"Always Ready!"
"Hamilton took his stand on one of the stoops, and proceeded with great animation and eloquence to harangue the mob on the excessive impropriety of their conduct, and the disgrace it would bring on the cause of liberty; of which they avowed themselves to be the Champions."--Robert Troup, Hamilton's college roommates at King's College [now Columbia]
 |
| Hamilton with General Washington at Valley Forge |
Our Blogging Founding Fathers (carolinajournal.com)
Why did these men choose “Publius” as their collective pen name for the Federalist Papers?
“By choosing his name for their pen name, the authors of the Federalist Papers thus implied that they would not be content with merely “kicking out” the British monarchy from American shores, but would replace it with a better form of government that was on a par with the Roman Republic. After kicking out King George III, in other words, they would create a republic of equal (or even greater) stature by adopting a new Constitution, which would serve America’s interests better than the “Articles of Confederation” that it would soon replace. In the heated environment of this time, the name “Publius” was thus a successful piece of pro-Constitution propaganda – “propaganda” in the best sense of that word. It helped to set the tone for the entire discussion of the “Federalist Papers.” It helped to score a public relations victory for the supporters of the Constitution in this protracted campaign for the new Constitution, by comparing it with the best of classical Roman government. In a country that had an enthusiastic interest in Greek and Roman history – and this is something of an understatement – this was a feat worth accomplishing. …
These men were Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay. Thus, when some particular essays were attributed to “Publius,” people of that time had no idea who “Publius” was; and some of this confusion still persists today. To put it bluntly, we don’t always know which “Publius” we’re hearing from. The authorship was kept secret for many years afterwards, and the silence was not broken until after Alexander Hamilton’s death at the hands of Aaron Burr, when a list that Hamilton had authored before his death became public. James Madison did not immediately dispute any of this list, but later offered a list of his own, which claimed a small number of those that Hamilton had instead claimed for himself. Madison actually suggested that the minor differences in the list were “owing doubtless to the hurry in which [Hamilton’s] memorandum was made out,” and there is some evidence to indicate that Madison may have been right about this part. For example, Hamilton incorrectly attributed No. 54 to John Jay, when it was actually No. 64 that Mr. Jay had written later on.” …….
The Coast Guard's Compass Blog: "The Long Blue Line: Alexander Hamilton – first member of the long blue line
"...Alexander Hamilton described a fleet of Federal vessels that he believed the newly created United States required to enforce tariff laws and interdict smuggling.
Considered the father of the United States Coast Guard, Hamilton played an integral role in the formation and development of the government of the United States. When the new government got under way in 1789, Hamilton was appointed the first Secretary of the Treasury. He began at once to place the nation’s disorganized finances on a sound footing. In a series of reports, he presented a program not only to stabilize national finances but also to shape the future of the country as a developing industrial nation. He proposed establishment of a national bank, funding of the national debt, assumption of state war debts, and the encouragement of manufacturing. In addition, he was the driving force behind Congress’ creation of a revenue marine service, the precursor to the modern-day Coast Guard.Born in Charlestown on the West Indian island of Nevis on January 11, 1757, Hamilton immigrated to New York in 1772. Although not yet 20 years of age, by 1774 he authored many widely read political publications. Not long after the start of the American Revolution, Hamilton received the captaincy of an artillery unit and fought in the principal campaigns of 1776. In 1777, he advanced to the rank of lieutenant colonel, joined the staff of General Washington as secretary and aide-de-camp, and soon became Washington’s close confidant. Hamilton ended the war as a lieutenant colonel commanding an infantry regiment, which he led with great success during the siege at Yorktown.
