The popularity surrounding Lin Manuel Miranda’s Broadway musical Hamilton is well deserved. It’s well written and has opened a door for non-white actors on Broadway. A glaring issue with it is in both the characterization of the historical figures and the way fans go the extra mile to romanticize them while erasing their many, many flaws. White historical figures are constantly exempted from their actions through popular media, such as musicals and even fictional romantic tales about them.
In partaking in this media without examining the true men behind the curtain, we are excusing violent racism at worst and sweeping the unpleasantness under the rug at best.
I want to say first and foremost, Alexander Hamilton was not a good person. He was intelligent and power hungry as the popular musical and book detail. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison can also join this list of over hyped white men with nice resumes. There’s nothing wrong with liking a historical figure and studying them, but there is something wrong with ignoring their obvious flaws that they should be held accountable for. These men were racists and misogynists. No, they are not just “products of their time”, they can be compared to the true abolitionists of the times who worked to free slaves instead of saying the right things in public society.
Many people like to claim that George Washington was not a racist because he freed his slaves. He did not. His will and testament provided that once he and his wife Martha had died, and only then, his slaves would be freed. Basically, he was okay with them being free once neither he nor his wife had use for them any longer. Besides that, believing you have the right to own a person based on the color of their skin makes that person racist. Another misconception with George is that, even though he owned slaves, he treated them well. There are many conflicting accounts on his treatment of his slaves but what is clear is that utilized harsh punishments such as whippings. In what might be the most severe of punishments, he would sell slaves to buyers in the West Indies, ensuring this person even worse working conditions and the promise that they would never see their family again. Yes, this man might have been the first president, and a great general, but that does not excuse him of what he put hundreds of people through and neither does Christopher Jackson beautifully singing his farewell address in the poignant scene of Hamilton.
Alexander Hamilton is the most glorified of the entire musical(it is after all, all about him in this case). That’s how he would want it, but in the end it leaves him without having to be held accountable for any of his less than noble actions, unlike “throwing away his shot.” One of the biggest issues is that he is portrayed as an abolitionist. This idea is reinforced many times, up until the finale when his widow Eliza tearfully sings about continuing his legacy and speaking out against slavery. This warped perception of Hamilton likely comes from Ron Chernow, author of the book from which Hamilton is adapted. The biography additionally fails to include Hamilton’s participation in the slave trade, but that’s an issue for another time. While Hamilton might have seen slavery as morally wrong, he always put it aside for his ambitions. He then married into the Schuylers, a slaveholding family. After that, his involvement in selling slaves grew.
Though there is debate on whether or not he personally was a slaveowner, he inarguably conducted transactions for the purchase of slaves on behalf of the Schuylers. His membership in the Society for the Promotion of the Manumission of Slaves in New York, which is vaguely hinted at in the musical, is not proof of him being an abolitionist. The Society’s records lack substantial information about Hamilton, suggesting he was not as involved as the general public might think. The Society itself was full of hypocrites too, many members owned slaves while holding membership. Throughout his lifetime, Alexander constantly put himself first and any abolitionist ideals he might have held second. He did nothing to advance the manumission of slaves except for sporadically attending meetings for a hypocritical abolitionist society. Your Alexander might be a scrappy kid from the West Indies with some sense of moral outrage, but the real Hamilton was a selfish hypocrite with a knack for advancing himself socially.
Do not take this as me saying that you absolutely cannot enjoy the musical or characters. It’s fine to enjoy popular media, as long as you recognize that the historical figures in Hamilton were not perfect people and their portrayal in the musical glosses over their true horridness. And if you were curious, yes, your college AU Jefferson/Madison fanfiction does count as glossing over their flaws.
