Preface

During the summer of 1901, two leading political papers in the West—one Republican, the other Democratic—engaged in a spirited debate on the effects of the policies of Alexander Hamilton upon the United States.
The controversy began with the claim that the nation owed more to Napoleon and the American ministers to France for the Louisiana Purchase than to Mr. Jefferson. The opposing paper took issue with this view, and from there arose a series of attacks upon Hamilton, often couched in the language of warning against so-called “Hamiltonism.”

Every reference to Hamilton’s work or thought was labeled “Hamiltonism,” apparently with the intent to divert public esteem and enshroud his reputation in the fog of popular calumny.
Simpkins writes that he “does that paper no injustice” in observing how rarely Jefferson was praised without a corresponding assault upon Hamilton.

The following pages, he explains, are meant to answer those charges—“traced to their origin”—and to demonstrate that Hamilton’s statesmanship, rather than being a threat, laid the foundation for the nation’s strength and prosperity.
Simpkins promises that his arguments and documentary evidence will dispel “the fog of popular calumnies” and vindicate Hamilton’s name before the candid reader.

Dedication

To Abraham Lincoln, late President of the United States, this pamphlet is dedicated in consideration of the fact that Alexander Hamilton was the originator or father of the American Tariff Doctrine, and Mr. Lincoln was its greatest exponent and advocate of his age.