The REAL Hamilton

Oooh! History lesson time!

Ok so let's cover just a few things the play got wrong about Hamilton and his life journey. I'll do this in bullet points since that'll be the easiest way to get some of this in:

- Hamilton was a war monger. He constantly fought with John Adams who was pursuing peace in what was in line with how George Washington felt. 

- Adams could've (and was pressured to) remove Hamilton from office once he became president but he didn't. He was hoping to bring everyone together but Hamilton wasn't having it. He fought Adams at every turn and was enraged Adams had secretly sent an ambassador to France to get a peace treaty signed because he wanted to go to war instead. 

- When creating a militia, Adams requested Washington to take command. Washington assembled his men, with Hamilton being one of them yet Hamilton caused chaos when he insisted he be second in command under Washington though his rank was significantly lower. His stubbornness and arrogance forced everyone else involved to depart leaving him the sole person in charge. (No wonder Adams never wanted to go to war)

- In the world of finance, Hamilton did a lot of good but that doesn't mean he was fiscally responsible. He constantly pressured Adams with ideas that would bring the nation larger into debt but Adams wasn't hearing it. 

- Thomas Jefferson DID fight in the revolutionary war (unlike what was indicated in the show) He was pulled off the front lines early by Washington himself to be an ambassador to France. It is assumed the decision was made due to his wife's recent passing and they hoped this would get his mind off of it. Thanks to Jefferson, France assisted the US in the war and loaned us a lot of money....which we never paid back. 

- Aaron Burr was a scoundrel. He and Burr were not best friends though were cordial to each other in the beginning. Did Hamilton not want to duel him? That's debatable due to the fact that he actively pursued a duel with James Madison that went on for some time until both men decided to move on. 

- Not only did Hamilton have an affair but he willingly continued it even after he was blackmailed. Maria and John Reynolds were scoundrels and John even invited Hamilton to continue his affair as long as he could ask for favors every once in a while, which usually ended up being money. Hamilton only ended the affair when things got out of hand and Reynold's was arrested and sentenced to prison. 

- Jefferson and Burr weren't even among the people who invested (or revealed) the scandal on Hamilton's affair. It turned out being a clerk in Madison's department who purposely leaked it out to a journalist most likely due to his hatred of Hamilton. 

- Burr DID serve as VP under Jefferson. The only reason he was removed from the ticket the following election was because he'd been on trial for crimes which sullied his reputation and so Jefferson made the correct decision to go with someone else.  

- Burr NEVER regretted killing Hamilton. In fact, he went on trial several times for the murder of Hamilton (because it was illegal in New Jersey unlike the show indicates) but was never convicted. 

- The REAL reason Burr dueled Hamilton was not due to his loss in the presidential race but his defeat in the Governor's race for New York. When Hamilton opposed him again, they dueled. 

 

Well, there's just a few things. There's more but I think that's enough. Again, the show is fun either way just as a history major, I can't help myself!