By: Carol Rojas Ramirez

We all go to Tech so we’re all smart in one way or another. Some are brainiacs who will be solving crazy physics and math problems to design aircrafts and power plants. Others are brilliant strategists who will one day lead the World Bank or Wall Street.

Bottom line is, we all have expectations of what we want to do with our lives. Whether it originates from parental pressure, or the exceedingly high standards that you’ve set for yourself (I see you, my overachievers), or the standard of becoming a great something once you graduate from this Institution. I’m not going to lie, I feel it all the time. But honestly, I have come to believe that my fear of failure is not from being afraid of not becoming a doctor or lawyer or engineer, but rather not becoming the person I have always wanted to be, and I think that it has a lot to do with how I was raised and where I come from.

I am a first-generation immigrant. I was raised by single mother who never needed to speak twice to get her point across and had high expectations of me since I was in grade school. Even though she doesn’t have a fancy job, I fancy her a successful woman in her own right. And more than anything, I aim to be that woman, a resilient, independent, and well-educated woman. I think that a lot of women, like my mother, have lived through unimaginable struggles  but sadly, their stories have been lost in translation or never even been heard. But I know that they have raised strong and amazing men and women who have become leaders, teachers, scientists, etc… However, their mothers’ stories are never told. We could go on and on about the ambition of our founding fathers, which I am thankful for, but I also think that we should be talking about the women who didn’t have a voice in this period of time, particularly immigrant women and minority women living throughout the world. The women who endured so much, the women who fought conventions, those who gave so much of themselves to raise the future of America and of this world. That would be a hell of a musical. 

Rachel Faucette’s story is inspiring and highly underrated. After all, we didn’t even hear about her at all in the play. However, I do praise Lin-Manuel Miranda’s efforts in making this musical so diverse- not just with race but also in how he used his artistic license to make this such a pro-female musical.  There is no proof that Angelica was the strong, brilliant woman, struggling to be heard that Lin-Manuel Miranda presents in Hamilton. However, the underlying feminist tones in this play are inspiring. 

By: Carol Rojas Ramirez

Hey there! If you haven’t checked out my Transcription entry, you totally should. It’s on the Reynolds Pamphlet, which is the historical document that I will be using for my annotation project. This Pamphlet was written by our very own Alexander Hamilton when his lover’s husband (James Reynolds) threatened his political career by falsely accusing him of embezzling funds (I know… it’s kind of crazy).

Of course, since Hamilton had beef with literally everyone, the Pamphlet caught many peoples’ attention and it had a lasting impact on his career.  

I was really interested by the document primarily because of the amount of drama that has surrounded it for years. Now that I’ve started doing research on the background, I have found so many more conspiracy theories and stories that explain this bizarre time in Hamilton’s life. More importantly, I have found that a lot of the stuff surrounding the Pamphlet isn’t just cheap gossip but a window into the political and socioeconomic climate of the time. It has been interesting and rather entertaining learning about the blackmail plot and questioning Maria’s involvement in the whole scheme but when you really start reading the document, you start to wonder who James Reynolds was and if he considered Hamilton as an enemy (politically, not just because he was sleeping with his wife). This got me deeper into the political factions of the time as well as Hamilton’s time as the Treasury Secretary. Unfortunately, it has been rather difficult to find primary sources that provide some insight into these topics. There are certainly many articles out there that give you a run-down on the affair and what they think really happened between the three people but there are not documents in which Hamilton describes his time as the Treasury Secretary. Yes, there are many finance and economics journals that describe Hamilton’s ideas and how they have shaped the nation, but they don’t provide specific detail as to how this affected his personal life. Getting any insight into James Reynolds was even worse. This is the stuff that I found on Google Scholar:  

Moving forward, I am going to try to do some more reading of Chernow’s Alexander Hamilton as he provides good summaries of the occurrences in during this time in Hamilton’s life. I also think that it will be a good jumping off point for my research. I think that if I can read summaries and then try to get more information on a specific topic, like the Federalists and the Anti-Federalist factions, I’ll be able to piece the different details together to understand the Reynolds Pamphlet a bit better.  

By: Carol Rojas Ramirez

There are many different themes that make up Hamilton’s first act. I think that one of the many literary methods that Lin-Manuel Miranda utilizes to get these themes across is repetition. We see this occur not just in individual songs but across multiple songs in the first act (and of course, in the second act). This form of repetition that expands across the entire musical links the different stories together in a way that provides the listener/viewer with a broad understanding of not just the period’s history but also a character study on Alexander Hamilton.

I know… I’ve read a lot of other blog posts and everyone is talking about repetition, but it’s something to be studied because it’s such an integral part of this musical. A lot of the repetition, as I mentioned, has to do with Hamilton’s characterization. In a broader sense,  we understand that this story is about an ambitious man who was his own worst enemy. Throughout different songs, we get an idea as to why this is true. We start out with the first song where we get the repetition of his name, but then we move on to songs like Aaron Burr Sir, and Satisfied where we get phrases like “Just You Wait”, which help the viewer/listener understand Hamilton’s visions of grandeur and his eagerness to be the best. He says this repeatedly, which shows us that he knows he’s smart and talented and that he could be the best, but it also shows us that he doesn’t know when to shut up about it. From the first couple of songs, we get the gist… Hamilton wants it all and he wants it now. And he’s going to tell everyone until they hear him. The fact that he is so arrogant with his opinions is what is going to lead to Hamilton’s downfall (we see this with the repetition of the line, “Talk less, smile more”). Here is a good place to state that “Just you wait” is a phrase that sets the tone for the foiling that will happen between Burr and Hamilton. While Hamilton uses that line, we hear Burr say, “Wait for it”, something that provides further characterization for both Hamilton and Burr.

All these lines, which are repeated throughout, help us understand Hamilton’s ambition and his overwhelming desire to become his own man. After immigrating to New York, Hamilton views the war as a personal problem. He is eager to fight for something that he wishes will be his. He wants a home, a family, and friends (he’s basically a millennial). All these elements provide insight into the quintessential story of an immigrant. The phrase, “New York” is mentioned multiple times in many songs including, My Shot, Alexander Hamilton, and Helpless. In many ways, it is providing a setting for the characters that is familiar to the viewer. It is easy to picture sailing ships coming towards the Statue of Liberty as well as to hum the familiar, Empire State of Mind song by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys.

As we will soon find out, however, Hamilton’s eagerness, the fact that he works himself to death (as mentioned throughout the song, Best of Wives and Best of Women), and that he never shuts up is what will be his downfall. His own ambition is his downfall. It is interesting because one of the many phrases we hear throughout the musical is “Rise Up” which is inspiring to hear, not just for the poor immigrants like Hamilton but also the colonies. However, this also provides foreshadowing of the rise and fall of a great man.

The thing is, a lot of the songs’ themes are not entirely about Hamilton nor the Revolutionary War but also touch on deeper issues such as gun violence, feminism, the Black Lives Matter movement, among others.