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I searched for this topic and found it here in the New York forums.
I personally will not accept any $10 bills that don't have Alexander Hamilton on them. I've let the Treasury know that (like as if they care). It will be interesting to see the response I get when cashiers try to give me change and I demand either 2 fives or 10 ones.
Alexander Hamilton was responsible for setting up the Treasury Department. He also greatly assisted George Washington in establishing the Executive branch, a confidence established when Hamilton served under Washington in the Revolutionary War. Much of the justification for the Constitution came from the Federalist Papers, which Hamilton was the major writer of (along with Madison & Jay).
I can't think of any woman and only a few other men not already on a bill (possibly John Adams or James Madison) who could compare with Hamilton's contributions.
But, alas, none of that means anything to the current group of politically correct hacks running the government today. It's all about "social justice". I suppose Trayvon Martin or Michael Brown will replace Andrew Jackson on the $20 someday.
The fact that John Adams has never graced a US treasury coin or note is sickening. No one besides George Washington is owed such an honor as greatly as Adams. Ben Franklin certainly does not rank above Adams in terms of deserving a bill. He should have had one way before Grant and Jefferson and arguably even Lincoln.
Washington deserves the dollar hands down, but Adams should have the quarter or the hundo, booting Franklin.
Hamilton was a man who distrusted Democracy and wanted a president to rule for life, a King in all but name. (Plus he was a terrible shot.) Do we really want stuck up elitists who were killed in a duel on our money?
Also appropriate, he was put on the $10 bill as the father of the banking system in 1929, just before the whole crooked scheme melted down and had to be rescued again.
I vaguely remember Hillegas as a "money man" for the Revolution? (And I went to school with a David Hillegas long ago.)
Last edited by Kefir King; 06-20-2015 at 06:38 AM..
Hillegas managed the money back home while Adams secured it in The Netherlands, on his own without any guidance from Congress. Without Adams' acting to secure that first loan (a mission that nearly killed him die to possible malaria), the US likely never would have existed.
I am big Adams buff (and that period in general). An argument can even be made that he was more important than Washington during the war period. Washington's true strength came after the war in establishing the presidency as we know it, an amazing act for the time considering he easily could have made himself king.
The 1922 $10 large size gold certificate had the immortal Michael Hillegas on it. Do you know who he was without googling him?
I wonder if more people would recognize Hillegas if he were on currency today. Most people these days probably only recognize the name Alexander Hamilton because he's on the $10 bill. Once he's replaced, I'm pretty sure that mentioning his name (outside of the NY area) will draw blank stares from the majority of Americans.
Hamilton was a man who distrusted Democracy and wanted a president to rule for life, a King in all but name.
There were others who had doubts about democracy and considered it "mob rule". I certainly wouldn't want a President to rule for life, but as this is what they were most familiar with, it isn't surprising that there would be some support for it. At the time it was hoped that the President would be above politics and personal animus, as George Washington was. Human nature what it is, this hope was subsequently dashed with the rivalry of Adams and Jefferson.
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(Plus he was a terrible shot.) Do we really want stuck up elitists who were killed in a duel on our money?
Alexander Hamilton only took part in the duel because it would have been dishonorable (at the time) for him not to. After all, his challenger was the Vice President of the United States. Hamilton intentional aimed his pistol in the air so as to miss Aaron Burr.
Another good politically-correct reason for keeping Hamilton is that he was one of the most vocal proponents of abolition (along with John Jay).
Well, if that is the standard, why not just replace the images on the bills every few months with the latest Hollywood celebrities?
In no way would I suggest that "name recognition" should be a driving criteria.
The function of honoring someone on currency should actually work in the opposite direction. We don't put someone on currency because of name recognition, we put them on currency so that we honor the contributions that they made to our country, and to make sure that people don't forget that.
I'm just pointing out a likely outcome of reducing Hamilton's visibility on the bill. Few people can recall Hamilton's role as a founding father today. Once he's given a subordinate position on the $10, it will be even worse.
I second the Denver Post article. Jackson was the 1800s' version of a Tea Partier: an economic ignoramous (thanks, Denver Post!) with absolutely no idea what he was doing. His ignorance condemned the American populace to nearly a century of economic booms and bust that were far more devastating than ordinary economic activity cycles.
I won't get into his racism, either.
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