Palaces Out Of Paragraphs

English 1102: Hamilton and Writing

Is Hamilton Helpless or Horny?

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By: Adair Garrett

I believe that his many of Hamilton’s missteps throughout the musical are caused by Hamilton’s inability to step out of himself and examine his own impulses.  Miranda’s protagonist shows ambition in almost every song of the play, but this determination causes him to be blind to the desires of other people. Impulsiveness undercuts his morality, and the most stark example of this in the musical is the moment Hamilton sleeps with a woman who is not his wife.  

The callback to “Helpless” in both the song “Satisfied” and the song “Say No to This” leaves the audience with a sense that Hamilton only makes major decisions concerning women completely based on what is most convenient for himself at the time.  The first time we hear the tune and idea of “Helpless”, we see Hamilton and Eliza falling in love. The second time comes immediately after the first, as the song “Satisfied” undercuts the magic of the moment by providing a complete juxtaposition to the initial perspective.  Although Angelica is shown to be Hamilton’s intellectual equal, he chooses to be with Eliza because she is more appealing to him in the moment. As the story is retold from Angelica’s perspective, we get the feeling that Angelica is omnipotent and that Hamilton makes a mistake by making a decision so quickly.  Another callback to “Helpless” returns when Hamilton meets Maria Reynolds, leading the audience to understand that Hamilton makes the decision on the same impulse that led him to marry Eliza. Hamilton cannot acknowledge that he must make the decision to sacrifice short term happiness for long term fulfillment, and this stubborn ignorance ultimately causes his early demise.

His affair with Maria Reynolds was the ultimate example of his constant desire for instant gratification and proved how willingly he would sacrifice the love of his family for short term happiness.  Even if he had not had sex with Maria, the fact that he wasn’t wary of her upon her first fliration shows that he is not able to deny his impulsive wants. Hamilton’s personality dictated his fate with Maria long before he met her, although he cannot declare the fault to be his own.  In the song “Say No to This”, Hamilton displaces his own agency and removes the blame from himself by placing it onto the woman, another decision that makes his life more convenient for himself by sacrificing the good of someone else. He even displaces his own agency during the song by asking for divine interference to get him out of the situation, as if he cannot control himself so God must show him the answer.

In “Burn”, Eliza finally addresses Hamilton’s major faults.  She addresses that fact that Hamilton’s decisions are often driven by his desire for instant gratification; she tells him he’s “obsessed with [his] legacy”.  This obsession causes him to choose glory over his family and often over decisions that would have more lasting effects on American history. Eliza tells him for the first time about a doubt placed into her mind by her sister back in 1781, again reiterating the idea that Angelica has been omnipotent throughout the musical.  Eliza kicks him out of their bed, a symbol for their marriage, after telling him how betrayed she felt when she found out another girl had slept in their bed.  This is our first example of a punishment for Hamilton’s lack of empathy and foresight where Hamilton sees no easy way out. She finally burns all the letters, which is a permanent decision that she makes to destroy all of Hamilton’s buttery words and force his name to be tied with the affair instead of their loving marriage.

Nevertheless, had Hamilton had more time, he probably would have thought better of making such impulsive decisions in his relationships with women.  Carrie Underwood says it better than I can:

Blog Post #3

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For this blog post, I want to give my overall opinion of Hamilton himself and the show depicting his life and experiences all the way to his death. I enjoyed hearing his life story and the progression of how he slowly rose to becoming a man of power. It kind of reminded me of myself and how I was put in life situations as a kid that most people wouldn’t be able to overcome. Now that I am where I am at, which would be a place of power to me, I can definitely relate with what Hamilton had to go through to become one of the nation’s founding fathers. As far as the musical goes, I wasn’t too fond of it. Overall I find musicals to be a little on the cheesy side so off the bat I wasn’t really a big fan of the show. Also I don’t agree with the musical being seen as a Hip Hop musical. I am a big fan of Hip Hop and in my opinion I feel like the music in the show was a corny rip off of Hip Hop. The messages in the songs were clear and went well with the story, but the music in itself I didn’t like at all. I also didn’t agree with idea of making most of the historical figures African American when in real life they were white. It might seem petty for me saying this, but I feel like the point of the show is to entertain and also educate the audience. Changing the race of characters could lead some of the audience to think that these people could of actually been people of color when in reality they weren’t. I really didn’t understand the reasoning for switching the races; maybe so it would resemble more of a ‘Hip Hop’ feel, but I didn’t agree with it.

