LAUSR

Alexander Hamilton once asserted that a “systematic or able statesman” needs a “theory.” This article examines Alexander Hamilton’s use of political ideas concerning one issue: the origin of an obligation to obey a government. It begins by exploring the theoretical foundations of two revolutionary-era pamphlets, which are, contrary to a leading interpretation, classically liberal. It then turns to a series of four Federalist essays, the theoretical basis of which has not been carefully examined. There Hamilton adopts a very different account, drawing directly from Hume, the most thorough critic of social contract theory. Against the conclusions that Hamilton had either abandoned Locke entirely or selected theories to fit the circumstances, this article argues that Hamilton developed a coherent amalgamation, one appropriate for a statesman, with Locke as a source of ends and Hume as a guide to the means.