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First Report on the Public Credit

Alexander Hamilton · 1790

Hamilton's 1790 Treasury report proposing to pay off the national debt at face value and have the federal government assume state debts.

Hamilton wrote this report as Treasury Secretary, setting out his plan to fund the national debt and establish public credit.

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Scan of a handwritten manuscript page with heavy cross-outs and interlineations, titled 'Report on Public Credit' at top, with 'Respectfully reports' below, in Alexander Hamilton's draft hand. Page number 1 at top right and archive number 1382 at bottom left.
Alexander Hamilton, First Report on the Public Credit, 1790. Library of Congress.

About this source

What it is

The First Report on the Public Credit is a financial report written by Alexander Hamilton, the first U.S. Treasury Secretary, at the request of Congress. Commissioned in September 1789, it was presented in January 1790 and is held today by the Library of Congress.

Why it matters

In this roughly 40,000-word report, Hamilton proposed that the federal government pay its debts at full value and take over the states' war debts. The resulting political fight led to a compromise that placed the nation's capital on the Potomac River. The dispute also helped spark the rise of an opposing political party, showing how Hamilton's financial ideas shaped early American politics.

Look closer

  • Why might paying debts at full value have been controversial to some Americans?
  • What does the compromise over the capital's location tell you about how political disagreements were resolved?
  • Look at the draft pages — what might the cross-outs and corrections tell you about how carefully this report was written?

This document is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Alexander Hamilton on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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