Since Lin-Manuel Miranda created the hit musical Hamilton, history has had its eyes on both
him and the "young, scrappy, and hungry" Founding Father at the centre of its story.
But, just how much of what you see on screen is Broadway fiction versus historical fact?
Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers, I'm Jan, and in this video I'm revealing 7 intriguing differences
between Miranda's popular show and the true story of Alexander Hamilton, and I'll be explaining
why these changes were made.
In the musical, Hamilton and Burr first meet in 1776.
The tune where it happens is "Aaron Burr, Sir", and it kicks off with Hamilton wanting
the low-down from fellow orphan Burr on how he graduated college so quickly,
and it continues with the pair heading to a tavern where Hamilton first meets John Laurens,
Lafayette, and Hercules Mulligan.
♪ What are the odds The gods would put us all in one spot ♪
However, this entire encounter is made-up.
Back in the real world, Hamilton had already started college in 1773 or 1774 and had likely
finished his studies by 1776.
He also already knew Mulligan before the date in the song as he boarded with him shortly
after arriving in New York; and he didn't meet Laurens or Lafayette until
later in the decade.
But the show's fictional first meeting between these men and condensed timeline serve many
vital purposes.
It allows Lin-Manuel Miranda to quickly introduce us to some of the musical's main characters
and show us how they relate to its star.
The scene also clearly sets up the differences between Hamilton and Burr, a crucial part
of the show.
And Miranda's decision for Hamilton's real friends Laurens, Lafayette, and Mulligan to
rap in a more simple, old-school style ♪ I'm John Laurens in the place to be ♪
sets the stage to reveal Hamilton's incredible intellect and sophisticated way with words
that's showcased in the densely packed rhymes of the musical's very next number, My Shot.
♪ Every disadvantage I have learned to manage ♪
♪ I don't have a gun to brandish I walk these streets famished ♪
Miranda makes what he calls another "historical leap" in that song, when Hamilton says he
punched a college bursar.
Apparently, the show's historical consultant, Ron Chernow, whose biography of Hamilton inspired
Miranda to create the musical, "blanched a bit" when he heard the line as "Hamilton wasn't
needlessly violent".
However, Miranda just couldn't say no to this fictionalised fight appearing in the final
show as, in his words, "the rhyme was too good to pass up"!
♪ It's a blur, sir ♪ ♪ He handles the financials ♪
♪ You punched the bursar?
♪ ♪ Yes ♪
Much is made in the musical of the mutual attraction between Angelica Schuyler and Hamilton.
♪ I'll never forget The first time I saw your face ♪
In reality, historians disagree just how intimate their relationship was.
While some believe the pair was satisfied with a close friendship and exchanging letters
through the years, others suggest they were actually lovers.
Still, when it comes to Angelica/his musical, Miranda ignores a few facts historians are
certain about.
When Angelica meets Hamilton in the show, we're told she has no brothers and that she's
also single, so she has to marry someone rich; ♪ My father has no sons, so I'm the one
Who has to social climb for one ♪ plus she's the one who introduces her sister
Eliza to Hamilton.
However, a quick look at the history books proves none of that was true.
In fact, the eldest Schuyler sister wasn't present when Eliza met her future spouse;
and not only had Angelica been married a number of years by the time she did meet Hamilton,
but she also had two children.
The musical instead shifts Angelica's marriage forward in time to the very end of Act 1.
♪ I have found a wealthy husband ♪ ♪ Who will keep me in comfort
For all my days ♪ As for siblings, records show Angelica definitely
had several brothers.
According to Miranda his "brain wanted [him] to forget" all that while writing
"because it's stronger dramatically if" she can't marry the "penniless" Hamilton
because of social pressures rather than the fact that she's already wed.
Also, Miranda was trying to make "a larger point" [here] that "Angelica is a world-class
intellect in a world that does not allow her to flex it."
♪ Eliza, I'm lookin' for a mind at work ♪
♪ Work, work ♪
After Hamilton very publicly reveals his extra-marital affair in the Reynolds Pamphlet, the musical
shows his wife Eliza's reaction in the song 'Burn' where she sets fire to the letters
he wrote her.
