Hamilton: The Revolution

“If we can’t keep our own histories straight, then the process of legacy formation that obsessed Hamilton and his contemporaries is even more fraught than we think, and the results are even more suspect.”

McCarter and Miranda realized that they were been spreading stories about the musical’s genesis, but their stories weren’t consistent. They managed to review their own paper trail to determine what happened, but this drove the point home that historical narratives aren’t fact. They’re interpretation of documentation combined with subjective accounts.

“For all its variety of style and subject, rap is, at bottom, the music of ambition, the soundtrack of defiance, whether the force that must be defied is poverty, cops, racism, rival rappers, or all of the above.”

Amid the questions as to whether hip-hop could be used as a dramatic form in musical theater, Miranda exploits its potential successfully. McCarter describes “My Shot” as a classic musical theater “I want” song, identifying the inherent suitability of the genre because rap is about expressing want and defiance, both of which are dramatic and actionable.

“If you stand for nothing, Burr, what’ll you fall for?”

As the colonies head toward a revolution, Hamilton expects to find someone likeminded in Burr and is disappointed to learn that Burr won’t take a stand. He declines Laurens’s invitation to rap like the others did. Certainly, Burr will fight in the revolution, but if he doesn’t have strong beliefs, he’s potentially dying for nothing.

“I imagine death so much it feels more like a memory.”

Hamilton addresses the audience and admits that he expects his legacy to be martyrdom. This has multiple meanings because Hamilton’s death lies ahead for the character, but it also sits in historical memory, and the characters step in and out of the flow of time. At an additional layer, the characters are conscious that they are performing, which means that Hamilton performs his death night after night.

“Ron [Chernow] tells you a story and he’s the star of the story. I tell you a story and I’m the star of the story. History is entirely created by the person who tells the story.”

One of the major ideas communicated in Hamilton is the notion that history is subjective. Miranda tells the story of Hamilton in a way that highlights what he sees as significant, which mirrors the way narratives of history are constructed. Even firsthand memories are subject to perspective.

“Looking back now, success seems foreordained. It wasn’t. No colonists in the history of the world had defeated their mother country on the battlefield to win their independence. Few republics had managed—or even attempted—to govern an area bigger than a city-state. Somehow, in defiance of all precedent, Washington, Hamilton, and the founders pulled off both.”

McCarter reminds readers that hindsight changes the story. The feat of winning a revolution and achieving independence from England loses the astonishment of accomplishment when there is no question as to whether the colonies will win. Similarly, Miranda and those who were involved in the creation of the musical had no way to predict its massive success, which places Miranda’s risk-taking choices in terms of genre and style into a different light.

“I am the one thing in life I can control. […] I am inimitable, I am an original.”

Burr’s philosophy of talking less and smiling more seems cowardly to Hamilton, who dives headfirst into everything he believes. In “Wait for It,” however, Burr shows that his reluctance to take risks is deeper than political manipulation. He recognizes that nothing in life is controllable except his own actions, and he’s careful with his actions because he cares about self-preservation in a way that Hamilton demonstrates repeatedly that he doesn’t. Burr isn’t interested in martyring himself. 

“American history can be told and retold, claimed and reclaimed, even by people who don’t look like George Washington and Betsy Ross.”

Throughout the musical, Miranda has planted references to hip-hop and musical theater. These references ground the telling of history firmly in the present day, suggesting, as McCarter explains, that the purpose of telling history is not about historical accuracy. Narratives of history are contingent on those who recount them and their reasons for recounting, and so is the selection of narratives that make the cut into the popular historical record. Therefore, they are stories to be reclaimed and repurposed.

“Oh, let me be a part of the narrative, in the story they will write someday. Let this moment be the first chapter, where you decide to stay.”

