Foreign ownership, constitutional questions (the Supreme Court had yet to address the issue), and a general suspicion of banking led the failure of the Bank’s charter to be renewed by Congress.

The original purpose of S&Ls was to enable more middle-class Americans to buy their own homes by providing more affordable mortgage options. In the 21st century, these institutions continue to focus on this service, but also offer checking and savings accounts.

Alexander Hamilton’s grand experiment in central banking began in 1791 to assist a post-Revolutionary War economy and ended 20 years later.

Thomas Jefferson opposed this plan. He thought states should charter banks that could issue money. Jefferson also believed that the Constitution did not give the national government the power to establish a bank. Hamilton disagreed on this point too.

Andrew Jackson hated the National Bank for a variety of reasons. Proud of being a self-made “common” man, he argued that the bank favored the wealthy. As a westerner, he feared the expansion of eastern business interests and the draining of specie from the west, so he portrayed the bank as a “hydra-headed” monster.

Reconstituted in 1816, the Bank of the United States continued to stir controversy and partisanship, with Henry Clay and the Whigs ardently supporting it and Andrew Jackson and the Democrats fervently opposing it.

Hamilton thus saw Jefferson as sneaky and hypocritical, someone with wild ambition who was very good at masking it. And Jefferson saw Hamilton as a wildly ambitious attack dog who would hammer his way into getting what he wanted.

Thomas Jefferson and other Republicans hated Hamilton’s plan. They felt the central government should be small and stay out of people’s lives. Republicans worried about the government becoming too powerful. They argued that Hamilton’s plan was unconstitutional.

Had Hamilton apologized for his “more despicable opinion of Mr. Burr”, all would have been forgotten. However, neither principal could avoid the confrontation honorably, and thus each was forced into the duel for the sake of personal honor.

Thus they favored states’ rights. They were strongest in the South. Hamilton’s great aim was more efficient organization, whereas Jefferson once said, “I am not a friend to a very energetic government.” Hamilton feared anarchy and thought in terms of order; Jefferson feared tyranny and thought in terms of freedom.

Within four years, Hamilton would be dead, but Jefferson did not exult. And to the end he spoke only generously of his foe. The two had “thought well” of one another, he said. Moreover, Hamilton was “a singular character” of “acute understanding,” a man who had been “disinterested, honest, and honorable.”

The duel results in a misfire and Philip is fatally shot by his opponent (“Blow Us All Away”). As he is on his deathbed, he is surrounded by his mother and father, where he is seen saying his last goodbyes before his death (“Stay Alive (Reprise)”).

As he stood facing Burr, Hamilton aimed his pistol and then asked for a moment to put on spectacles. Hamilton, however, had already told confidants and made clear in valedictory letters that he intended to throw away his shot, possibly by purposefully shooting wide of Burr.

Philip Hamilton (January 22, 1782 – November 24, 1801) was the eldest child of Alexander Hamilton, the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, and Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton. He died at age 19, fatally shot in a duel with George Eacker at Weehawken, New Jersey.