Blog 3

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Blog 3

By Ye Jun Kim

picture: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melting_pot

After reading one of the “Singularity in Blue” posts about the musical Hamilton, I came to a better understanding of the little details Lin-Manuel Miranda decided to put in the musical that actually determine the purpose of the musical. The writer of the blog, Evelyna, stresses that never have racial minorities stepped into spotlight, and now that they are coming into spotlight, those watching are not very pleased. She also mentions that a lot of people end up fantasizing about the founding fathers after watching this musical, when the founding father were not people to be fantasized about, in terms of racial equality support.

Evelyna says that Hamilton, “Hamilton is not really about the founding fathers. It’s not really about the American Revolution. The revolution, and Hamilton’s life are the narrative subject,” and explains that the purpose of the musical is to accurately portray the characteristic of the nation, even though we know the founding fathers were all Caucasian. While technically, the majority of the nation has become minorities, Evelyna says this “majority” are pretty inconsequential to the nation’s history. One thing she said that i felt very relatable was that if you are a minority, “You learn about yourself as entirely shaped by outside forces,” which imply that not much impact on the nation’s history until a major event, like the Civil Rights Movement, appeared. Even when events like this rose to the surface, there were tons of opposing sides, talking about assimilation and getting over issues that denounce people of color as less than human beings like themselves.

People of color have ever been the main. Although we are nothing different from the white people, we are always treated differently and with less respect. To accurately show this nation’s composition, Lin-Manuel Miranda makes the important founding fathers people of color. Evenlyna says that, “Hamilton depicts the revolution of which America is proud as one led by people of colour against a white ruling body,” which was a lot like the fights for racial equality. This clearly explains that our fight is no different from the colonies breaking fighting for their rights against Britain during the Revolution.

This article reminds me of my rights as a human being and encourages me to not cut myself off as an outsider just because I am not an American born. America is a nation of the melting pot after all and I am part of that melting pot, therefore, proud to say that I am an American.

Blog Entry 3

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By: Karl Risley

During their duel, Hamilton and Burr both acted opposite to their character that was portrayed in the show. In the very beginnings of the musical, Lin Manuel characterizes Hamilton as being an extremely ambitious man, taking his”shot” at all times. He never wasted an opportunity and always seemed to go out and accomplish whatever he wanted. This character trait could be expressed using many different words. Ambitious, took every chance, aggressive, determined, all words that Lin Manuel could have chosen to describe Hamilton but instead he chose “My Shot”. This choice was clearly not done by chance. I believe that Lin Manuel chose this terminology to point towards the irony present in the duel, that while all his life he did take his “shots”, when his life was on the line he wasted his last shot, firing his weapon into the air. In fact during the song, “The World Was Wide Enough”, Hamilton’s hesitation in the dueling moment was expressed in his monologue, “I see it coming, do I run or fire my gun or let it be?“.

Similarly, Burr was described early in the musical through the song “Wait for it”. Burr throughout the musical hesitated at everything he did, growing a little to be more direct towards the end of the show by taking Schuyler’s congressional chair and running for the presidency. In the duel when it counted, Burr did not wait, he took his shot and killed Hamilton. Although Burr did not die, killing Hamilton was the death of Burr in every other sense of the word publicly. Once he fired his shot in the song “The World Was Wide Enough”, Lin Manuel alludes to “Wait for it” in a very simple line spoken by Burr after it was to late, “Wait!“.

When Burr and Hamilton acted outside of their character it cost them greatly. Burr took his “shot” and Hamilton “waited” to see his fate, putting it in Burr’s hands. Lin Manuel depicts this irony by constantly emphasizing their well-established characters throughout the musical and then showing their final contradictory actions.

Why would they act against their character? I don’t think they necessarily acted against their character, I think that their actions during the duel revealed their true character. Throughout their lives, Burr and Hamilton are constantly building a public image, trying to create their own “Legacy“. Everything they did was influenced by how others would view them, not necessarily revealing their true intentions. But when their lives were on the line, Burr cowardly broke the code of honor established in Duels of the time (firing in the air) while Hamilton still upheld it. The constant embellishment of their characters in the public realm ceased during the duel, finally revealing the truth of their characters. It seems Hamilton was right when he wrote, “Mr Burr loves nothing but himself.”(https://www.gilderlehrman.org/sites/default/files/inline-pdfs/t-00496-028.pdf). While Burr was right when He complained of Burr’s honesty,” Why do you always say what you believe?”

