Status: Public Domain nach US-Recht

Words and Deeds in American History: Selected Documents Celebrating the Manuscript Division's First 100 Years

Item 1 of 9 Alexander Hamilton's notes for a speech proposing a plan of government at the Federal Convention, [18 June 1787]. (Alexander Hamilton Papers)

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Alexander Hamilton (1757-1804), lawyer, Revolutionary patriot, and delegate to the Continental Congress, made these notes in preparation for a major speech delivered on 18 June 1787 at the Constitutional Convention assembled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. An early and vocal critic of the Articles of Confederation, Hamilton was firmly aligned with the nationalist faction at the convention. Some historians believe that Hamilton's 18 June speech was his most important public document because it outlined his philosophy of government. Hamilton favored a centralized national government which placed strict limitations on the powers of states and individuals. He later addressed many of these same concerns in The Federalist Papers, the much-cited collection of essays he wrote with James Madison (1751-1836) and John Jay (1745-1829) to explain and encourage ratification of the Constitution, and in the public reports of the first federal administration, during which Hamilton served as secretary of the treasury.

Gerard W. Gawalt, Manuscript Division

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