One of the biggest problems when facing a new government is the economic problems. Because of the revolution, the federal government had acquired a huge debt of $54 million, including interest, not to mention that the states owed another $25 million. The United States was in need of a new financial program to get them back on sound economic footing.
Alexander Hamilton was assigned the task of coming up with a plan to some how resolve these huge debts. As Treasury Secretary, Hamilton designed a financial system that made the United States the best credit risk in the western world. Other countries were more then willing to let the United States borrow money. Hamilton proposed that the government assume the entire debt of the federal government and the states. Many people were very skeptical of this plan, but he went through with it. His plan was to retire the old depreciated obligations by borrowing new money at a lower interes
Hamilton's debt program was a huge success. By demonstrating Americans' willingness to repay their debts, he made the United States attractive to foreign investors. European investment capital poured into the United States in large amounts. The next problem that Hamilton had to face was making a National Bank. He wanted to model it after the bank of England. The national bank would collect taxes, hold government funds, and make loans to the government and borrowers. Some didn't agree with this plan though, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison charged that a national bank was unconstitutional since the Constitution did not specifically give Congress the power to create a bank. It was determined in the Supreme Court case McCullough V. Maryland through the "implied powers" doctrine of the "Elastic Clause", that congress could do what ever was "necessary and proper" to carry out their enumerated duties. Since some of Congresses powers
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