Upper Class of the Federalist Party

^^(Portrait of Alexander Hamilton)

One of Alexander Hamilton's leading ideas, as a leader of the Federalist party, was to set apart "a wealthy, enlightened ruling class" to lead and support the government (152). Hamilton thought that by having a distinct wealthy class hand in hand with the government, the nation would thrive because of the upper class' governmental support, setting up something of an aristocracy. In my opinion, I think that democracy is the best form of government; not only did it result in the United States being the great nation that it is today, but it is also the most fair form of government, in that it spreads power among all people. Although I am a strong believer in democracy, a question came into mind while reading this bit about Hamilton. Back in the 1790s, success was attainable no matter what class one originates from, however, a wealthy person was certainly more educated than someone of a lower class, much different than todays standards of education in which everyone is by law required to go to school. This made me think about whether or not it would be better to have educated people influence governmental affairs as opposed to uneducated people, so long as the educated people do not take advantage of others.

Yet another argument to this is that only white, male landowners could vote, which would mean that anyone who is too poor (and therefore uneducated) to own property would not be allowed to vote in the first place. Which do you think is right... having a very influential upper class or having power distributed evenly among all? Although democracy is definitely the more fair form of government, in my opinion it would be better to have more educated people run the government. This, in combination with checks and balances, would ensure that greed cannot overrun the system of a powerful wealthy class. In addition, the wealthy class is not set in stone because success can be achieved by anyone, which would mean that almost anyone who meets the requirements of a citizen can gain power, so long as they have the will to.

Hard Work and Success in America

In the reading in Major Problems in American History, titled "Radical Possibilities of the American Revolution" there was a paragraph about the switch from hard labor as being an act of the poor, to hard labor being a way to gain success. As I read this I found this to be true in America, however, I was curious as to how this switch was brought about. In my opinion, I think the switch was brought about because there was no established social system in new America as there was in Europe. Since there were no real social classes, no one could be born into success, like in Europe, and thus had to work for it. This strong will to gain success carried through from the late 1760s to today. One of the greatest liberties of America is that one can truly make their own destiny, without being oppressed by any form of social system or requirement. How do you think this change came about?

Since the social classes of people could be changed, people worked harder, and competed against each other to make it to the top. I believe that this reason alone is one of the more significant causes of the Industrial Revolution, which occurred from the late 1700s to the early 1900s. Even after the Industrial Revolution, new innovations continue to be created; the list is endless, the computer, the telephone and the television.

Image of a factory during the Industrial Revolution:

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