Historical Annotation Project: Reynolds Pamphlet

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By: Arfa Ul-Haque

Title: Reynolds Pamphlet

Author: Alexander Hamilton

Date of Origin: August 25, 1797

Document originally found at “Founders Online” of the National Archives

Link: https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Hamilton/01-21-02-0138-0002

I owe perhaps to my friends an apology for condescending to give a public explanation.[1] A just pride with reluctance stoops to a formal vindication against so despicable a contrivance[2] and is inclined rather to oppose to it the uniform evidence of an upright character.[3] This would be my conduct on the present occasion,[4] did not the tale seem to derive a sanction from the names of three men of some weight and consequence in the society:[5] a circumstance, which I trust will excuse me for paying attention to a slander[6] that without this prop, would defeat itself by intrinsic circumstances of absurdity and malice.[7]

The charge against me is a connection with one James Reynolds for purposes of improper pecuniary speculation.[8] My real crime is an amorous connection with his wife, for a considerable time with his privity and connivance,[9] if not originally brought on by a combination between the husband and wife with the design to extort money from me.[10]

This confession is not made without a blush.[11] I cannot be the apologist of any vice because the ardour of passion may have made it mine.[12] I can never cease to condemn myself for the pang, which it may inflict in a bosom eminently intitled to all my gratitude, fidelity and love.[13] But that bosom will approve, that even at so great an expence,[14] I should effectually wipe away a more serious stain from a name, which it cherishes with no less elevation than tenderness.[15] The public too will I trust excuse the confession.[16] The necessity of it to my defence against a more heinous charge could alone have extorted from me so painful an indecorum.[17]

Before I proceed to an exhibition of the positive proof which repels the charge, I shall analize the documents from which it is deduced,[18] and I am mistaken if with discerning and candid minds more would be necessary.[19] But I desire to obviate the suspicions of the most suspicious.[20]

The first reflection which occurs on a perusal of the documents is that it is morally impossible[21] I should have been foolish as well as depraved enough to employ[22] so vile an instrument as Reynolds for such insignificant ends, as are indicated by different parts of the story itself.[23] My enemies to be sure have kindly pourtrayed me as another Chartres on the score of moral principle.[24] But they have been ever bountiful in ascribing to me talents. It has suited their purpose to exaggerate such as I may possess,[25] and to attribute to them an influence to which they are not intitled.[26] But the present accusation imputes to me as much folly as wickedness.[27] All the documents shew, and it is otherwise matter of notoriety, that Reynolds was an obscure, unimportant and profligate man.[28] Nothing could be more weak, because nothing could be more unsafe than to make use of such an instrument;[29] to use him too without any intermediate agent more worthy of confidence who might keep me out of sight,[30] to write him numerous letters recording the objects of the improper connection (for this is pretended and that the letters were afterwards burnt at my request) to unbosom myself to him with a prodigality of confidence,[31] by very unnecessarily telling him, as he alleges, of a connection in speculation between myself and Mr. Duer.[32] It is very extraordinary, if the head of the money department of a country, being unprincipled enough to sacrifice his trust and his integrity,[33] could not have contrived objects of profit sufficiently large to have engaged the co-operation of men of far greater importance than Reynolds, and with whom there could have been due safety,[34] and should have been driven to the necessity of unkennelling such a reptile to be the instrument of his cupidity.[35]

But, moreover, the scale of the concern with Reynolds, such as it is presented, is contemptibly narrow for a rapacious speculating secretary of the treasury.[36] Clingman, Reynolds and his wife were manifestly in very close confidence with each other.[37] It seems there was a free communication of secrets.[38] Yet in clubbing their different items of information as to the supplies of money which Reynolds received from me, what do they amount to?[39] Clingman states, that Mrs. Reynolds told him, that at a certain time her husband had received from me upwards of eleven hundred dollars.[40] A note is produced which shews that at one time fifty dollars were sent to him,[41] and another note is produced, by which and the information of Reynolds himself through Clingman,[42] it appears that at another time 300 dollars were asked and refused.[43] Another sum of 200 dollars is spoken of by Clingman as having been furnished to Reynolds at some other time.[44] What a scale of speculation is this for the head of a public treasury, for one who in the very publication that brings forward the charge[45] is represented as having procured to be funded at forty millions a debt which ought to have been discharged at ten or fifteen millions for the criminal purpose of enriching himself and his friends?[46]

