Zaynab Akbari - 5

The reading passage discusses Thomas Jefferson, who served as the secretary of the state in the first government of the United States and his ideas on how the country should be like, while the listening passage discusses Alexander Hamilton, who was the secretary of the treasury in the same government and the steps he believed were right for country's future.

As the reading passage states, Jefferson's, the Republican, had a number of firm ideas for future of the United States. First, he believed that the best path for the United States was to remain largely agricultural. And since he wanted to protect domestic manufacturing, he supported a system of free trade. Second, he favored state's rights more than a central government and approved a strict interpretation of the Consitution, which gave the federal government only the powers that are specifically considered in the Constitution.

The lecturer in the listening passage discusses Hamilton's plans which totally contradicted Jefferson's ideas. In contrast to Jefferson, Hamilton believed that the United States should become an industrial society and that manufacturing should be the mainstay of economy; therefore he supported imposing higher tarrifs on manufactured goods. Finally, in opposite to Jefferson, Hamilton believed that the federal government should have more power than the states. He also indicated the Constitution should be broadly interpreted which gave more authority to the central government.