Hamilton, Adams, Jefferson

Darren Staloff offers a compelling and insightful study on the influence of Enlightenment thought on Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson. Staloff starts with an introduction on the Enlightenment, followed by a lengthy chapter on each of his three subjects in question, with a little more emphasis on Jefferson. Staloff asserts that the influence of the Enlightenment was most evidenced and put into practice in this country during the period of the framing of our government, and especially through the thoughts and actions of these three prominent founders. As Staloff mentioned, the Enlightenment was the combination of a diverse set of ideas and beliefs espoused by a host of philosophes, including Newton, Locke, Hume, Voltaire, Rousseau and so many others who helped define this new mode of thinking. They were believers in science and railed against `enthusiasm', defined as political and especially religious zeal. They believed in the importance of education, reason, commerce, and in most cases a more republican form of government. Staloff discusses this much better than I can. In essence, these philosophes and their writings contributed fodder to the three founders he discusses in their attempts to help frame our government and setting forth the direction they wanted the country to take. Hamilton was a most accomplished man in life, championing the American cause during its struggle against Great Britain, serving in the continental army as an aid to General Washington, primary author of many of the essays in the Federalist Papers supporting the Constitution, serving as Secretary of Treasury during the Washington Presidency, and symbolizing the primary voice for a stronger central government. Hamilton was never beloved, nor is he today. He had character traits that don't usually win admiration, but the power of his mind and his influence could not and cannot be denied. He was a controversial figure in his time and remains so. But as Staloff confirms, it was Hamilton's vision of America, with its emphasis on a stronger central government and increased wealth and power though industry and commerce that became the eventual reality. Hamilton really understood the essence of realpolitik. John Adams was without doubt one of the most dedicated men to the cause of American independence. Adams was a principled man who did not always take popular positions, but he took them because he believed it right, such as defending the British soldiers in the Boston Massacre incident. He worked tirelessly in his diplomatic positions, especially in securing loans from the Dutch. Adams also had a profound belief, as the others did, in the value of education as being the best safeguard to protect liberty. Through the crafting of the Constitution to its eventual implementation, Adams was a renowned constitutional theorist and contributed greatly to the concept of a system of checks and balances. Adams was not without his own faults. He could be excessi