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From: mev186
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  • I believe the proper phrase here is LIKE A BOSS.

  • that is the ugliest wig i have ever seen on john adams...i wana throw up just looking at it

  • @TheVenturino123 I believe that's meant to be his real hair.

  • @Pilaf1984 are you kidding me? Thats the worst real hair i ever seen in my life if thats his real hair

  • Hamilton was about preserving the Union and making the United States a superpower. Jefferson was about having many small nations under the umbrella of the Union. Hamilton was a revolutionary forecaster, but his reputation is smeared. And for everyone calling Hamilton a "Democrat," Hamilton is considered the "Father of American Conservatism." Hamilton led to the ratification of the Constitution and the rise of the US as a superpower.

  • It's true that Hamilton wanted more central power, with greater economic control and federal authority (as opposed to Jefferson's model of agrarianism, state-rights and limited government), but his vision went further. He was very Napoleonic, viewed as a "dangerous man" by Abigail Adams. A century ago, he likely would have found himself in the secular-progressive camp of Woodrow Wilson, with government expansion and imperial enterprise abroad. Personally, I'm relieved that Aaron Burr shot him.

  • @snipetracker - I would not call Woodrow Wilson a secular progressive. Wilson was a NeoCON bigot

  • @2cOthers He was regarded as a founder of modern progressivism, a promoter of unionism, an enactor of the Federal Reserve, an opponent of isolationism, a prophet of interventionism, a spearhead for the income tax, and - to top it off - a member of the Democratic Party. Bigot? Sure. Neoconservative? Hardly. If you want to study better examples of presidential conservatism, look toward his predecessor and successors.

  • Wilson operated under a progressive veneer, Not a progressive His father owned slaves. Got elected because his opposition split votes between Teddy Roosevelt’s “Bull Moose Party” & Taft's regular GOP. -- His predecessor -President Teddy Roosevelt successfully prevented violent coal strikes in 1902 by collectively bargaining with workers & probably did more for the labor movement. Woodrow’s father was a minister. Woody was always extremely religious, not secular & Woody was a NeoCon

  • @4:48 Oh yeah! Adams is like, "your mine now, bitch"

    Also, I really like how his teeth are discolored. This series has a great eye for detail and historical accuracy. In addition to that, the smile is even more awesome and unnerving.

  • If John Adams was truly that ugly, wow.

  • I don't know who would be what in terms of comparing their political views with party ideologists of today. My hunch is Hamilton was a big federal government guy (democrat) and Jefferson was a states rights guy (republican) while Adams was an uncomfortable mixture of the two. Adams and Hamilton were pseudo-monarchists in ways. However, Adams was solely devoted to the country and working to do what he thought was right for it. He also, in this scene, looked like the evil clown off of It.

  • either you are stock raving mad, OR I AM!

  • This scene is brilliant, and makes Hamilton look like a genius in historical terms. First, his firm suggestion that Louisiana territory and Florida should be added would soon be accomplished to the U.S.'s benefit. That South America should be secured from Europe was instituted via the efforts of Adams Jr. (Monroe Doctrine). Finally, declaring that any seceding states should be returned to the fold "by force if necessary" was prescient of Lincoln's lauded actions in the Civil War.

  • @salmanoskooi Not to mention Napoleon had plans of landing a 30,000-man army in North America before Haiti got out of control. Prescient indeed.

  • Hamilton was the man, Federalist papers anyone?

  • The one thing I truly enjoyed from this series was their use of the English language. Even in very heated situations they were eloquent and respectful of each other.... Sir, "Mr Hamilton" and so on. A lost trait today and so sad.

  • I think that there has not been another Adams since then. A very INDEPENDENT thinking man who would not heed to the minds of others (other then his dearest friend...his wife).

  • Hamilton was a little prick.

  • The Christian religion is, above all the religions that ever prevailed or existed in ancient or modern times, the religion of wisdom, virtue, equity and humanity.

    John Adams, Works, Vol. III, p. 421, diary entry for July 26, 1796.

  • Comment removed

  • GOOOD DAY SIR!!!!

