Did the Founders Hate Government?

[Bucky]

21. Hamilton, Washington, & Madison built an activist federal government

Jefferson may have been a small government man, but wasn't afraid to interpret the Constitution broadly when it suited his policy needs. But Hamilton & Washington put in place a government that actively encouraged the development of particular industries, supported the development of the financial sector, and pushed settlement across the Appalachian Mountains much faster than a laissez-faire government would have. Washington was particularly opposed to efforts by state and local government to resist the overarching will of the federal government in pursuit of his policies. It was all geared around a policy of developing a large export-farmer/businessman middle class in the United States that was historically unique at that time. Ironically, it was their political rival Thomas Jefferson who completed that dream by gaining control of New Orleans, and thus making the Mississippi River a lucrative export route for the next three generations of middle class export farmers. This is the soul of a government directed economic development policy.