Here, I present an abbreviated list of books I read, and recommend to others, in no particular order:
Hamilton’s Curse: How Jefferson’s Archenemy Betrayed the American Revolution and What It Means for Americans Today, Thomas J. DiLorenzo, New York: Crown Forum, 2008.
DiLorenzo draws out the dichotomy between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson. Hamilton advocated a centralized government with a permanent chief executive, and federally appointed state governors with veto authority over state legislature, thereby rendering states as mere provinces. Jefferson, on the other hand, advocated for decentralized government, resting the bulk of government power with the people, and their state legislatures.
§ Hamilton’s view of individual and states’ rights was that they are granted downward from the central government. In his view, the Constitution granted both express and implied power to the central government. Jefferson intended the Constitution to limit the role of central government, and that the Constitution only granted express power to the central government. All power not explicitly granted to the central government is reserved to the people, and the states.