  • "By three vote" He's Hijacking Adam's presidency right there! Way to tell him to SHOVE IT JOHN!!! Hail Columbia to you sir!

  • Hamilton and Adams brought out the worst in each other....

  • who's the scottish accent? or is it irish? I did not watch the show this far in the series. At this point, are they in the 1820s?

  • All Hamilton cared about was banking.  He wanted war so he could make more money. He didn't care about the country at all, as long as he gets to print the money.

  • Sad thing is Hamilton could EASILY be the head of either the Republican or Democratic party, the principles in practicality are the same. Big Government.

  • I am a huge Hamilton fan. I love the philosophy that the Federalist party espoused. I am so tired of the Jeffersonian Ron Paulites trying to take over the conservative movement. Most historians regard the Federalist as the first conservatives and the Republican party itself has been Hamiltonian for most of its history. The party was only isolationist in the 1920s and even then supported a central bank and tariffs. Republicans began as conservative nationalists and I want my party back!

  • @TylerHinds Your God Hamilton supported an elective monarchy, just keep that in mind. Jefferson was wrong on the agrarian economy but Hamilton was wrong on the central bank. I think we can find somewhere in between. Also it was neo-cons that hijacked the republican and modern tea party, not Ron Paul.

  • @bonfirejovi Excuse me, Neo-cons hijacked the party? MOST LIBERTARIANS WERE DEMOCRATS UNTIL FDR!!!!!! Look up Grover Cleveland or Al Smith and you will find your views found in that party. Traditionally, Republicans were nationalists, federalists and conservatives (different than libertarians by a long shot). The Neo-cons changed the foreign policy, but the Republican party was never a non-interventionist party. The Party was dominated by realists for a large portion of time.

  • @TylerHinds that's the way most nation states were before the founding of america. oh no, you don't just want to "go back". you wish to return to the stone age and declare the american experiment a failure.

  • Hamilton was right

  • @hitmanhart670 please...

  • Did Adams suffer from lead poisoning in his later years?

  • This series seem to depict Alexander Hamilton in a very negative light - Aside from being portrayed by Rufus Sewell, who does not even physically resemble the historical Hamilton, he seems to be shown as an arrogant jerk who just serves to get on everyone's nerves. I find that odd because many other films that featured Hamilton showed him in a positive light as well as a great hero and deserving of his legacy as one of the Founding Fathers.

  • Also I want to ask, if John Adams is in the Federalist party, the same as Alexander Hamilton, why did Adams despise Hamilton a lot?

  • @ThomasAnime

    Adams and Hamilton both favored strong government, which is what the federalist party was in response to the republican party that favored the states having more control

    Hamilton and Adams clashed during Adam's presidentcy over going to war with France, Adams was for peace while the majority of his party was for war at the time

    Hamilton also, if memory serves, favored expansion as soon as possible and with force, which could potentially have put the US at odds with 3 countries

  • @ThomasAnime

    Because John Adams was a very principled man who did not care about partisan politics. Avoiding war was more important to him than following the Federalist party line.

  • @ThomasAnime

    Hamilton wanted the US president to be president for life, and he wanted state governors to be appointed by the president. Hamilton also called the Constitution a "frail and worthless fabric" because it did not strengthen the government as much as he wanted.

    He also wanted our country to be in debt and had a poor understanding of economics; he was a mercantilist just like the British.

    If there is someone from the 21st century that Hamilton reminds me of, it would be Dick Cheney.

  • @Justgetout all statists are hyper hamiltonians, obama is certainly one, the power grab by federalism in his tenure has been ghastly.

  • @ThomasAnime What other films are you referring to, if you please?

  • The PBS TV Series "Liberty's Kids" showed Hamilton as a most trusted and loyal aide to George Washington.

    Also, most books about American History all credited Hamilton with helping to set up the model of the US government and the National Currency.

  • Hamilton was such a badass

  • The federalists were statists. Not my people.

  • Government by terror is no government at all. John Adams. I rather put up with some anarchy then to give up my liberty.

