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Alexander Hamilton was the Secretary of Treasury under George Washington. At this he was thirty-four years old. He was regarded as a financial genius. He established a Financial Plan to help establish the credit of the newly founded United States by providing for payment of the nation’s debts, taxing only the people most able to pay, favoring agriculture over industry, and encouraging spending for national defense. Hamilton needed to establish the credit of the United States. He knew that in order to bolster the credit, he needed to have the faith of the people of the United States. He urged Congress to use a method called funding at par. Funding at par means that the government would pay off its debts at face value, plus accumulated interest, which was almost $54 million. Most people did not believe the Treasury was capable of meeting these expectations, so government bonds had depreciated to about ten or fifteen cents on the dollar. Hamilton also urged Congress to assume the debts of the states, which he referred to as assumption. He believed that this would chain the states more tightly to the federal government. This was carried through in 1790 (Bailey 192-193). Good credit was essential for national growth because