The essays both confirm and deny the fears of the Republicans. On one hand, Hamilton believed in democracy and giving people a voice. (Hamilton himself was a true rags-to-riches story that is worth exploring if you’re a history buff.) On the other hand, Hamilton believed that after electing their representatives to the government, the people should only show support for those representatives and not criticize or judge their performance. Imagine if we as citizens were supposed to give George W. Bush or Bill Clinton or any other politician a free pass and you’ll understand where some of the opposition to Hamilton was coming from.

Similarly, Hamilton was a believer in using the government to help prop up business ventures as a way to create a functioning economy in the new nation. While this may be understandable when we look back and see the challenges the United States had in surviving as a workable country, Hamilton’s opposition saw it only as an attempt to create a new aristocracy in this country by giving favors to certain people over others.

This review only scratches the surface of what you’ll find in the book. If you are into early American history, you’ll find plenty of detail to further your understanding of the period and the tug-of-wars that went on between the Founding Fathers. On the other hand, this isn’t a book I’d recommend jumping into unless you’ve already invested some time on more basic books dealing with these same issues. Many of these essays seem to assume a base of knowledge that the average person doesn’t have (or at least I don’t have), and they build from that foundation, so it’s best suited to the true student of history.