    Jefferson. Terror, weapons mast destruction,patriot act.,war. 9/11 inside job for nation building. The Bush regime.

  • They're all in it together. ron paul 2012.

  • I don't think he was saying take over South America, I think he was saying that by seizing Florida you'd cut off South America from Europe... which is true because I think that's the whole reason the Spanish built St. Augustine in the first place it was a departure point back to Europe from Mexico

  • Hamilton was Illuminati...

  • Obama=Bush=Puppet

  • People like you make me wish the internet never existed.

    BTW, how are things between you and that cousin of yours you married.

  • You just proved your ignorance and racism towards white people. I'M KENYAN ASSHOLE !

  • LOL. You're hilarious. You call me "ignorant" yet call yourself your "MrObamaHATESwhites", and post the ludicrous post: Obama=Osama.

    Unfreakinbelievable!!!

  • Yeah it's obvious obama hates whites. whats your point?

  • Obama bends over backward to stick it to the white man.

    SECURE THE BORDERS ASSHOLE !!

    fuck'n liberals.

  • I'm thankful we have troops that put the US Constitution before obama or any political party. You are a traitor to the US Constitution. Good thing the troops aren't mindless obamatrons crying for hope and change.

    You think you're NOT ignorant? You reek of ignorance.

    GET THE FUCK OUT OF AMERICA !

    Obongo approval ratings are taking a shit. The town halls are getting louder, the tea parties are getting larger, America is stock piling on weapons. We're gonna take this country back.

  • HAHAHA!!!!!! :P xD oh boy what a piece of work.

    You claim not to be ignorant. Look pal, just because you *think* you know everything doesn't mean you actually know everything.

    You are the most brainwashed ditto head with delusions for hope and change. An out right moron out of touch with current evens because you only listen to what you want to hear.

    Howa bout instead of worshiping the fuhrer, use the 1st Amendment while we have it challenge and question authority.

    Too many idiots.

  • Dude let it go, you've been pwned.

    Freedom of speech mother fucker.

    If you don't like it... GET THE FUCK OFF YOU TUBE!

  • I haven no problem with your freedom of speech, my contention is with your inablity to think clearly.

    Obama is half white, raised by his white grnadmother, yet you conclude he hates whites. I fail to understand how that's possible. So, I guess he hates of his being.

    I would suggest some good reading material to clear your clearly clouded, misguided, and bigotted mind.

  • OH MY GOD OBONGO IS ONLY HALF BLACK !!

    well then I guess I'm only half scared.

    sigh.

    YEAH!!! We all know obongo's dad fucked a white girl. That's not news.  What I'm pointing out is white people stereo types are just as ignorant as black people stereo types.

    Throwing around the "redneck" (even though im kenyan) is quite hypocritical, racist fuck.

    Have you bothered to read my channel to understand my reasoning?

    Have you taken notice of those on my channel who agree?

    I'm not the only one.

  • Apparently everyone who challenges the latest American Idol is automatically a KKK member, or a Yankee Redneck.

    You pussy liberals are tearing this country apart.

    Acorn = SEX SLAVERY

    obama and van jones are communist.

    Fuck all you obama ass kissers who don't even know what's in the Bill of Rights and US Constitution yet have the audacity to vote.

    WHERE'S MY BAIL OUT !!!!!!!!

  • OconByrd519 YOU SHIT ON THE TROOPS SERVICE GET THE FUCK OUT OF AMERICA.

    The troops are smart by not buying into the obama bull shit.

  • Obama = Osama

  • For such a pain he did not rise above physical labor and farming.

  • none of these conversations actualy happened, such a bullshit hatchet job!

  • I'm a moderate idependent, and I believe that our country can't really function without powerful central government, but we must also respect the sovereignty of the states. I'm a person who want's balence.

    Also, yes Adams was kind of an ass, but he kept us out of an unecessary war that could have bankrupted our country.

  • Great scene! Paul Giamatti did a fantastic job!

  • I wonder what the founders would think of America today?

  • "Eh"

  • They would be ashamed

  • @Melville10 Adams would probably be on board with the NWO. Jefferson would recoil in disgust.

