Did the American Founders Debate on the Relative Size of the Government?
Upvote:5
Yes, absolutely. The Federalist /Anti-Federalist controversy went far beyond the issues you cite. The founders feared a tyrannical central government - the writings of Jefferson, Madison and Monroe are particularly clear on this point.
The 9th and 10th were designed to limit the growth of the government.
Hamilton wanted a strong, effective government. Jefferson wanted a tiny government. Washington's first term in office was occupied with limiting the amount that they sabotaged one another. (Hamilton as Secretary of the Treasury tried to manage all foreign correspondence. Jefferson hired a man to do nothing but publish a newspaper that criticized Hamilton)
When Jefferson took office he devoted much of his tenure to dismantling the institutions that Hamilton built; the only significant expansion was West Point - which Jefferson reluctantly increased because he feared that Hamilton's flunkies would stage a military coup, and Jefferson wanted to pack the Army with "right thinking" officers. (All the more remarkable because he opposed a standing army - after all a Republic had no need to fight!)
The most frequently referenced institution was the First Bank of the US. There are several books on the constitutional conventions that offer excruciating details on what the founders felt should and should not be within the purview of the government. (The South in general wanted a tiny government and an isolationist foreign policy; the North wanted a powerful government and an engaged commercial foreign policy.)
Discussions about Article 1 Section 8 of the Constitution included fears that the government would become a tyrant.
I'm not aware of any discussion that state or local governments would become too complex or too large. Three possible exceptions were Vermont and Kentucky who wanted indepdence from their states, and Rhode Island - which declined to join the union in part because of the power of the Rhode Island state government. That might be another source of very good material (but I can't find a quick, useable citation - the situation was complicated).
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