[Misschuck]

I also thought the series was great. It made me get out McCullough’s book and finish it. I am now reading “Alexander Hamilton” by Ron Chernow. The book is excellent and believe me Thomas Jefferson was a pure liberal who wouldn’t condone Hamilton’s policies even as they were working. He was subversive also just as he was portrayed in the miniseries. Amazing what some reading will do. I thought I knew some history.

[LS]

Hamilton was brilliant. Yes, he came from a quasi-mercantilist background, so he wasn't as "free market" as others; but his most important principle was that the nation had to pay its debts, that money had to be "as good as gold," and that enforcing contracts was the central economic business of a government. In that way, he greatly accelerated the free market and individual rights.

Jefferson contributed significantly too by developing a system in which land was released from government control to individual ownership---just the opposite of his "successors," the modern-day Dems. It was also TJ who suggested the Spanish, not English, money as a basis for our own . . . in 10s!