  • @Melville10

    I think that if they would've lived to see 9/11 they would react is a somewhat less "sympathetic" fashion to our enemies.

  • We did what Hamilton said! We expanded to the Mississipi and went to war to prevent to breakup of the union.

  • @Melville10 "we should never have bothered" would be my wager.

  • @Melville10 i wonder what they would think of this show

  • @Melville10 Everyone's fighting each other. Nothing gets done. People complaining about taxes. Philidelphia's weather still sucks.

    "Just like we left it."

  • Hamilton was genius early but had some serious lack of judgment towards the end of his life. But, there's no doubt he was right as far as the direction of the economy and the need to model certain aspects after Great Britain.

    Jefferson was akin to Karl Rove and the people who think that Hamilton would be head of the Republican party don't understand the nature of politics then or now.

  • Can you explain why you equate Karl Rove with Jefferson?

  • Absolutely...Jefferson pulled the strings of the newly found Republican party. Behind the scenes, because he hated confrontation, he orchestrated the very nasty and more than not untrue attacks against the Federalists.

    Granted, once Hamilton woke up and began to challenge Jefferson (and Madison to some degree) both sides were pretty bad. However, history has proven that both were right, and wrong.

  • lol, i love these morons who dismiss hamilton as wrong or evil. he can't help it that this miniseries protrayed him so negatively. if it hadnt been for hamilton's visionary expansionism and industry we would have just been some irrelevant north american state like canada

  • The amount of blood, iniquity and suffering that occurred in the name of America being a glorious Empire rather than an irrelevant, but at least Constitutionally lawful Republic is what people are dismissing Hamilton as wrong and evil for, and rightfully so.

    It was a shame that Aaron Burr didn't kill this son of a bitch during the last day of the revolutionary war, we might have been spared a good deal of economic tumult, mercantilism and conflict as a result.

  • "Government by fear, is no government at all."

    If only the Republican leadership subscribed to this philosophy.

  • I hate Hamilton. Too bad we live in more of a Hamiltonian country today than Jeffersonian or Adamsan. Then we might not have our lives controlled by banks.

  • ...and controlled by the food conglomerates. See the movie 'Food Inc'. Hamilton is 'Monsanto' and big business, Jefferson is Organics and the 'Farmer's Market'.

  • If Jefferson had his way we would've become an insignificant rural backwater!

  • @essayant2 Jefferson hated the idea of central banks. Jefferson hated debt. He was for states rights. Adams, a Federalist, wanted more & more power for the central government. Adams was shill for the Crown of England. John Marshall, the 1st Chief Justice, was an Adams appointment. Marshall deviously allowed Aaron Burr (A traitor) to go free with his corrupt rulings. Jefferson was a true American, a true patriot, and a true president of the people.

  • If Alexander Hamilton were alive today he would head of the Republican Party.

  • He'd have a nice comfortable home in either party actually. His ridiculous ideas on banking and finance, which were borrowed from England's corrupt central banking practices, are supported by both major parties. His Imperialism would fit more with present Neo-Con ideology, but also in varying respects with the New Left of FDR's day, which is still the chief influence in the Democrat Party, despite the large influence of the counter culture.

  • That would be why a great many republican are now open to the idea of secession.

    I'd never vote for Hamilton as the head of the republican party or anything.

  • That would be scary, But I would rather vote for Hamilton than Palin any day of the week ^_^

  • @mev186 ..and twice on Sunday

  • @mev186 I'd vote for Joesph Stalin before I'd vote for Sarah Palin.

  • @mev186 I'd vote for Stalin before I'd vote for Sarah Palin. 

  • Maybe, but Jefferson would most likely be head of the Libertarian party

  • @OconByrd519 You fucking moron. His enemy Jefferson was the Founder ofthe Republican Party. Hamilton was for big government, high taxes, and a central bank(The Federal Reserve). Obama is the new Hamilton and Ron Paul is the new Thomas Jefferson. Try watching cspan and read a history book sometime.

