The Struggle Between Alexander Hamilton And Thomas Jefferson

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Pages: 2

Every American citizen knows the first president of this great country. However, not everyone knows the variety of challenges George Washington faced during his presidency. His first problem was the fact that he did not want to be the president. To his dismay, he was unanimously chosen by all sixty-nine electors. He accepted the role of president, setting a precedent for all presidents to come. One of the major challenges Mr. Washington faced was settling the national debt. Fighting for and gaining independence was not cheap and the amount of debt that the new nation faced was staggering. Washington had to find a solution. One way he solved this dilemma was by appointing Alexander Hamilton as the Secretary of Treasury. Hamilton’s plan was to pay off the country’s huge debt by …show more content…
They had many different opinions on how the country should be run, with many citizens agreeing with only one of them. Washington found himself struggling with the public’s opinion split into two opposed groups. Jefferson wrote the following about Hamilton: “Hamilton [is] not only a monarchist but… a monarchist bottomed on corruption.” A few months later Hamilton wrote the following about Jefferson: “Mr. Jefferson is at the head of a faction… hostile to me… and subversive of the principles of good government, and dangerous to the union, peace and happiness of the country.” Finally, the Whiskey Rebellion brought many challenges to Washington. The tax on whiskey was one of the two parts of Hamilton’s financial plan. The other part was tariffs, or taxes on imported goods. The burden of the whiskey tax fell hardest on the farmers of Virginia and Pennsylvania. Their protests soon turned into outright refusal to pay the tax. This angered Washington so he responded quickly and aggressively by having the militia suppress the rebellion and ensure that the laws are being