In February, France had declared war on England, bringing the matter of the US allegiances sharply into question.
To produce the desireable changes, as early as may be expedient, may therefore require the incitement and patronage of government. Here, however, government intervention not only serves to coordinate the pursuit of long-term interests, but also to counterbalance the weight of traditional practices that impede progress: Experience teaches, that men are often so much governed by what they are accustomed to see and practice, that the simplest and most obvious improvements, in the most ordinary occupations, are adopted with hesitation, reluctance and by slow gradations. It is worthy of particular remark, that, in general, women and Children are rendered more useful and the latter more early useful by manufacturing establishments, than they would otherwise be. Manufacturing also offered better prospects for growth than agriculture, because of its relatively greater susceptibility to the division of labor. That Hamilton believed that his economic policies would serve the aims of the revolution is clear.
The effort worked, but also earned Hamilton the eternal enmity of the prickly Adams, a consequence that would come back to bite him in short order.
