Why Alexander Hamilton should stay on the $10 bill, according to his contemporaries.

“He smote the rock of the national resources, and abundant streams gushed forth. He touched the dead corpse of the public credit, and it sprung to its feet. The fabled birth of Minerva from the brain of Jove was hardly more sudden or more perfect than the financial system of the United States as it burst forth from the conception of Alexander Hamilton.”
~ Daniel Webster

“He did more with his pen and his tongue than any other man, not only in reference to the origin and adoption of the Federal Constitution, but also to create and establish public credit, and defend the Government and its measures, under the wise and eventful administration of Washington.”
~ James Kent

“He made your Government! He made your Bank. I sat up all night with him to help him do it. Jefferson thought we ought not to have a Bank, and President Washington thought so. But my husband said, ‘We must have a Bank.’ I sat up all night, copied out his writing, and the next morning he carried it to President Washington, and we had a Bank.’”
~ Elizabeth Hamilton

“Mr. Hamilton may justly be regarded as the Founder of the Public Credit of this country. He raised it from the dust, and placed it on sound foundations. His great moving principle of action in his department, was good faith—was a punctual performance of contracts.”
~ The Albany Centinel, 1804