Joseph J. Ellis by Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation
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to Edmund Randolph, 21 March 1790; Madison to Henry Lee, 13 April 1790, ibid., 95, 110, 147–148.
18. Lee to Madison, 4 March, 3 April 1790, ibid., 87–91, 136–137.
19. Madison to Edmund Pendleton, 2 May 1790; George Nicholas to Madison, 3 May 1790; Edward Carrington to Madison, 7 April 1790, ibid., 184–185, 187, 142.
20. Madison to Jefferson, 17 April 1790, ibid., 151.
21. This personality sketch of Hamilton represents my own interpretive distillation from the multiple biographies. The insecurity theme is a central feature of Jacob Ernest Cooke,
Alexander Hamilton: A Biography
(New York, 1979), v–vi.
22. The hoofprints from several herds of historians and biographers have trampled this ground. Of all the biographers, I found Forrest McDonald,
Alexander Hamilton
(New York, 1979), 117–188, the most provocatively original on these themes and Cooke,
Alexander Hamilton
, 73–84, the most reliably sound. The background to the
Report on the Public Credit
is discussed succinctly and sensibly in the editorial note in Syrett, vol. 6, 51–65.
23. For Hamilton’s arguments against “discrimination,” see Syrett, vol. 6, 70–78, and the editorial documentation provided in ibid., 58–59.
24. Ibid., 70, 80–82.
25. The quotation about “mending fences” is from Cooke,
Alexander Hamilton
, 94. The interpretation offered here and in the succeeding paragraphs draws on all the standard sources. The two most influential secondary accounts, again as I see it, are Jacob E. Cooke, ed.,
The Reports of Alexander Hamilton
, vii–xxiii, and Elkins and McKitrick,
The Age of Federalism
, 93–136. The latter includes a discussion of Hamilton’s capacity for “projection,” by which the authors mean the tendency to foresee or forecast economic trends. I am suggesting here that the vision Hamilton “projected” was very much a projection of his own distinctive character.
26. Madison to Lee, 13 April 1790, Rutland, vol. 22, 147–148.
27. Hamilton to Lee, 1 December 1789, Syrett, vi, i; Hamilton to William Duer, 4–7 April 1790, ibid., 346–347, for the resignation and editorial note on Duer’s unquestionable thievery. The best modern estimate is that he swindled the federal government for personal profits that totaled about $300,000.
28. The best recent study of the economic predicament of Virginia’s elite is Bruce A. Ragsdale,
A Planter’s Republic: The Search for Economic Independence in Revolutionary Virginia
(Madison, 1994). Older but still useful studies include T. H. Breen,
Tobacco Culture: The Mentality of the Great Tidewater Planters on the Eve of the American Revolution
(Princeton, 1985), and Norman Risjord,
Chesapeake Politics, 1181–1800
(New York, 1978), 84–123. On Jefferson’s economic situation and its psychological implications, see Sloan,
Principle and Interest
, 86–124.
29. On Jefferson’s condition during the spring, see Jefferson to Thomas Mann Randolph, 9 May 1790, Boyd, vol. 16, 416. On Washington’s health, see Jefferson to Randolph, 16 May 1790; Jefferson to William Short, 27 May 1790, ibid., 429, 444. Jefferson’s primary focus was his
Report on Weights and Measures
, ibid., 602–675.
30. For Jefferson’s Paris years, see Dumas Malone,
Jefferson and His Time
, 6 vols. (Boston, 1948–1981), vol. 2, and Ellis,
American Sphinx
, 64–117. The quotation is from Jefferson to Francis Hopkinson, 13 March 1789, Boyd, vol. 14, 650.
31. Pauline Maier,
American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence
(New York, 1997), 154–208.
32. Jefferson to Randolph, 18 April 1790; Jefferson to Lee, 26 April 1790; Jefferson to Randolph, 30 May 1790; Jefferson to George Mason, 13 June 1790, Boyd, vol. 16, 351, 385–386, 449, 493.
33. Kenneth Bowling,
The Creation of Washington, D.C.: The Idea and Location of the American Capital
(Fairfax, Va., 1991), x–xi, 148.
