Hamilton’s pamphlet “The Farmer Refuted” – written when he was 20 years old – a student at King’s College (a loyalist college) – and yet getting swept away by revolutionary politics. He was surrounded by redcoats, surrounded by pro-British students … and yet slowly he became convinced that the rebellious colonies were in the right. He wrote pamphlets under pseudonyms – “The Farmer Refuted” made a sensation. In it, he borrows from Locke’s 2nd Treatise (as all “those guys” did). He was far ahead of many of the other Founding Fathers, in terms of becoming radicalized. The guys in Massachusetts were obviously radical, and ready for war … many of the other colonies were more reticent. Hamilton foresaw the tumultuous year of 1776, and his prose reflects that.
In the former state [freedom], a man is governed by the laws to which he has given his consent, either in person or by his representative: in the latter [slavery], he is governed by the will of another. In the one case, his life and property are his own; in the other, they depend upon the pleasure of a master … The foundation of the English consitution rests upon this principle, that no laws have any validity or binding force without the consent and approbation of the people, given in the persons of their representatives, periodically elected by themselves.
