This is the eighth essay in my live-blog of Hologram of Liberty by Kenneth Royce. You can also read my summary of the Introduction, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, and Chapter 6.
In this chapter Royce argues that Hamilton was most likely a covert agent for the bankers who had an interest in shaping the new Constitution to protect and advance their interests. He admits that he has found no direct evidence of this, however he does argue that enough circumstantial evidence exits to suggest some kind of covert plan. The circumstantial evidence he marshals is as follows:
- At age 23 Hamilton submitted his plan for a national bank to the Confederation's superintendent of finance.
- Hamilton was "oddly restrained" during the convention. "He was a veritable dynamo of brilliance before and after the Convention, so why was he a dud during?" asks Royce. Royce suspects that Hamilton had been instructed to keep quiet.
- Hamilton was the first Secretary of the Treasury with 500 employees (70 of whom were in his own building) compared to less than 20 of the State and War Departments combined. "No other delegate could have so quickly and successfully monetized the public debt through a monopolistic bank."
- Hamilton used the "necessary and proper" clause to allow federal taxes to usurp the state's revenue base.
This chapter is Royce's weakest and one wonders why he included it with so little evidence. Fortunately, Thomas DiLorenzo has written Hamilton's Curse which presents the historical evidence to show the relationship between Hamilton and the bankers.
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