In real life, Eliza never commented publicly on the affair.
And historians don't know for sure when, why, or how she destroyed her letters.
♪ Let future historians wonder how Eliza Reacted ♪
Indeed, it even seems to be something of an assumption to say that she did actually dispose
of them herself, rather than, say, someone else having done it, or them simply having
gone missing over the years.
But for Miranda, the fact 'Eliza's response is lost in time' not only gave him 'enormous
freedom' to imagine her actions and outpouring of emotion in 'Burn', but it also added another
layer of drama and humanity to the overall story.
♪ Burning the letters That might have redeemed you ♪
A change of protagonist in the song Ten Duel Commandments has an important effect on the
musical as a whole.
The song features a face-off between soldier and statesman John Laurens and fellow military
man Charles Lee, who was charged with insulting George Washington.
Now, while those two men did indeed engage in combat in 1778, the show departs from reality
by having Aaron Burr act as Lee's second when, in real life, Lee's second was actually Major
Evan Edwards.
So, why did Miranda make this change?
Well, Burr's presence in this scene sets up the show's climactic combat between him and
Hamilton, creating a parallel between the two moments.
This adds an irony to his and Hamilton's final fate because in this first-act song, Burr
tells Hamilton that ♪ Can we agree that duels
Are dumb and immature?
♪ And that it's 'absurd' that a man should have
to answer for his words against another with his life.
Yet, in the second-act song, Your Obedient Servant, the tables have turned, and now Burr
is demanding Hamilton pay for the disrespect he's shown him, just as Laurens demanded of
Lee in Act One.
Also, by adding Burr and deleting Edwards from the action, Miranda re-emphasises the
continual importance of Burr throughout Hamilton's life while also avoiding having to introduce
us to a new minor character.
♪ Alexander ♪ ♪ Aaron Burr, sir ♪
A set of rules for one-on-one combat known as the 'Code Duello' did exist at the time
the show's set.
And Miranda drew heavily on historian Joanne Freeman's book on the subject while writing.
However, he does take an interesting little creative liberty in this song
♪ It's the ten duel commandments ♪ as, in reality, there were actually over 20
rules for duelling.
The song cuts down the real number of rules as it was directly inspired by the track 'Ten
Crack Commandments' by rapper Biggie Smalls, whose influence runs throughout the musical
And, along with Miranda's many other musical inspirations, bridges the gap between the
revolutionary era and modern day for 21st-century audiences.
Oh, and of course, presenting just 10 rather than 20-plus rules also helps keep the show
moving and the audience interested.
By the way, the song itself came about because Miranda wanted, in the first act, to introduce
the audience to how duelling worked so that when it was time for Hamilton and
Burr's famous confrontation in the second act, he didn't have to interrupt or slow down
the action with explanations.
Ron Chernow's biography describes Hamilton as "a committed abolitionist" and Lin-Manuel
Miranda's musical takes a [very] similar view of its protagonist.
♪ A bunch of revolutionary Manumission abolitionists ♪
♪ Give me a position Show me where the ammunition is ♪
In fact, right from the opening number, Miranda portrays Hamilton's early life as being "marked
by trauma and a first-hand view of the brutal practices of the slave trade".
♪ every day while slaves were being slaughtered and carted
Away across the waves, he struggled and kept his guard up ♪
Then later he has him engage in a rap battle with Thomas Jefferson where Hamilton derides
the hypocrisy of the future president for owning slaves.
And Miranda himself, says "it was cathartic [...] to get to express this to Jefferson
every night".
♪ Hey, neighbor, your debts are paid 'Cause you don't pay for labor ♪
Finally, at the end of the show, Eliza sings that Hamilton would have done more for slaves
had he lived longer.
♪ You could have done so much more if you only had
— Time ♪ However, the show's progressive depiction
of Hamilton on this issue airbrushes out the more complicated and problematic reality.
While the real Hamilton was part of the New York Manumission Society and, according to
historian Annette Gordon-Reed, did publicly criticise Jefferson's racist belief that black
people were inferior, "[Hamilton's] record from the 1790s until
his death in 1804 includes little to no action against slavery."