34. Ibid., 129–138, 161–181.
35. Madison to Pendleton, 20 June 1790, Rutland, vol. 13, 252–253; Richard Peters to
18. Lee to Madison, 4 March, 3 April 1790, ibid., 87–91, 136–137.
19. Madison to Edmund Pendleton, 2 May 1790; George Nicholas to Madison, 3 May 1790; Edward Carrington to Madison, 7 April 1790, ibid., 184–185, 187, 142.
20. Madison to Jefferson, 17 April 1790, ibid., 151.
21. This personality sketch of Hamilton represents my own interpretive distillation from the multiple biographies. The insecurity theme is a central feature of Jacob Ernest Cooke,
Alexander Hamilton: A Biography
(New York, 1979), v–vi.
22. The hoofprints from several herds of historians and biographers have trampled this ground. Of all the biographers, I found Forrest McDonald,
Alexander Hamilton
(New York, 1979), 117–188, the most provocatively original on these themes and Cooke,
Alexander Hamilton
, 73–84, the most reliably sound. The background to the
Report on the Public Credit
is discussed succinctly and sensibly in the editorial note in Syrett, vol. 6, 51–65.
23. For Hamilton’s arguments against “discrimination,” see Syrett, vol. 6, 70–78, and the editorial documentation provided in ibid., 58–59.
24. Ibid., 70, 80–82.
25. The quotation about “mending fences” is from Cooke,
Alexander Hamilton
, 94. The interpretation offered here and in the succeeding paragraphs draws on all the standard sources. The two most influential secondary accounts, again as I see it, are Jacob E. Cooke, ed.,
The Reports of Alexander Hamilton
, vii–xxiii, and Elkins and McKitrick,
The Age of Federalism
, 93–136. The latter includes a discussion of Hamilton’s capacity for “projection,” by which the authors mean the tendency to foresee or forecast economic trends. I am suggesting here that the vision Hamilton “projected” was very much a projection of his own distinctive character.
26. Madison to Lee, 13 April 1790, Rutland, vol. 22, 147–148.
27. Hamilton to Lee, 1 December 1789, Syrett, vi, i; Hamilton to William Duer, 4–7 April 1790, ibid., 346–347, for the resignation and editorial note on Duer’s unquestionable thievery. The best modern estimate is that he swindled the federal government for personal profits that totaled about $300,000.
28. The best recent study of the economic predicament of Virginia’s elite is Bruce A. Ragsdale,
A Planter’s Republic: The Search for Economic Independence in Revolutionary Virginia
(Madison, 1994). Older but still useful studies include T. H. Breen,
Tobacco Culture: The Mentality of the Great Tidewater Planters on the Eve of the American Revolution
(Princeton, 1985), and Norman Risjord,
Chesapeake Politics, 1181–1800
(New York, 1978), 84–123. On Jefferson’s economic situation and its psychological implications, see Sloan,
Principle and Interest
, 86–124.
29. On Jefferson’s condition during the spring, see Jefferson to Thomas Mann Randolph, 9 May 1790, Boyd, vol. 16, 416. On Washington’s health, see Jefferson to Randolph, 16 May 1790; Jefferson to William Short, 27 May 1790, ibid., 429, 444. Jefferson’s primary focus was his
Report on Weights and Measures
, ibid., 602–675.
30. For Jefferson’s Paris years, see Dumas Malone,
Jefferson and His Time
, 6 vols. (Boston, 1948–1981), vol. 2, and Ellis,
American Sphinx
, 64–117. The quotation is from Jefferson to Francis Hopkinson, 13 March 1789, Boyd, vol. 14, 650.
31. Pauline Maier,
American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence
(New York, 1997), 154–208.
32. Jefferson to Randolph, 18 April 1790; Jefferson to Lee, 26 April 1790; Jefferson to Randolph, 30 May 1790; Jefferson to George Mason, 13 June 1790, Boyd, vol. 16, 351, 385–386, 449, 493.
33. Kenneth Bowling,
The Creation of Washington, D.C.: The Idea and Location of the American Capital
(Fairfax, Va., 1991), x–xi, 148.
34. Ibid., 129–138, 161–181.
35. Madison to Pendleton, 20 June 1790, Rutland, vol. 13, 252–253; Richard Peters to
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