp. 189–190.</ref> After the crisis had ended, Washington warned of the dangers of using the army as leverage to gain support for the national funding plan.<ref name=chernow177/><ref name=Washington1783>{{cite web |title=To Alexander Hamilton from George Washington, 4 April 1783 |website=Founders Online |publisher=National Archives |url=https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Hamilton/01-03-02-0202 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160319223520/http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Hamilton/01-03-02-0202 |archive-date=March 19, 2016 |access-date=June 25, 2018}}</ref>

On March 15, Washington defused the Newburgh situation by addressing the officers personally.<ref name="ellis141"/> Congress ordered the Army officially disbanded in April 1783. In the same month, Congress passed a new measure for a 25-year impost—which Hamilton voted against<ref>Rakove, pp. 322, 325.</ref>—that again required the consent of all the states; it also approved a commutation of the officers' pensions to five years of full pay. Rhode Island again opposed these provisions, and Hamilton's robust assertions of national prerogatives in his previous letter were widely held to be excessive.<ref>Brant, p. 108.</ref>

In June 1783, a different group of disgruntled soldiers from [[Lancaster, Pennsylvania]], sent Congress a petition demanding their back pay. When they began to march toward Philadelphia, Congress charged Hamilton and two others with intercepting the mob.<ref name=chernow177/> Hamilton requested militia from Pennsylvania's Supreme Executive Council, but was turned down. Hamilton instructed Assistant Secretary of War [[William Jackson (secretary)|William Jackson]] to intercept the men. Jackson was unsuccessful. The mob arrived in Philadelphia, and the soldiers proceeded to harangue Congress for their pay. Hamilton argued that Congress ought to adjourn to [[Princeton, New Jersey]]. Congress agreed, and relocated there.<ref name=chernow182>Chernow, [https://archive.org/details/alexanderhamilto00cher/page/n201 pp. 182–183].</ref> Frustrated with the weakness of the national government, Hamilton while in Princeton, drafted a call to revise the Articles of Confederation. This resolution contained many features of the future Constitution of the United States, including a strong federal government with the ability to collect taxes and raise an army. It also included the [[separation of powers]] into the [[United States Congress|legislative]], [[Federal government of the United States#Executive branch|executive]], and [[Federal judiciary of the United States|judicial]] branches.<ref name=chernow182/>

===Return to New York===
{{further|Annapolis Convention (1786)}}

Hamilton resigned from Congress in 1783.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Alexander Hamilton Papers |url=https://www.loc.gov/collections/alexander-hamilton-papers/articles-and-essays/timeline/ |access-date=July 4, 2020 |website=Library of Congress |archive-date=July 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200704034105/https://www.loc.gov/collections/alexander-hamilton-papers/articles-and-essays/timeline/ |url-status=live}}</ref> When [[Evacuation Day (New York)|the British left New York in 1783]], he practiced there in partnership with [[Richard Harison]]. He specialized in defending [[Loyalist (American Revolution)|Tories]] and British subjects, as in ''[[Rutgers v. Waddington]]'', in which he defeated a claim for damages done to a brewery by the Englishmen who held it during the military occupation of New York. He pleaded for the mayor's court to interpret state law consistent with the 1783 Treaty of Paris, which had ended the Revolutionary War.<ref name=chernow197-199>Chernow, [https://archive.org/details/alexanderhamilto00cher/page/n216 pp. 197–199].</ref><ref name=McDonald/>{{rp|64–69}} In 1784, Hamilton founded the [[Bank of New York]].<ref name=Globe2011>{{cite news |last1=Wallack |first1=Todd |title=Which bank is the oldest? Accounts vary |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2011/12/20/oldest-bank-america-accounts-vary/WAqvIlmipfFhyKsx8bhgAJ/story.html |work=[[The Boston Globe]] |date=December 20, 2011 |access-date=December 10, 2017 |archive-date=October 25, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201025202634/https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2011/12/20/oldest-bank-america-accounts-vary/WAqvIlmipfFhyKsx8bhgAJ/story.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

Long dissatisfied with the Articles of Confederation as too weak to be effective, Hamilton played a major leadership role at the [[1786 Annapolis Convention]]. He drafted its resolution for a constitutional convention, and in doing so brought one step closer to reality his longtime desire to have a more effectual, more financially self-sufficient federal government.<ref name=Morris1988>{{cite book |last=Morris |first=Richard B. |title=The Forging of the Union, 1781–1789 |publisher=Harper & Row |year=1988 |page=[https://archive.org/details/forgingofunion00morr_0/page/255 255] |url=https://archive.org/details/forgingofunion00morr_0 |url-access=registration |isbn=978-0-06-015733-3}}</ref>