  • @DanielDamascusKimery how about hamilton was hamilton... jefferson was jefferson... obama is obama... paul is paul. neither are the new anything. the republican party was founded in 1854... jefferson died in 1826 and even though he was notably multi-talented, founding said party would've been a tough move to swing.

  • @OconByrd519 Another thing. If you look at all the Hamiltonians they are all Liberal Hippy College Kids that love Karl Marx and Collectivization. All the Jeffersonians are Tea Partiers and Civil Libertarians that believe in individualization,low taxes,limited government,personal freedom and personal responsibility. The Federalist were the tax and spend party much like the Democrats of today.

  • @DanielDamascusKimery You have some serious anger issues that you need to try working on. Oh, and FYI, I don't spend my time thinking about politics and politicians, which clearly you do. Oh and one more thing i'd like to let you know I am working on a Ph.D in history. But rather than channel my anger on Obama and liberals, I choose to study the past. BTW, i don't know what my comment was that struck such a chord with you. Hmmmmm??

  • @OconByrd519 It's your lie so tell it how ever you want to Douchebag. If you don't spend your time thinking of politics and you are the History Scholar with a PHD that you so dubiously claim to be then why did you say that Hamilton would be the head of the Republican party if he was alive to day? Because you are a liar and you don't know what the fuck you are talking about that's why. Typical Democrat. You are nothing more than a lying Idiot.

  • @OconByrd519 Oh and another thing how can you be a History Major if you don't follow politics? I don't know if they told you this in your History classes but OUR FOUNDING FATHERS WERE POLITICIANS YOU FUCKING MORON and Why would you open your mouth about something that you just admitted you know nothing about? Thank you for killing your argument for me. You can go crawl back under your rock now.

  • @OconByrd519 No way. Hamilton was the original Big Government politician. He was also an intellectual elitist. He'd find these Tea Party Conservatives to be a big joke. He's too smart to be a Republican. That said, I'd never vote for the guy.

  • @OconByrd519 Considering Hamilton advocated larger central government and Ameri-Centric geo-political thinking...he would be more like Truman, he would be a Democrat.

  • @muldurag thank you for pointing out that history has shown democrats to be ameri-centric as well...

  • @OconByrd519 erm no he would most certainly be a big government democrat.

  • @OconByrd519

    That makes a lot of sense, Hamilton was for big centralized government and Jefferson was for a small central government with states rights....Last time I looked the only party in America today who wants an all powerful centralized government is called the Democrat Party.

  • @OconByrd519 I think not!

  • @OconByrd519 Wrong. Hamilton was a big-government guy. He would definitely be a democrat.

  • I didn't realize that Adams was such an excellent man!

  • Hamiliton was a geninus. The only man that could equal his intellect back then was Jefferson.

  • Regarding Hamilton, one does well to remember Lord Salisbury's comment on the supposed genius of Enoch Powel, "too clever by half".

  • Hamilton is my favorite founding father, he reminds me of Machiavelli in that they are both hated but still absolutely brilliant.

  • Even if Hamilton had some lousy ideas, remember, he was still a genius, and a founder, and everyone has some flaws. He did rig up an awesome financial system, although I'm glad Jefferson became president and not him.

  • There's a really good book about Hamilton called "Hamilton's Curse" by Thomas Dilorenzo. I highly recommend it.

  • John Adams got pissed very quickly!!

  • Hamilton was a dickbag.

    Go Adams!

  • you liked Washington right? I'm sure he'd have something to say to you

  • how exactly was he a "pompous asshole"?

  • 'resident minister to the barbary pirates'

    Comedy gold!

  • justshove...i read his letter he wrote to his friend in RON CHERNOW"S BIO...hamilton had a plan to invade venezuela if the french threat needed campaigning against..i read the letter.

  • People who are saying the show is inaccurate because Hamilton never wished to invade South America need to learn to listen (or maybe need to learn history better?) He never said anything about invading S.A., he simply emphasized his point of taking over Florida IN ORDER TO cut off South America from Europe; it's pretty common sense that St. Augustine and Florida were an important part of the route to the jet stream for ships en route to Europe.

