Chapter I

Hamilton’s Efforts to Organize a Convention, and to Frame the Constitution, and Secure Its Adoption

With interest we observed the discussions in two metropolitan papers in the West concerning the effects of the policy of Alexander Hamilton upon the United States—one party referring to it as “Hamiltonism.” The author fully agrees with the other side that the doctrines of Hamilton are not being revived, because “they were never overthrown, nor ever will be, as long as any American State maintains an orderly and Constitutional form of government.”

Charles Carroll of Carrollton is quoted as saying:

“Hamilton could put his hand upon his breast and truly say, ‘To me are the people of the United States indebted for their Constitution.’”

This assertion, Simpkins argues, is substantiated by Hamilton’s letter to James Duane, dated September 3, 1780, while Duane was a member of Congress. In that letter, Hamilton proposed a convention of all the States to amend the Articles of Confederation, bringing them into alignment with the requirements of a stronger, more orderly government capable of securing the blessings of liberty for posterity.

Simpkins calls the document a “masterly and most extraordinary letter, considering his age,” citing the legal scholar Kent in its praise. The letter, presented to Congress, represents the first recorded suggestion of such a convention—a seed that would eventually lead to the Constitutional Convention of 1787.

The author contrasts Hamilton’s foresight and organization with Jefferson’s more reactive political style, noting that while Jefferson’s influence was immense in philosophy and literature, it was Hamilton’s systematic intellect and administrative genius that forged the framework of national unity. He credits Hamilton’s collaboration with Washington and Madison as vital to transforming a loose confederation into a functioning republic.

Through these early efforts, Simpkins presents Hamilton not as a monarchist, as detractors often claimed, but as the indispensable architect of America’s federal system — a man whose principles, properly understood, are the very foundation of the Republic’s endurance.

“It was Hamilton’s genius,” Simpkins concludes, “that first gave coherence and permanency to our national structure. He did not dream of empire, but of order; not of tyranny, but of law.”