Question

How does Hamilton support and advance his purpose by using the words sword and purse in this excerpt from Paragraph 1? The Executive not only dispenses the honors, but holds the sword of the community. The legislature not only commands the purse, but prescribes the rules by which the duties and rights of every citizen are to be regulated. Using these words lets Hamilton demonstrate to readers that he is willing to concede certain points that go against his argument, which makes him appear reasonable and makes his position seem more measured. Using these words lets Hamilton associate the executive and legislative branches with war and taxes, both of which will be viewed negatively by readers, so that his argument in favor of a strong judicial branch will be viewed positively. Using these words allows Hamilton to depict the personality of these branches of government in rather unflattering terms so that he can then depict the personality of an independent judiciary in a more positive way. Using these words allows Hamilton to describe the powers of these branches of government in familiar terms so that he can then contrast them with the powers he envisions for an independent judiciary.

Answer 1

"Using these words lets Hamilton associate the executive and legislative branches with war and taxes, both of which will be viewed negatively by readers, so that his argument in favor of a strong judicial branch will be viewed positively."

Hamilton wanted people to support his plan, so he wanted to make sure that regular people had positive feelings about the words he was using. Everyone had just been through a war, so no one really wanted to hear that word. He uses the word "sword" instead, which is more general and a lot of people owned swords. Instead of using the word "taxes" (again, people really hated the idea of taxes), he uses the word "purse" which again, is something everyone had and had a positive feeling about. Choosing 'sword' and 'purse' was much better than 'war' and 'taxes', so more people supported Hamilton's plan. 

Answer 2

Just completed the quiz and I hope this helps :) The correct answer is in the picture (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