The activity of Hamilton's mind is seen in the fact that while still in active military serv ice he found time to study the great questions of government and finance. In a letter to James Duane he clearly set forth his views on the Constitution, that: °Congress should have complete sovereignty in all that relates to war, peace, trade, finance, and to the management of foreign affairs.° A letter to Morris on the establishment of a national bank induced him to offer Hamilton the place of receiver-general of continental taxes, which he accepted and originated a new system of national taxation. The receiver's office did not prove congenial, and he was relieved of its duties by his election to the Continental Congress from New York 1 Oct. 1782. Congress proved a disappoint ment. Such were the deplorable conditions then prevailing, the looseness of the Constitu tion and the financial chaos of the government, that Hamilton's efforts to carry through re forms utterly failed. He resigned from Con gress in 1783 and returned to the practice of law in New York, where his melodious voice, dignified deportment and unanswerable logic of reasoning, soon placed him in the highest rank of his profession.
The condition of the States at this time is graphically depicted by Senator Lodge in his 'Life of : °Divided among them selves, with no army, no navy, no cohesion, floundering wilfully and helplessly in a•sea of unpaid debts and broken promises, bankrupt in money and reputation alike.° To secure some relief the Annapolis Convention (q.v.) was held 11 Sept. 1786, five States only being represented — New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Dela ware and Virginia. Hamilton was one of the delegates from New York. This convention adopted an address, drafted by Hamilton, recit ing the intolerable conditions and calling for a convention to meet the following May, in Phila delphia to form a Federal Constitution. (See CONSTITUTION, FRAMING OF THE). Upon his re turn to New York he was elected to the State legislature which convened in January 1787, and began a fight to induce the State to send delegates to the Philadelphia convention. In this he succeeded, and three delegates were ap pointed, of which Hamilton was one; but the other two were Anti-Federalists, bitterly op posed to Hamilton's idea of a strong general government. When the convention met the vote of his own State was cast against him on every question; the Anti-Federalists withdrew from the convention, leaving New York with out a vote. Hamilton, however, presented his views of a plan of government to the conven tion—an artistocratic republic, with a presi dent and senators chosen for life, and the State governors appointed by the Federal gov ernment. After the presentation of this plan, which found no support in the convention, Hamilton withdrew, only returning to engage in the final debates, and at the dose he heartily embraced the work of the convention and signed the Constitution as actually adopted.f The Constitution was still to be ratified by the States. New York was opposed to its adoption.
There were numerous internal strifes and jeal ousies, but with great power and determination Hamilton combated and won over all oppo nents in the legislature, and by his essays in the Federalist, assisted by Madison and Jay, he successfully fought the great battle for the Constitution, winning a hostile majority to its support. Of these essays George William Cur tis declared they agave birth to American con stitutional law, which was thus placed above arbitrary construction and brought into the do main of legal truth." Washington was inaugurated President in April 1789. In September 1789 Congress passed an act establishing a Treasury Department, and Washington at once made Hamilton the first Secretary of the Treasury. His creative, con structive and practical mind was now con fronted with the problem of giving to his coun try a workable system of national administra tion. With a master's hand he organized the Treasury Department; reduced the confused finances to order; provided for a funded sys tem and a sound system of national taxation; induced Congress to assume the State debts; authorized methods for the establishing of a national bank and a mint, the raising and col lection of internal revenue, the management of the public lands and the purchase of West Point by the government. In 1791 his Report on Industry and Commerce appeared, wherein he discussed with profound ability and clear ness the economic problems of his time, and inaugurated, in a very moderate way, the pro tective tariff system. His methods to strengthen the national government were vigorously op posed by those antagonistic to centralization, chief among whom was Thomas Jefferson (q.v.), and the controversies that then divided parties have been continued by the rival polit ical parties to the present. Engrossed as he was with the home affairs of the government, Hamilton was nevertheless a deep student of foreign relations and advocated a position of strict neutrality on the part of the American government with regard to the difficulties of nations. He ably sustained Washington in his proclamation of strict neutrality between France apd England, both in the Cabinet and in the public press, and when M. Genet, the Ambassador of the French Republic, tried to in volve this country in a war with England, Ham ilton was vigorous in his condemnation. It was at this time that Jefferson, then Secretary of State, took sides with Editor Freneau of the Philadelphia National Gazette, in his criti cism of the administration and especially of the Treasury Department. Hamilton replied and the controversy became typical of the two great po litical parties—the Federalists and the Repub licans. Jefferson's position in the Cabinet was most uncomfortable and he resigned 1 Jan. 1794. In 1794 the Whisky Insurrection (q.v.) occurred in Pennsylvania in opposition to the excise laws passed by Congress. Hamilton ad vised a vigorous policy and when troops were sent by Washington against the insurgents, Hamilton accompanied them and the (rebellion') quickly faded away.