Already in 1787, Hamilton had articulated the need for the revenue marine in the Federalist Papers. As the fledgling nation sought to combat smugglers seeking to avoid payment of import tariffs, Hamilton advised Congress to build a fleet of ten cutters to help direct ships to specific ports of entry along the East Coast of the United States.Hamilton’s small fleet proved the basis for establishment of a revenue marine, later known as the Revenue Cutter Service. Congress adopted Hamilton’s plan on August 4, 1790, which the Coast Guard celebrates as its birth date. Since the Continental Navy and marines disbanded following the conclusion of the American Revolution, this revenue marine was the nation’s only sea service in the early years of the new republic.Hamilton assigned revenue cutters to the East Coast’s ten major seaports, allowing for import tariff collection, critically important to the economic viability of the nation. In addition to their law enforcement role, the fleet of cutters rendered aid and assistance as needed “for the protection of lives and property at sea,” a humanitarian life-saving role that defines the Coast Guard to this day.
Hamilton resigned from the cabinet in January 1795 and never returned to public office. His two last major political acts came in 1800 and 1804 and both targeted aspiring political leader Aaron Burr.When Burr and Thomas Jefferson tied in the 1800 presidential election, Hamilton used his influence in the House of Representatives to secure Jefferson’s presidency. In 1804, Hamilton also maneuvered to defeat Burr’s chances of becoming governor of New York. In response to Hamilton’s political moves against him, Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel on the pretext that the latter had expressed a “despicable opinion” of him. The duel took place in New Jersey, on July 11, 1804. Burr mortally wounded Hamilton, who died the next day. Hamilton was laid to rest at Trinity Church in New York City.Alexander Hamilton was the original member of the long blue line and he established a service that has stood the test of time for over 225 years. Today, Hamilton’s name graces the hull of the newest National Security Cutter, U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Hamilton, the sixth Coast Guard cutter to bear his name."......
 |
2021: U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Hamilton concludes Black Sea operations Good. That's not our Coast.  |
One of the ways you know Alexander Hamilton was a genius is that his statements are still as relevant as today's headlines.
On MAGA:
On Obama’s One-Man Treaties like the Iran Deal or Paris Accords:
“It would be utterly unsafe and improper to entrust Treaty power to an elective magistrate of four years’ duration. An avaricious man might be tempted to betray the interests of the state to the acquisition of wealth. An ambitious man might make his own aggrandizement, by the aid of a foreign power, the price of his treachery to his constituents. The history of human conduct does not warrant that exalted opinion of human virtue which would make it wise in a nation to commit interests of so delicate and momentous a kind, as those which concern its intercourse with the rest of the world, to the sole disposal of a President of the United States.”—Federalist #75
on Honest Elections:
“After all, Sir, we must submit to this idea, that the true principle of a republic is, that the people should choose whom they please to govern them.”
on the Tea Party:
“It’s not tyranny we desire; it’s a just, limited, federal government.”
On the rightful owners of political power:
“The fabric of American empire ought to rest on the solid basis of THE CONSENT OF THE PEOPLE. The streams of national power ought to flow from that pure, original fountain of all legitimate authority.”
On the Source of our Rights:
The sacred rights of mankind are not to be rummaged for among old parchments or musty records. They are written, as with a sunbeam, in the whole volume of human nature, by the Hand of the Divinity itself; and can never be erased.
On the Obama/Biden Cancer:
The honor of a nation is its life. Deliberately to abandon it is to commit an act of political suicide.
On the External Revenue Service and Tariffs:
“A few armed [Coast Guard] vessels, judiciously stationed at the entrances of our ports, might at a small expense be made useful sentinels of the laws.”—Federalist Paper #12 (27 November 1787)
On Federal Regulations and Continuing Budget Resolutions:
It will be of little avail to the people, that the laws are made by men of their own choice, if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood; if they be repealed or revised before they are promulgated, or undergo such incessant changes that no man, who knows what the law is to-day, can guess what it will be tomorrow.
On the Jan. 6th prisoners:
The practice of arbitrary imprisonments have been, in all ages, the favorite and most formidable instruments of tyranny.
On Trump Derangement Syndrome:
It is impossible to read the history of the petty republics of Greece and Italy without feeling sensations of horror and disgust at the distractions with which they were continually agitated, and at the rapid succession of revolutions by which they were kept in a state of perpetual vibration between the extremes of tyranny and anarchy . . . great improvement . . . were either not known at all, or imperfectly known to the ancients.
On those of us who voted for George W. Bush:
A well adjusted person is one who makes the same mistake twice without getting nervous.
On the Supremacy of God:
The law… dictated by God Himself is, of course, superior in obligation to any other. It is binding over all the globe, in all countries, and at all times. No human laws are of any validity if contrary to this.
On Ukraine and BlackRock:
Can any reasonable man be well disposed toward a government which makes war and carnage the only means of supporting itself?
On Trump Rallies:
Americans rouse – be unanimous, be virtuous, be firm, exert your courage, trust in Heaven, and nobly defy the enemies both of God and man!
On DEI:
To all general purposes we have uniformly been one people each individual citizen everywhere enjoying the same national rights, privileges, and protection.
On the Unelected Bureaucracy:
A nation has a right to manage its own concerns as it thinks fit.
On Immigration:
Some reasonable term ought to be allowed to enable aliens to get rid of foreign and acquire American attachments; to learn the principles and imbibe the spirit of our government; and to admit of a probability at least, of their feeling a real interest in our affairs.
On the World Health Organization:
A treaty cannot be made which alters the Constitution of the country, or which infringes and express exceptions to the power of the Constitution.
 |
Funny; they all bought $300 seats to watch "Hamilton"--and learned nothing. |
Sigma Alex Hamilton
ATTENTION, ALL HAPPENIN' YOUNG COLLEGE STUDENTS:
Does your school have a troubling admissions policy?
Got revolutionaries on campus?
Do your campus political opponents steal your newspapers?
Do you have to keep your politically incorrect views hidden from the Administration?
Any angry mobs disrupting your studies?
Well, take comfort, kids; it all happened before, back in the 70's.
The 1770's, that is.
When Alexander Hamilton, a poor but brilliant prodigy from the West Indies, was given a scholarship, he applied to Princeton. He was turned down because he asked for advanced placement. Hamilton then applied at King's College [now Columbia] in New York. He became a radical revolutionary (except he was PRO-American, unlike today's wannabe-wankers). His room was pilfered for pamphlets & books, probably by Loyalist students. He had to keep his writings a secret from the college Administration which was strongly pro-British. When an angry Sons of Liberty mob came for the college president, Hamilton stalled them long enough for the man to escape...'tho a patriot, he despised mob justice.
Many know of his role as the first Secretary of Treasury, where he put the United States on a path to prosperity. And his role in lobbying for the Constitution, penning most of the Federalist Papers. Not to mention his role in founding the Coast Guard & Navy. But fewer know about his role as an military officer. Although he became one of Washington's most valued officers, he was not given the post as some kind of plum assignment (indeed, working for Washington was no Spring Break).
While he was still a teen-ager, he formed his own artillery company, and distinguished himself in battle. His bravery, command ability & shrewd analytical skills attracted Washington's attention. He served the General well, whether wheeling cannons through the snow to fire on the Hessians or covering Washington's back in the Conway Affair.
Hamilton started the practice of promoting able enlisted men to become officers, instead of selecting only from the 'gentleman class'. He was also anti-slavery (as a number of the Founders were, or came to be). And also like some of the other Founders, including John Jay & Paul Revere, he was of some French ancestry. The French tend to improve dramatically when they become Americans.
By the way, if you think you are a swingin' ladies' man on campus, we'd note that Martha Washington named her tom-cat "Hamilton".
There is good reason that Hamilton and Franklin are the only non-Presidents honored on our currency. He helped Washington win the war and protected Washington during the Newburgh Conspiracy. He gave his life to stop the sociopath Burr. His Federalist Papers arguments gave us the Constitution. And he loved the word "tariff" as much as President Trump!
If you have not been taught any of this, you have been cheated by your institute of higher learning. Recommended: "Alexander Hamilton: A Life" by Willard Sterne Randall.
Or you could, although not recommended, do what Hamilton did after being rejected by Princeton for advanced placement;
"Four years later he would return to Princeton--with cannon."
 |
| Hamiltonians v. Hessians at Trenton |
No comments:
Post a Comment