You are a den of vipers and thieves.
— Andrew Jackson
My high-school history teacher, Mr. Gray, dwelled for more than a month on the battle over banking between Jefferson and Hamilton. His point was to prove our nation was built on greed.
So I was troubled to learn yesterday that Joe Biden will rush to replace Andrew Jackson's portrait on the $20 bill with that of Harriett Tubman.
Don't misunderstand me: Tubman is one of our country's noblest heroes. Tribute to her is long overdue. But Tubman's portrait should replace Hamilton's on the $10 bill, not Jackson's on the $20.
If Tubman cancels anyone, it should be Hamilton.
Hamilton, after all, put us on the path to concentrating wealth and power in the hands of a few. As the architect of our "rigged" banking system, Hamilton is the father of the 1%.
Jackson, on the other hand, went to the mat to take Hamilton's plutocratic system apart, calling its advocates "vipers and thieves."
The champion of the little guy, Jackson was in fact so hostile toward the rigged system, Congress censured him in 1834 and eventually reinstated Hamilton's bank.
In my view, Jackson, friend of the forgotten, doesn't deserve to be removed from our money; Hamilton does.
If you don't think he was sleazy, consider just one of Hamilton's maneuvers.
In 1789, he helped spread the lie that the Treasury would default on the $44 million in war bonds held by veterans of the American Revolution.
At the same time, Hamilton advised his rich cronies to follow his lead and scoop up the "worthless" paper for pennies on the dollar.
Once he and his cronies owned all the bonds, Hamilton ordered the Treasury to pay off them in full.
Cha-ching 1%! Cha-ching.
