Albert Gallatin (1761-1849)

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Economist and politician

Visionary . As the third secretary of the treasury, Albert Gallatin faced many obstacles. Appointed by the new president, Thomas Jefferson, in 1801, he needed to ensure that the economy flourished while following the dictates of his party, which insisted on less control by the federal government and the country’s financial elite. At the same time he had his own vision of the future of the United States, which included federal aid for the economic development of the Trans-Appalachian West.

Political Origins . Albert Gallatin was born on 12 January 1761 in the Swiss city of Geneva. After acquiring an education, Gallatin left for North America in the spring of 1780 and ended up in Pennsylvania, where he entered politics in 1788 as an Anti-Federalist (one who objected to certain features of the new Constitution). In 1790 he was elected to the Pennsylvania assembly. In 1793 this assembly elected him as one of their U.S. senators (which, at this time, were chosen by state legislatures). However, the Federalists, who felt threatened by Gallatin’s persistent and informed attacks on their agenda, managed to nullify his election to the Senate. Nevertheless, in 1795 Gallatin returned to Congress as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.

Secretary of the Treasury . When Jefferson won the presidential election in 1801, he appointed Gallatin secretary of the treasury, a position he held for the next thirteen years. Gallatin helped finance the Louisiana Purchase while still managing to reduce the national debt. Gallatin recommended that the First Bank of the United States be rechartered. Although few people in his party supported the renewal of the national bank, he insisted that this institution, which had both public and private investors, could help stabilize the economy without harming the people of the United States.

Later Career . Because the Charter of the First Bank of the United States was not renewed, Gallatin had various problems funding the War of 1812. Before the war was over Gallatin resigned as secretary of the treasury and went to Europe as an American diplomat. Shortly after he returned in 1823 Gallatin was chosen to run as William Crawford’s vice president in the 1824 election. Because his candidacy created so much controversy, he dropped out of the race. Gallatin spent his remaining years as a diplomat, banker, and ethnologist. He helped prevent a war with Great Britain over the Oregon Territory and, after retiring, studied the cultures of Native Americans. Gallatin died in 1849 in Astoria, New York. He was a close friend of the fur-trade magnate John Jacob Astor.

Need for Federal Programs . Gallatin remains an important part of U.S. history because of his work as a public official and his vision for the future of the American economy. He advocated economic diversity by insisting on federal support for agriculture, trade, and industry. Gallatin pushed for a level of equality of opportunity and a public land policy where the government helped all citizens, not just an elite group of merchants and speculators. Yet Gallatin also accepted his Federalist opponents’ belief that the federal government needed to be involved in the economy. His fellow Jeffersonians often argued that the less government the better. Gallatin, by contrast, realized that in order for the U.S. economy to expand in a way that benefited the most people, some federal programs were necessary.

Transportation Visionary . Gallatin’s vision included a nationwide transportation program, which he proposed to Congress in 1808, that was to be partially funded by the federal government. He hoped to connect all Americans to the market system while maintaining a national unity that would overcome local and sectional disputes. Gallatin pushed for roads and canals connecting the East to the newly settled West. He also suggested that certain roads be constructed to connect the new cities within the West. He asserted that canals should be built to join the Mississippi River valley to the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean. He believed that all Americans would benefit from this program. Gallatin’s specific plan was never carried out though the nation’s transportation system did develop through partnerships between federal and state governments on the one hand and private firms on the other. This less organized program managed to link much of the United States together by 1860. Still, Gallatin’s 1808 plan anticipated such aspects of the Transportation Revolution as the Erie Canal, which facilitated the economic development and American settlement of the Trans-Appalachian West.

Sources

L. B. Kuppenheimer, Albert Gallatin’s Vision of Democratic Stability: An Interpretive Profile (Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 1996);

D. W. Meinig, The Shaping of America: A Geographical Perspective on 500 Years of History, Volume 2: Continental America, 1800–1867 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993), pp. 311–352.