History

Tiptoeing on eggshells across a minefield: a non-economist grapples with Hamilton's major works as secretary of the Treasury. This week's post includes an outline of Hamilton's First Report on Public…

Hamilton plunges into business as secretary of the Treasury. Setting precedents Once the Constitution was ratified, the new United States government had to be constructed from the ground up. One…

Ratification, celebration, fortification, condemnation, procreation. For the Constitution to take effect, nine of thirteen states had to ratify it. By late May 1788, eight states had done so: Delaware, Pennsylvania, New…

This is the fifth and final post of my favorite excerpts from the Federalist Papers, including nos. 84-85. The post on nos. 1-20 is here; on nos. 21-36, here; on nos. 37-70,…

This is the fourth post of my favorite excerpts from the Federalist Papers, including nos. 71-83. The post on nos. 1-20 is here; on nos. 21-36, here; on nos. 37-70, here.  In…

This is the third post of my favorite excerpts from the Federalist Papers, including nos. 37-70. The post on nos. 1-20 is here; on nos. 21-36, here.  In brief, the excerpts made…

Excerpts from Hamilton's contributions to Federalist Papers 20-36. The Federalist Papers are among Hamilton's most important writings, so I'm going to take my time going through them. For the excerpts from Federalist…

Excerpts from Hamilton's contributions to Federalist Papers 1-20, and an exchange of letters with Angelica Schuyler Church. Once the Constitution was written (see last week's post), it had to be…

In which Hamilton makes a six-hour speech at the Philadelphia Convention of 1787 and goes to battle in print with political foes. Hamilton as New York's junior delegate The meeting that…

Why, where, and whither the Annapolis Convention? For the past several posts, we've focused on Hamilton's activities as a lawyer in New York in the 1780s: defending former loyalists and working…