Eliza demonstrates that she understands Hamilton and his priorities, and she knows that he’ll do anything to create a legacy and find his place in history. He will even die in battle so he can be remembered as a martyr. Asking to be a part of the narrative shows her awareness that history is watching them, and it also foreshadows the moment in “Burn” where she will choose to take herself out of the narrative. Although Hamilton doesn’t seem receptive to her pleas, when he is in battle, he changes his strategy because he suddenly realizes that he doesn’t want to die unnecessarily. In a sense, Eliza saves his life.

“Finishing a tune at 10:30 for actors who are learning it at 11. […] Horrible horrible when will I stop doing my homework on the bus I’m 33.”

On the eve of Hamilton’s workshop performance at the 52nd Street Project, Miranda tweeted, quipping about his last-minute revisions. Part of what is revealed through the behind-the-scenes chapter is the messiness of any creation process, no matter how polished the final product seems. The ultimate success of the show is still in question for Miranda in 2014, even if readers know how things will end.

“Let me tell you what I wish I’d known when I was young and dreamed of glory. You have no control who lives, who dies, who tells your story.”

Washington’s advice has echoes of Burr’s exclamations in “Wait for It”—there are certain things that are out of Hamilton’s control. As Hamilton heads out with his first command, his actions might impact the fate of his men, but mistakes are only apparent in hindsight. Hamilton has been fighting to control his own story, and he will continue to fight via his writing, but history is ultimately told by those who are still alive, and history is subjective.

“Immigrants: we get the job done.”

The musical emphasizes that Hamilton is an immigrant and extols the countless hardworking immigrants who not only helped to form the country but on whose backs it continues forward. Although viewing Hamilton as a white immigrant of European heritage in the 18th century does not have the same cultural weight as the status of a non-white immigrant in the 21st century, Miranda is the child of immigrants, and the statement is meaningful because he is embodying the role.

“Burr, we studied and we fought and we killed for the notion of a nation we now get to build. For once in your life, take a stand with pride. I don’t understand how you stand to the side.”

At the heart of the conflict between Hamilton and Burr is their inability to understand each other. Hamilton charges forward and acts rashly, rarely stopping to consider consequences. He operates as if he knows that his time is short. Burr is careful, aware that he only has one life and afraid of destroying it. Ironically, when Burr finally achieves the vice presidency, he destroys his chance by trying to promote himself during the election.

“Daveed thinks that seeing a black man play Jefferson or Madison or Washington when he was a kid in Oakland might have changed his life. […] Even now, the show is changing him, making him feel more American.” 

One of the significant cultural contributions of Hamilton is the representation of BIPOC actors in a historical scenario that has previously excluded them. Certainly, there are many critiques to be made about the construction of race and how the musical’s representation might inadvertently forgive problematic historical figures. It’s also necessary to invest time and energy in representing real stories of important people of color from history. However, the founding fathers are the archetype of Americanness in US history. Placing BIPOC performers in those roles signals that marginalized people are just as American.

“The myth of ‘You have to be a tortured artist’ is a myth. […] You can have a happy, healthy life and still go to all these crazy dark places in your writing, and then go play with your child and hug your wife.”

Miranda’s recognition that one doesn’t have to be consumed by their work to achieve excellence is inspired by legendary musical theater composer John Kander, but it relates to one of the major ways in which Miranda diverges from Hamilton. Throughout the musical, Hamilton is completely focused on his need to drive himself. He misses spending time out of town with his family and ends up having an affair instead, and he makes the mistake of publishing the Reynolds Pamphlet because he believes that clearing his name of embezzlement is more important than the sanctity and privacy of his family. A significant lesson from Hamilton’s life is that professional output doesn’t replace personal connections, and in the end, his legacy only survives because his wife loves him enough to cultivate it.

“They don’t need to know me. They don’t like you.”

Throughout the musical, Burr has managed to avoid taking a stance, remaining so neutral that he manages to win Philip Schuyler’s senate seat by switching parties. When he does take a stance, he’s only riding the coattails of Jefferson and Madison on the point that he isn’t Hamilton. This instance highlights the difference between Hamilton and Burr, as Hamilton sees this as a friendship-ending betrayal, while Burr sees it as simple politics. This will come back on Burr when Hamilton ends up in the position to choose between Jefferson and Burr, as Hamilton will choose his political enemy over Burr, who has no beliefs.

