In tribute to the final days of the 2010 legislative session, I bring you insight from a previous century. Along with James Madison and John Jay, Alexander Hamilton authored The Federalist Papers (1787-1788), a series of 85 political essays that illustrated the problems of this new government being crafted. In one essay, Hamilton posed and answered the following question: Why has government been instituted at all? Because the passions of men will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice, without constraint.

A brilliant man, Hamilton's life began and ended in notoriety. He was born in 1757 on the West Indies Island of Nevis, the illegitimate son of a Scottish merchant, and died in 1804 following a duel with Aaron Burr.

He was also a bit of a pain, especially to those he disliked. The bad blood between Hamilton and Burr was years in the making. In 1800, Hamilton prevented Burr from winning the presidency by championing Thomas Jefferson instead. (Ironic, since Hamilton thoroughly disliked Jefferson. However, while he considered Jefferson a political hack, he thought Burr dishonorable.) Burr ended up serving one unhappy term as Jefferson's vice president. When he ran for governor of New York in 1804, Burr took exception to further criticism from Hamilton and challenged him to the famous duel. When they met on July 11, 1804, Burr proved the better shot (although some reports claim that Hamilton fired into the air, not at Burr). Hamilton died the following day.