As a member of the legislature of New York, Hamilton argued forcefully and at length in favor of a bill to recognize the [[Vermont Republic|sovereignty of the State of Vermont]], against numerous objections to its constitutionality and policy. Consideration of the bill was deferred to a later date. From 1787 to 1789, Hamilton exchanged letters with [[Nathaniel Chipman]], a lawyer representing Vermont. After the Constitution of the United States went into effect, Hamilton said, "One of the first subjects of deliberation with the new Congress will be the independence of Kentucky, for which the southern states will be anxious. The northern will be glad to send a counterpoise in Vermont."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Founders Online: From Alexander Hamilton to Nathaniel Chipman, 22 July 1788 |url=http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Hamilton/01-05-02-0012-0088 |access-date=January 25, 2023 |website=founders.archives.gov |archive-date=March 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230324105030/https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Hamilton/01-05-02-0012-0088 |url-status=live}}</ref> Vermont was admitted to the Union in 1791.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Vermont |url=https://www.history.com/topics/us-states/vermont |access-date=January 25, 2023 |website=History.com |date=October 31, 2019 |archive-date=January 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230125214031/https://www.history.com/topics/us-states/vermont |url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1788, he was awarded a [[Master of Arts]] degree from his [[alma mater]], the former King's College, now reconstituted as Columbia College.<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/62640310R.nlm.nih.gov |title=Catalogue of Columbia College in the City of New-York : embracing the names of its trustees, officers, and graduates, together with a list of all academical honours conferred by the institution from A.D. 1758 to A.D. 1826, inclusive |date=1826 |publisher=T. and J. Swords |others=U.S. National Library of Medicine}}</ref> It was during this post-war period that Hamilton served on the college's [[board of trustees]], playing a part in the reopening of the college and placing it on firm financial footing.<ref>{{cite web |date=December 14, 2016 |title=Alexander Hamilton CC 1778 |url=https://www.college.columbia.edu/alumni/content/alexander-hamilton-cc-1778 |access-date=February 13, 2023 |website=Columbia College Alumni Association |archive-date=February 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230213220718/https://www.college.columbia.edu/alumni/content/alexander-hamilton-cc-1778 |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Constitution and ''The Federalist Papers''===
{{Main|United States Constitution|The Federalist Papers}}
[[File:Alexander Hamilton making the first draft of the Constitution for the United States 1787 (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright=1|Portrait of Hamilton authoring the first draft of the [[U.S. Constitution]] in 1787]]

In 1787, Hamilton served as assemblyman from [[New York County]] in the [[New York State Legislature]] and was chosen as a delegate at the [[Constitutional Convention (United States)|Constitutional Convention]] in [[Philadelphia]] by his father-in-law [[Philip Schuyler]].<ref name=schachner>{{cite book |last=Schachner |first=Nathan |title=Alexander Hamilton |url=https://archive.org/details/alexanderhamilto0000scha_p8e9 |location=New York |publisher=D. Appleton Century |asin=B0006AQUG2 |year=1946}}</ref>{{rp|191}}<ref>Morton, p. 169.</ref> Even though Hamilton had been a leader in calling for a new Constitutional Convention, his direct influence at the Convention itself was quite limited. Governor [[George Clinton (vice president)|George Clinton]]'s faction in the New York legislature had chosen New York's other two delegates, [[John Lansing Jr.]] and [[Robert Yates (politician)|Robert Yates]], and both of them opposed Hamilton's goal of a strong national government.<ref name=chernow227-228>Chernow, [https://archive.org/details/alexanderhamilto00cher/page/n246 pp. 227–228].</ref><ref name=Morton15>Morton, p. 131.</ref> Thus, whenever the other two members of the New York delegation were present, they decided New York's vote, to ensure that there were no major alterations to the Articles of Confederation.<ref name=schachner />{{rp|195}}

Early in the convention, Hamilton made a speech proposing a president-for-life; it had no effect upon the deliberations of the convention. [[Constitutional Convention (United States)#Alternative plans|He proposed]] to have an elected president and elected [[United States Senate|senators]] who would serve for life, contingent upon "good behavior" and subject to removal for corruption or abuse; this idea contributed later to the hostile view of Hamilton as a monarchist sympathizer, held by James Madison.<ref name=chernow232>Chernow, [https://archive.org/details/alexanderhamilto00cher/page/n251 p. 232].</ref> According to Madison's notes, Hamilton said in regards to the executive, "The English model was the only good one on this subject. The hereditary interest of the king was so interwoven with that of the nation, and his personal emoluments so great, that he was placed above the danger of being corrupted from abroad... Let one executive be appointed for life who dares execute his powers."<ref name=LarsonWinship2005>{{cite book |last=Madison |first=James |title=The Constitutional Convention: A Narrative History from the Notes of James Madison |editor1-first=Edward J. |editor1-last=Larson |editor2-first=Michael P. |editor2-last=Winship |location=New York |publisher=Modern Library |year=2005 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MKk_DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA50 |pages=50–51 |isbn=978-0-8129-7517-8}}</ref>

Hamilton argued, "And let me observe that an executive is less dangerous to the liberties of the people when in office during life than for seven years. It may be said this constitutes as an elective monarchy ... But by making the executive subject to [[Federal impeachment in the United States|impeachment]], the term 'monarchy' cannot apply ..."<ref name=LarsonWinship2005/> In his notes of the convention, Madison interpreted Hamilton's proposal as claiming power for the "rich and well born". Madison's perspective all but isolated Hamilton from his fellow delegates and others who felt they did not reflect the ideas of revolution and liberty.<ref>[[#stewart|Stewart, 2016]], p. 33</ref>

During the convention, Hamilton constructed a draft for the Constitution based on the convention debates, but he never presented it. This draft had most of the features of the actual Constitution. In this draft, the Senate was to be elected in proportion to the population, being two-fifths the size of the House, and the president and senators were to be elected through complex multistage elections, in which chosen electors would elect smaller bodies of electors; they would hold office for life, but were removable for misconduct. The president would have an absolute veto. The [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] was to have immediate jurisdiction over all lawsuits involving the United States, and state governors were to be appointed by the federal government.<ref>Mitchell, pp. I:397–398.</ref>

At the end of the convention, Hamilton was still not content with the final Constitution, but signed it anyway as a vast improvement over the Articles of Confederation, and urged his fellow delegates to do so also.<ref>Brant, p. 195.</ref> Since the other two members of the New York delegation, Lansing and Yates, had already withdrawn, Hamilton was the only New York signer to the United States Constitution.<ref name=schachner />{{rp|206}} He then took a highly active part in the successful campaign for the document's ratification in New York in 1788, which was a crucial step in its national ratification. He first used the popularity of the Constitution by the masses to compel George Clinton to sign, but was unsuccessful. The state convention in Poughkeepsie in June 1788 pitted Hamilton, Jay, [[James Duane]], [[Robert Le Roy Livingston|Robert Livingston]], and Richard Morris against the Clintonian faction led by [[Melancton Smith]], Lansing, Yates, and [[Gilbert Livingston (legislator)|Gilbert Livingston]].<ref name=Denboer15>Denboer, p. 196.</ref>

Clinton's faction wanted to amend the Constitution, while maintaining the state's right to secede if their attempts failed, and members of Hamilton's faction were against any conditional ratification, under the impression that New York would not be accepted into the Union. During the state convention, New Hampshire and Virginia becoming the ninth and tenth states to ratify the Constitution, respectively, had ensured any adjournment would not happen and a compromise would have to be reached.<ref name=Denboer15/><ref name=Kaplan15>Kaplan, p. 75.</ref> Hamilton's arguments used for the ratifications were largely iterations of work from ''The Federalist Papers'', and Smith eventually went for ratification, though it was more out of necessity than Hamilton's rhetoric.<ref name=Kaplan15/> The vote in the state convention was ratified 30 to 27, on July 26, 1788.<ref>Denboer, p. 197.</ref>

====''The Federalist Papers''====
Hamilton recruited John Jay and James Madison to write ''The Federalist Papers'', a series of essays, to defend the proposed Constitution. He made the largest contribution to that effort, writing 51 of the 85 essays published. Hamilton supervised the entire project, enlisted the participants, wrote the majority of the essays, and oversaw the publication. During the project, each person was responsible for their areas of expertise. Jay covered foreign relations. Madison covered the history of republics and confederacies, along with the anatomy of the new government. Hamilton covered the branches of government most pertinent to him: the executive and judicial branches, with some aspects of the Senate, as well as covering military matters and taxation.<ref name=chernow247>Chernow, [https://archive.org/details/alexanderhamilto00cher/page/n266 pp. 247–248].</ref> The papers first appeared in ''[[The Independent Journal]]'' on October 27, 1787.<ref name=chernow247/>

Hamilton wrote the first paper signed as [[Publius (praenomen)|Publius]], and all of the subsequent papers were signed under the name.<ref name=schachner />{{rp|210}} Jay wrote the next four papers to elaborate on the confederation's weakness and the need for unity against foreign aggression and against splitting into rival confederacies, and, except for [[Federalist No. 64|No. 64]], was not further involved.<ref name=chernow252-257>Chernow, [https://archive.org/details/alexanderhamilto00cher/page/n271 pp. 252–257].</ref><ref name=schachner />{{rp|211}} Hamilton's highlights included discussion that although republics have been culpable for disorders in the past, advances in the "science of politics" had fostered principles that ensured that those abuses could be prevented, such as the division of powers, legislative checks and balances, an independent judiciary, and legislators that were represented by electors (No. 7–9).<ref name=chernow252-257/> Hamilton also wrote an extensive defense of the constitution (No. 23–36), and discussed the Senate and executive and judicial branches (No. 65–85). Hamilton and Madison worked to describe the anarchic state of the confederation (No. 15–22), and the two have been described as not being significantly different in thought during this time period—in contrast to their stark opposition later in life.<ref name=chernow252-257/> Subtle differences appeared with the two when discussing the necessity of standing armies.<ref name=chernow252-257/>