Title: America’s Debt, Through the Eyes of the Founders | The Heritage Foundation
Headings: America’s Debt, Through the Eyes of the Founders
America’s Debt, Through the Eyes of the Founders
Rich Tucker
The Birth of a National Debt
Hamilton vs. Jefferson
Warnings About Excessive Debt
Jefferson’s Chance to Pay Down Debt
Old Hickory Rides In
Getting the History Right

Content: Under Secretary Albert Gallatin, the amount the U.S. owed went as low as $45 million. This seemed in keeping with Jefferson’s idea: “ It is a wise rule and should be fundamental in a government disposed to cherish its credit, and at the same time to restrain the use of it within the limits of its faculties, never to borrow a dollar without laying a tax in the same instant for paying the interest annually, and the principal within a given term.” [ 6]
But the Louisiana Purchase and the War of 1812 combined to increase the federal debt once again. Public debt soared from $45.2 million on January 1, 1812, to $119.2 million in 1815. Old Hickory Rides In
Andrew Jackson was born in the generation that followed the Founding. He hated debt and vowed to pay off the entire national debt. By selling off land holdings and slashing spending, Jackson succeeded in 1835. [ 7]
His accomplishment did not last. First there was a massive national depression, then a series of wars that forced Washington lawmakers to borrow over the years.