My name is Aidan Jackson and was born into a loving family in Charleston, South Carolina, in October of 1752. Growing up, my father made known his high standards of what my siblings and I should achieve in our lives. Later on, I understood that our success was important in carrying on our family’s prominence in South Carolina. To aid in achieving those goals, I went off to Britain for schooling, and came back to Charleston many years later, bringing back the knowledge I had learned while in Europe. Sympathizing with the Patriot cause, I decided to return home before the war for independence, where both my brother, Charles, and I served as captains in the Continental army in June of 1775. The war brought me two great things; independence from Britain, and the chance to meet my wife, Margret Brewton, daughter of the well known South Carolina merchant family, the Brewtons. After Margret and I married in 1779, we welcomed our first of three children two years later. Following the war, I became heavily involved in politics, and soon after decided to run for Governor of South Carolina, a position I was elected to in 1787.
Through my position as Governor of South Carolina, I strongly support Federalists and advocate for the ratification of the Constitution. I believe that with a stronger national government and commercial harmony with Britain, the country would prosper economically and politically. Economically, the country would benefit as a whole because state currency and taxes would be uniform throughout, making trade between states easier and more efficient. This, in turn, would benefit the country’s economy and provide unity to the states because merchants would trade between state lines, spreading capital throughout. Politically, a stronger national government supported by the Executive and Judicial branches would provide the citizens with order throughout the country and fair laws from their states, laws that would have to comply with the national government. Although some may say that Federalism is for the rich, I disagree and believe that this opinion has many logical claims, especially to boost our economy. Maybe soon yeoman and tenant farmers will agree with our views.
I, along with thousands of other Federalists, believe that the Constitution should be ratified, and we are prepared to support the document and continue to raise support for it throughout the country by writing essays to be read by citizens. It is important to us, that the people hear both sides of the argument and understand that even though the national government would hold more power, the different branches of the government would “check and balance” each other so that one would not dominate the others. I am in support of Alexander Hamilton’s Financial plan, which promised economic stability to national finances and citizens. Through this plan, the nation would focus primarily on manufacturing and growing economically through trade and commerce, which would soon put the money back into the pockets of citizens. In response to the French Revolution, we hope that the country remains suspicious of the French, considering how radical the revolutionary ideas are. Also, the Haitian revolution, which was modeled after the French, has risen concerns in Charleston that slaves may undertake their own rebellion, inspired by Haiti. In contrast, the Federalist views on how we should move forward in our relationship with Britain has divided that group, half of us hope to remain civil with the British, and driven by the commercial and mercantile aspects, while the other half argue taking a pro-British stance would degrade the United States, considering the past conflict. Finally, I believe that John Adams would make an excellent president and should be re-elected. I thought that his pro-British stance foreign policy and suspicion towards the French served the United States well, and his decision to implement that Alien and Sedition Acts may have caused some conflict, but the end result strengthened loyalty to the United States.
