The
colonies were free from the rule of the English King, but it was
necessary for them to learn to govern themselves.
Each of the new States now had its own government. It was thought by
many that there should be some powerful central government to control
all the States. So after a great deal of deliberation a convention was
held in Philadelphia over which George Washington presided. After four
months of hard work the present Constitution of the United States was
given to each State to be approved.
There was strong need for this step to be taken, but there were a
great many who did not want it, because they thought it would give the
President as much power as a king, and as they had gone to some cost to
rid themselves of a king, they did not wish another. Those who wanted a
central government were called Federalists. Those who did not want it
were called Anti-Federalists.
In New York there was one man who did everything that man could do
to convince others that the central government was the best thing for
the good of the new nation. His name was Alexander Hamilton. He was
a young man who had been, ever since he was a boy, a friend of George
Washington; who had lived in Washington's family and had fought as an
officer side by side with Washington, and was a man of much power and
deep learning.
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