  • I just read ALEXANDER HAMILTON'S BIOGRAPHY, by RON CHERNOW...i love hamilton, but this speech is true..it comes from one of his letters to his friend mchenry. ...only part of his character I did not like, was this desire for military glory...he was a true genius in many other arenas thru and thru.

  • You can thank Hamilton for creating the financial foundation that allowed the United States to become the most prosperous country in world history, which in turn, has allowed freedom to prevail.

    If the United States stayed as a loose confederation of states with powerful state governments, as Jefferson wished, the resulting anarchy and tension would have crushed this country, which would have allowed a despot to eventually gain control and eliminate freedom.

  • 'prosperous country in world history' - RICHEST country in world history, not most prosperous. Per capita income puts US tenth at the very best.

  • that means nothing. The USA has just as many billionaires as the continents of Europe and Asia combine. 10nth place per capita income is absolutely amazing for a country of 300 million people.

  • Sure and it is this very thing that will destroy us.

    All the power is now concentrated, our government a puppet for financial interests and our nation in eternal debt.

    I for one would rather not have this financial system that spawns imperilism and horrible morality.

    Freedom? I see only the delusion of freedom while they are hacked away piece by piece. You really think you have the freedom to privacy anymore? To protect yourself?

  • A more central form of government makes it much easier for a tyrant to take over. As opposed to States which retain a great degree of sovereignty from the central government.

  • @kasrkinmullet But the sovereignty of the States was lost in 1865. A man named Abraham Lincoln killed it.

  • Any moron who calls Hamilton a fool should question their own personal intelligence. The man was a genius and were it not for him and if Jefferson had his way, this country would be a agricultural, backward country. Jefferson and his idealist followers created the loopholes that allowed slavery to continue and states to have a more powerful say than the central government, which led to the Civil War.

    Unfortunately, there are people, such as Ron Paul, who still think that Jefferson was right.

  • Comment removed

  • I'm no linguist, but my own understanding is that many features of the "American" accent have come into being slowly. All of these men had once been British subjects, and had dealt with British merchants and government officials for most of their lives. Some, including McHenry, were of Scots-Irish descent and would have retained many of the speech patterns of their ancestors, given that people learn most speech habits from their family or those who raised them.

  • Comment removed

  • 'Why do half the people in this series have English and Scottish accents? ' - hmm...perhaps because they were british subjects living in british colonies, most of which were less than a century old?

    Modern american accents are mainly the result of 19th and 20th century immigration.

  • You sir, are a moron.

  • Giamatti is a truly excellent actor.

  • Hamilton was a globalist Imperial stooge. Jefferson and Adams were on opposite sides of Liberty when it came to economics but the same side when it came to social issues.

  • Where exactly do you get this from? This scene is grossly exaggerated even by McCullough's account. Hamilton did advocate seizing Louisiana and Florida (which makes some degree of sense in case of war with France) but his advocating invasion of South America is ridiculously ahistorical. It makes for great drama but it's no good history. Even if we accept your characterization of Hamilton, he was the head of the Federalists and hardly a "stooge".

  • That's right! I knew that a special on Adams would villainize Hamilton because the two were personal enemies, but this HBO series was unfair to Hamilton.

  • I was reading Chernow's biography of Hamilton today and he's much fairer to Adams than McCullough is to Hamilton. That says a lot I think.

  • The HBO miniseries was very good, but is often the case with television drama, truth is often stretched to the breaking point.

  • Brilliant.

    I wish they had included the duel between Hamilton and Aaron Burr.

    I would loved to have seen Adams's (Giamati's) reaction.

  • Thats a true president .Rather than go to war,which almost garuantee his reelection he made sure the country was safe,rather than his career.

  • Absoulutely. Well said.

  • :O omg

    i am so oblivious, Hamilton was in the movie A Knights Tale with Heath Ledger! omg! i didn't even realize

  • This was when Hamilton fell from grace as a good politician.

