Posted on 01/11/2005 6:57:16 AM PST by Valin
I'm not certain that they could have worked out a workable formula, either.
Not because there weren't sufficient funds, but because there were forces inimical to abolition, regardless of how much economic sense it made.
No one wanted to breach the subject-in a serious manner-because they felt that it would provoke armed conflict, which was an eventuality, no matter who was president or which party happened to be in control of Congress at the time.
My firm belief is that the conflict over the issue of slavery was made needlessly bloody by prolonging the resolution of this question.
"Broach..."
Before the Fed was established, there was a "depression" (called Panics then) most every decade. The Fed didn't cause the Crash of '29 --- the lack of any effective security law did. And the Great Depression wasn't extended by the fact their was a Fed, but by some very stupid decisions by Congress and the Hoover/Roosevelt Treasury departments which essentially followed the same miguided policies.
However, I get a red flag on his desire for a strong central government. I wonder just how strong a central government he visualized and how our modern structure compares to that vision.
Maybe we have gone beyond his intent on centralization.
We can blame Eli Whitney.
The Fed did screw up at the beginning of the Depression by contracting the money supply too much. Later it tried to expand but encountered the famed "Liquidity Trap" which Keynes used to show that monetary policy wouldn't work to overcome the problem since "you can't push on a string."
It was after this failure that FDR and others began to look at fundamental institutional change and fiscal policy to get out of the difficulty.
When Hamilton was in office and alive the fedgov was TINY and in great danger of being swamped by the power of the states. That danger was a principle reason the Constitution was created.
Hamilton did not fear the future and clearly understood that the more complex and advanced a society is the larger the government must be. The more rights the electorate demands be protected the larger the government must be.
When Hamilton was alive the federal revenues were less than $10 per capita. His alleged love for a big government was just Jeffersonian propaganda. Even the British government that he was so "in love with" was tiny.
He wanted a strong but small government mostly focussed on defense, roads and the inescapable judicial duties. Sounds pretty good to me. He'd have been aghast, IMHO, regarding the bloated welfare state of today.
I seriously doubt he was in favor of anything like what we have today.
None of these guys (the Founders) could be called shrinking violets.
No, lots of confusion here.
Jefferson offered to help quell the rebellion in 1801 however suspicions of the French intentions to next take their army to Louisiana did get to his attention and nothing came of it.
There was no embargo unil 1804- after Louisiana was safely in our hands. That embargo was solely against trading with the rebels, later the Embargo Act prohibited trade with the French there too in 1807.
I don't have at hand any source that woud show he continued to supply arms, but I'm sure he did. Obviously he didn't embargo arms trading.
to the u. s. minister to france (robert r. livingston.)
Washington, Apr. 18, 1802.
"The idea here is that the troops sent to St. Domingo, were to proceed to Louisiana after finishing their work in that island. If this were the arrangement, it will give you time to return again and again to the charge, for the conquest of St. Domingo will not be a short work. It will take considerable time to wear down a great number of souldiers. "
It was tough for Jefferson to support the black rebels for a lot of reasons. Yet he did for the good of the country.
Correction: The embargo against the rebels was signed on FEBRUARY 28, 1806.
On a side note, I say we should put the Gipper on the ten spot. ;^)
5.56mm
He, he....thank you for thinking of me, Mike.
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