Alexander Hamilton: “Opinion as to the Constitutionality of the Bank of the United States”

Questions for Further Study

• 1. Examine the term necessary and proper in the U.S. Constitution. How and on what basis does Hamilton construe it differently from Jefferson?
• 2. Hamilton touted the economic virtues of the proposed bank and the important role that it could play in improving the economy and in funding future wars. After the bank’s charter expired in 1811, lack of a central bank made raising revenue and paying bills difficult, and the country suffered inflation and financial chaos until the Second Bank of the United States was chartered in 1816. In your opinion, did the events of the five-year interval substantiate Hamilton’s arguments?
• 3. In what ways does the debate on the bank’s constitutionality reveal deep fissures within the country over the interpretation of the Constitution? What does this debate tell us about gauging the “original intent” of the framers? How did “strict” and “loose” interpretations of the Constitution affect the emerging party system?