Jefferson and Madison disagreed with Hamilton about his financial program. Why? Explain Hamilton's

Alexander Hamilton was Secretary of the Treasury under President George Washington. In that role, he devised a financial plan that he claimed would put the new nation on a sound financial footing. The plan had two main features. The first was federal "assumption" of state debts. During the Revolutionary War, each state had amassed considerable debt, and though some had actually retired their debts, many others had not. Hamilton proposed a plan by which the federal government would take up that debt, and issue new bonds to cover the cost. This would have two effects, both of which Jefferson found alarming.

The first was that the states would be more firmly tied to the federal government. The second was that wealthy individuals, who would purchase the new bonds issued by the federal government, would therefore support it for a very simple reason— they would lose their investment if it failed. Securing support for the new government from wealthy financiers was essential to Hamilton's...