  • Hamilton never fell from grace. The depiction here is somewhat inaccurate. Hamilton was responsible for Jefferson's election after these events because he rightly distrusted Aaron Burr. Hamilton, from my readings was one of the nobelist of our Founders including his opinion on slavery. What irks some today is that Hamilton was the Father of the American Economic miracle that came finally with Lincoln's election, and bore fruit in the 20th century - which was not free trade or free marketism.

  • Hamilton was never a great man. He helped forge the American empire. This move pushed the United States way from Liberty and towards Tyranny. You may disagree with me on the simple premise that you have very apparent nationalistic tendancies and aspirations and the fact that I am Canadian. But rest assured that Canada is an ally to this empire.. the American Empire.

  • If the United States is an empire then it is an Empire of Liberty, not one of tyranny

  • Far be it for me, a Briton, to disagree with a Canadian and a fellow Commonwealth citizen but I must. Hamilton's financial policies created the backbone of the U.S. financial system which saved the U.S. from slavers in the South, won the West, saved Europe from German expansion twice, aided democractic nations against communism for 50 odd years. Because of Hamilton the U.S. became a great power and that power has saved us all many, many times.

  • The United States was intended to bea REpublic and not an empire. As for the above comment about the United States being an empire of Liberty. That's a joke right? Liberty is negative. Meaning you can do as you wish so long as you do not harm another. That is Liberty. What you both profess is positive Liberty (big government). Daddy knows best so he enforces (adds, +) his view of Freedom and Liberty onto others. Hamilton did not have the mental capacity to understand this.

  • What Hamilton advocated was not big government but government full stop. Hamilton was hardly a figure from a George Orwell novel. He wanted to create a strong federal nation-state. Liberty is something essential to the mindset of the English speaking peoples but liberty without the strong rule of law is not liberty but anarchy. Without a strong central government the U.S. would've disintegrated into a loose collected confederacy too divided and indebted to defend itself against foreign force.

  • You can disagree with Hamilton's policies all you want, but you make yourself look like a fool by insulting his intelligence.

  • @Crosshandz hmilton was a snake

  • did hamilton say "the richness of mexico and peru?"

  • Riches.

  • Hamilton's sentiments in this scene seem far more appropriate to Aaron Burr than Hamilton.

  • Hamilton was bat-shit insane.

  • Yes but his basis for the treasury was genius.

  • Jefferson supported Napoleon!!

  • John Tyler got Florida, bought and paid for!!

  • Jefferson most certainly did not support napoleon. I will grant you he had a very rosy view of the french revolution in general but he in no way supported Napoleon.

  • Jefferson DID NOT support Napoleon, idiot. Where did you go to school?

  • He did at first, thinking Napoleon was the rightful heir to the Revolution, but he eventually realized (albeit a bit late) what kind of person Napoleon was and recanted.

  • That's odd.  Napoleon was a better person than Robespierre and the Directorate. The Revolution lost control because it was absolutist and utopian. That was always a big blind spot for Jefferson--not understanding the two revolutions were not truly related.

  • Hamilton could take possession of my strategic territories any day. ;D Rawr!

    Heh, Hamilton got so psycho during this period...I have to feel bad for Adams. And I never feel bad for Adams.

  • A bit of this is McCullough bias against Hamilton creeping in. I'd love to see Chernow's Hamilton bio made into a miniseries.

  • Because Chernow isn't biased at all...

  • Of course he is, to a degree, as any biographer is. Chernow acknowledges Hamilton's faults, though.

  • Chernow was certainly honest when addressing Hamilton's remaking of the original constitution's meaning. He of couse thinks that inventing the notion of implied powers and inverting the constitution's purpose from a limiting document to an empowering document was a "great" thing. That is a matter of opinion of course and is up to debate whether it was good or not. John Adams assertion in this video that Hamilton dreamed of empire is quite accurate though.

  • What's interesting to me is that HAmilton wanted 'empire' but was anti-slavery, while later imperialists in the South wanted more territory to increase the available territory for the expansion of slavery (and as a check against Northern attempts to end or restrict it politically.)

  • That would be amazing. Chernow's biography is one of the best I've ever read. =D