James

“James Wilkinson, an ex–Revolutionary War officer, and tried to convince them that the future of Americans in the West belonged to Spain. Spain offered trading licenses to Kentucky settlers, negotiated with leaders in Tennessee, and sought to attract Americans to settle in Spanish territory. Spain even enlisted Wilkinson as a paid agent of its government. Wilkinson secretly swore allegiance to the Spanish crown and for fifteen years received $2,000 a year as Agent 13 of the Spanish government, an arrangement not authenticated until the twentieth century.”
― Gordon S. Wood, Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815

“Hamilton used the sinking fund to maintain the confidence of creditors in the government’s securities; he had no intention of paying off the outstanding principal of the debt. Retiring the debt would only destroy its usefulness as money and as a means of attaching investors to the federal government.”
― Gordon S. Wood, Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815

“As William Plumer of New Hampshire complained, “It is impossible to censure measures without condemning men.”
― Gordon S. Wood, Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815

“There are very few men-and they are the exceptions-who are able to think and feel beyond the present moment”
― Carl Von Clausewitz