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| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Collection Reference Number | GLC04841 |
| From Archive Folder | Documents Relating to 1790 |
| Title | Roger Sherman to Samuel Huntington reporting on legislative debates and progress |
| Date | 6 March 1790 |
| Author | Sherman, Roger (1721-1793) |
| Recipient | Huntington, Samuel |
| Document Type | Correspondence |
| Content Description | Reports on legislative debates and progress in a number of areas, including using western lands to lower the national debt, honoring government securities, Alexander Hamilton's report on Public Credit, and the relationships between state and federal authorities. Comments on the worry of smaller states that assumption of debt by the federal government would erode state power. Adamantly supports protecting states' rights. Sherman was then a congressman from Connecticut. Huntington was the Connecticut governor. Docketed by Huntington. |
| Subjects | US Constitution Government and Civics Westward Expansion Debt Economics Finance American Statesmen Assumption of State Debt States' Rights Congress |
| People | Sherman, Roger (1721-1793) Huntington, Samuel (1731-1796) Hamilton, Alexander (ca. 1757-1804) |
| Place written | New York, New York |
| Theme | Government & Politics; Banking & Economics |
| Sub-collection | The Gilder Lehrman Collection, 1493-1859 |
| Additional Information | Signer of the U.S. Constitution. The most pressing problems facing the new government were economic. As a result of the Revolution, the federal government had acquired a huge debt: $54 million including interest. The states owed another $25 million. Foreign credit was unavailable. Ten days after Alexander Hamilton (1754-1804) became Secretary of the Treasury, Congress asked him to report on ways to solve the nation's financial problems. Hamilton immediately realized that he had an opportunity to create a financial program that would embody his political principles. Born in the West Indies, Hamilton never developed the intense loyalty to a state that was common among Americans of the time. He intended to use government fiscal policies to strengthen federal power at the expense of the states and "make it in the immediate interest of the moneyed men to co-operate with government in its support." Such an alliance, in his view, was indispensable for the survival and growth of the United States. In his "Report on Public Credit," Hamilton proposed that the government assume the entire indebtedness of both the federal government and the states, and retire the old depreciated obligations by borrowing new money at a lower interest rate. This proposal ignited a firestorm of controversy since the states of Maryland, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Virginia had already paid off their war debts and saw no reason why they should be taxed to pay off other states' debts. Others opposed the scheme because it would provide profits to speculators who had bought bonds from revolutionary war veterans for as little as 10 or 15 cents on the dollar. For six months, bitter debate raged in Congress, before Hamilton approached Thomas Jefferson with a compromise proposal. In exchange for southern votes on his debt plan, Hamilton promised his support for locating the future national capital on the banks of the Potomac River, the border between two southern states, Maryland and Virginia. In the following letter Roger Sherman (1721-1793), a member of Congress from Connecticut and the author of "the Connecticut Compromise" at the Constitutional Convention, explains why he supports Hamilton's policy on the debt and outlines the ideal relationship between federal and state governments. |
| Copyright | The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History |
| Module | Settlement, Commerce, Revolution and Reform: 1493-1859 |
| Transcript | Show/hide |