In other words, as Gordon-Reed says, "opposing slavery was never at the forefront of his
agenda", and many historians and political theorists
agree.
Others, though, maintain Hamilton "was an abolitionist by the standard of the founding
period", pointing as proof to his contrasting views on the subject with Jefferson.
But what role did slaves play in Hamilton's own life?
Well, not only did the real-life Hamilton buy and sell slaves for his in-laws, but some
sources indicate he may have bought them for himself as well or at least hired them.
Indeed, Hamilton's own mother had slaves and bequeathed them to her sons upon her death,
however, due to her children's illegitimacy they didn't actually inherit them.
For historian Phil Magness, it's probably accurate to see Hamilton as "a slave-beneficiary
who had qualms with the institution"; however, "to call [him] an abolitionist [– let
alone the leading abolitionist of his generation –] is a historical absurdity."
When it comes to Miranda's musical, despite the fact so many of the Founding Fathers were
slave owners, only Jefferson is explicitly depicted as such.
Still, actor Christopher Jackson who plays George Washington found his own way of giving
a subtle nod to the first president's slave ownership in the show,
and I talk about that in my video on all the things you missed in the movie.
So, why does Miranda portray Hamilton this way?
Well, a big factor must be Chernow's biography which highlights Hamilton's progressiveness
on this subject and heavily inspired Miranda's musical.
And Chernow is actually the show's Historical Consultant as well.
Then there's the fact that Miranda sees Hamilton as an inspirational and aspirational figure
to him, as well as someone who reminds him of his own father,
which, as historian Lyra Monteiro suggests, would also likely make it more difficult for
him "to truly incorporate slavery into the story of [Hamilton's] life."
Another likely reason the show glosses over the contradictions in Hamilton's anti-slavery
stance is that, as Gordon-Reed says, it makes him "more palatable and attractive to modern
audiences".
As Chernow has pointed out, "history is long, messy and complicated, and a Broadway show
is short, coherent and tightly constructed."
And Miranda does manage to squeeze an incredible amount of information into the musical and
even includes direct quotes from Hamilton and some of the other characters' own writings.
But what does Miranda himself have to say [on this]?
Speaking recently to NPR, he noted that "other than calling out Jefferson on his hypocrisy
with regards to slavery [...], Hamilton doesn't really say much else over
the course of Act 2.
And I think that's actually pretty honest [... as] he didn't really do much about it
after that."
"..although he voiced anti-slavery beliefs [he] remained complicit in the system".
While "some scholars point out the ironic tension between the musical's diverse cast
and what they see as an overly whitewashed script," as Kate Keller notes in The Smithsonian
Magazine, over the years, the show's creators have highlighted
the idea that Hamilton is "a story about America then, told by America now."
And back in the show's early days of 2015, cast members including Leslie Odom Jr and
Daveed Diggs spoke about it giving them "a sense of ownership over American history"
because they felt "it's [their] history, too, for the first time ever."
During a much more recent interview, writer Tonja Renée Stidhum spoke with the cast about
the timeliness of the film's release, as she put it,
"allowing us an opportunity to revisit and reckon with the history of this nation's founding
fathers during a national uprising."
A number of the cast, such as Odom, spoke of the show as a starting point for discussion.
And Christopher Jackson added that "it doesn't touch on everything, it's not meant to solve
problems; it's meant to inspire thought, inspire change
through action; but you cannot do that until [... you] fill
in all the different gaps of your understanding about where we are, how we got here, and what
we are supposed to do now."
And, in response to recent criticism of the show's take on Hamilton, race, and slavery,
Miranda tweeted that "all the criticisms are valid" and that he struggled to include all
the complexities of the characters in a 2-and-a-half-hour musical.
So, what do you think of the Hamilton musical and how it changed history?
And were there any historical inaccuracies which bothered you?
Let me know in the comments below!
Tap left to watch my next Hamilton video or tap right for another video you're sure to
like.
And if you enjoyed this, I really appreciate a thumbs-up and a share!
Thanks for watching and see ya next time.
Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers!