The Hamilton Scheme

"A well-wrought tale of how the American empire came to be born on the balance sheet as much as by the gun." —Kirkus Reviews

“America's exceptional wealth relative to other North Atlantic economies is, to a remarkable degree, Alexander Hamilton's creation. And so is America's remarkable tolerance for high inequality. William Hogeland is the best guide I have found to understanding how we today are, for good and evil, children of Alexander.” —J. Bradford DeLong, professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley, and author of Slouching Towards Utopia

"I've always loved William Hogeland's writing, especially the confidence and verve with which he knocks down others' stupid sentimentalities in favor of a smart sentimentality that's actually worth holding onto: that American can truly be democratic. This book reveals a knockdown, drag-out, and often violent class war that hid in plain sight over what kind of economy America should have. It makes for as riveting a story as any hip-hop Broadway musical. And it's far more accurate to boot." —Rick Perlstein, author of Nixonland and Reaganland

“Alexander Hamilton’s plans to consolidate wealth in an investor class were once as hotly debated as anything in American history. It took a lot of forgetting to make him a hero of the people. We’re in William Hogeland’s debt for getting the story straight and for telling it so engagingly, as it needs to be told, from the top down and from the bottom up.” —David Waldstreicher, distinguished professor of history at the CUNY Graduate Center and author of Slavery’s Constitution and The Odyssey of Phillis Wheatley

"A bold and creative new narrative of Alexander Hamilton’s role in the American founding that brings lesser known but vital players into view." —Annette Gordon-Reed, Carl M. Loeb University Professor at Harvard University and author of On Juneteenth and The Hemingses of Monticello