“I swear, your pride will be the death of us all! Beware, it goeth before the fall…”

Burr is foreshadowing Hamilton’s ultimate fall at the end of the musical. He cites Hamilton’s fatal flaw, which is his excessive pride. However, Hamilton won’t learn to swallow his pride, even to the point that Burr challenges him to a duel for his insults. Despite earlier assertions that duels rarely make it to the shooting stage because the opponents can honorably negotiate a truce, Hamilton decides to push it to the limit rather than admit he was disrespectful.

“Is this the most revolutionary thing to happen to Broadway, or the most revolutionary thing to happen to hip-hop?”

Questlove, a giant in the world of hip-hop, asserts that the musical is taking the genre of hip-hop to a different level. Not only is Hamilton finding the potential for musical theater to do something completely new, but Miranda is finding new potential for hip-hop to be used in a way that it has never been used before. Questlove suggests that hip-hop was brand new in the 1980s and that it hasn’t reached for innovative heights for a long time. Finding the dramatic potential in the genre opens up new possibilities, just as it creates a new way for musical theater to evolve.

“To me, it encapsulated the thought that the struggle continues. The idea is perfect, the execution is not. It’s never been perfect.”

In the wake of the Charleston church shooting in 2015, Chris Jackson recognizes that Washington’s final words in “One Last Time” express a hope that still hasn’t come to fruition. However, he suggests that the reason for this is not because the concept of America and equality are faulty. It was originally executed by people who believed that “all men are created equal” referred to literal white men only, and they began the country with the institution of slavery intact. This implies a hope for the future that the execution can improve.

“Like the Scripture says: ‘Everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid.’ They’ll be safe in the nation we’ve made.”

Washington’s expression of this idea of America as a safe place where no one is afraid is poignant, because over two centuries later, this still has not been achieved. As a Black man, Chris Jackson recognizes that all people are still not treated equally, and multiple identity groups experience perpetual danger. When Miranda accepted his Tony Award for Best Musical in 2016, the ceremony took place on the evening of June 12th after the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida left 49 people dead in the early hours of the morning. In his speech, he offered a tribute to the victims of the anti-LGBTQ hate crime, describing with similar hope a world in which “love is love.”

“Sit down, John […]”

Miranda has embedded references to musical theater and hip-hop in Hamilton; some are obvious, and others are easter eggs for particularly devoted fans. This line, which is the remaining line at the end of Hamilton’s cut recitation of his pamphlet about John Adams, is a reference to the musical 1776, which represented the founding fathers more traditionally and focused on the writing and signing of the Declaration of Independence. Despite the different tones, the founding fathers in 1776 found Adams nearly as annoying as they seem to find Hamilton in Hamilton. When he wouldn’t stop talking, they would intone, “Sit down, John.”

“Hey. Best of wives and best of women.”

This quote comes from the letter that Hamilton wrote to Eliza before leaving for the duel with Burr. In the musical, it’s the last thing he says to her. Despite all his mistakes and misplaced priorities throughout the musical, the simple sincerity of this line gives insight into their relationship and the reasons that Eliza continues to devote the rest of her life to him after he’s gone.

“He may have been the first one to die, but I’m the one who paid for it. I survived, but I paid for it. Now I’m the villain in your history. I was too young and blind to see.”

A repeated notion throughout the musical is the recklessness of youth and how easy it is to destroy one’s entire life with a mistake. Burr won the duel, but his memory and legacy are decimated. Laurens dies young when he is caught up in a gunfight after the war. Philip dies in a duel over an insult. Hamilton gains maturity throughout the play in some ways, but he doesn’t learn to control himself, and he ends up dead. Washington warns Hamilton of the foolishness of youth, but it seems as if it’s impossible for the other characters to understand this until they’re old enough to learn for themselves.