A Study Of Alexander Hamilton’s Conservatism

From the illegitimate child of the West Indies to the founder of the United States,Alexander Hamilton’s life is closely related to the fate of the United States.As the first treasury secretary in the history of the United States and the key figure of the Washington government,he participated in and led the formulation of the Federal Constitution and the construction of the government system,which laid an important foundation for the political and economic system of the United States.For a long time,the research on Hamilton’s federal republicanism and constitutional theory has been the mainstream in the academic circles.However,his conservatism has not been written specifically,just scattered in the attention and analysis of his political thoughts,as well as the evaluation of the founding father and the analysis of the Federalists’ thoughts.Hamilton’s political ideas,such as nationalism,a strong central government and the subordination of state power to the Federation,seem to have nothing to do with the conservatism that advocates a limited government.However,in fact,Hamilton is one of the main representatives of conservatism in the early days of the United States.His conservative concepts not only have rich ideological connotation,but also contain specific practical significance.Through a series of system designs,he poured conservatism into the political system of the United States,which not only establishes the basic political framework for the Republic,but also shaped the history of the United States.This paper focuses on the study of Hamilton’s conservatism,and discusses his conservative ideas from four chapters.The first chapter mainly introduces the definition of conservatism and the formation of the unique early conservatism in the United States,which is the background and origin of Hamilton’s conservatism.Hamilton’s conservatism does not exist in isolation.They were not only influenced by the early conservatism of the United States,but also became a part of it by integrating into the United States to establish a constitution.The second chapter focuses on the main content of Hamilton’s conservative thought,based on his negative philosophy of human nature,and around the complex and changeable relationship between freedom,order and power,demonstrates Hamilton’s specific conservative principles from the revolution to the founding of the USA.The third chapter is the practice of Hamilton’s conservatism in the United States,which further explains Hamilton’s conservatism and reflects its far-reaching influence on the United States.The fourth chapter comments on Hamilton’s conservatism,analyzes the characteristics,nature,defects and shortcomings of Hamilton’s conservatism as a whole.