[Read more…]

Hamilton and Burr: Who Shot First

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By:Rahmel Bailey

For my historical document, I decided to research the Hamilton-Burr Duel Correspondence letters. The collection of letters were written by Hamilton and Burr, and mark the very last documents that they sent one another before attempting to settle their notable rivalry. I found the documents on Wikisource, the letters are also available in the public domain. I was drawn into the battle of Hamilton and Burr because I had some knowledge on their rivalry from history class. I knew that Hamilton was selected over Burr to serve as Treasurer under George Washington and that the two had different viewpoints. However, I had no idea their feud cost Hamilton his life. (They didn’t mention that on the ten dollar bill.)  I believe the documents are essential to understanding the life of Hamilton because he made the choice to risk his life, leave his wife and children in all to bring destruction to his political opponent. Hamilton was an intelligent man, therefore he must have an adequate explanation for the duel. Furthermore, it is important to research because the account of the actual battle is also unclear.

To me, the duel is important because in the play Hamilton is compared to Black and brown people. Similar to many revolutionaries of color in this country he lost his life at the hands of a bullet. In order to figure out the reasoning for Hamilton to participate in the battle, I need to research.

 

 

American politician Aaron Burr (1756 – 1836) fatally wounds Alexander Hamilton (1757 – 1804) with a shot from his pistol during a duel in Weehawken, New Jersey, July 11, 1804.

The document takes places long after the Revolutionary War and after Hamilton served as Treasurer, their feud had been going on for over a decade. Becuase the documents give insight at the end of their rivalry, the relationship between Hamilton and Burr have to be acquired at different points before then. To bring the document to life, the entire field must be understood. Some examples of things that must be understood prior are that talks of a duel between the two were not first established in the letter. I have been researching the story behind the battle by mainly reading other related documents, like those from the messengers of the letters, and by learning about the less violent attacks that pushed the duel to take place. I have been trying to get the background through finding relative primary documents. There were many things that pushed Burr and Hamilton to the battle, one primary influence were outsiders. A newspaper editor pushed for Burr to challenge Hamilton to a duel in the paper. Also, Charles D.  who insulted Burr is actually mentioned in the letters.

The biggest challenge of the research is to find as many relevant primary documents as possible in order to get a first-hand look at the events and opinions surrounding the duel.  Moving forward I will try to read online encyclopedia annotations to find primary documents.

 

 

Historical Annotation Project Update: Articles of Capitulation, Yorktown

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By Ben Payne

 

The document I chose for my historical annotation project was the Articles of Capitulation, Yorktown. This was drafted by the aides de camp of Washington prior to the victory and subsequent surrender of the British, thus ending the Revolutionary War. The audience of the document was the commanders of the British, American, and French forces. Ironically, John Laurens, the American delegate to the surrender negotiations, died 9 months after the signing of the document, one of the last casualties of the American Revolution.

I was drawn to the document because I had read the Articles of Capitulation at Fort Necessity earlier on when reading the Genius.com annotations. It was interesting to me that the only two documents that I could find named articles of capitulation were these two. I wanted to dive into the effect being on the losing side during the French and Indian war had on Washington’s demands when accepting the surrender of the British army 27 years later. The document is important because not only does it signify the end of the war, but it is also the first document that set the path for cooperation between the two sovereign powers.

To research the document and fully understand it, I have had and will have to look at other treaties and surrenders of the time (Seven Years War, French and Indian War, War of Austrian Succession, etc) to see the customary terms of surrender. Also, there are some specific words used in the document that aren’t used today, so the Online Etymology Dictionary will prove to be useful. I will be looking into historical critiques of the surrender and the battle at Yorktown in general. I have been putting off some of the research, but look forward to using the library for all it’s worth.

Fortunately, the document sets itself up well for the annotation project. Each article is self contained and is simple enough to explain. The main challenge I have run into is that the document is 1200 words, or just over the maximum of 900 words for the project, and I’ve had to select only an excerpt of the document. Ideally, if I had time I would like to be able to annotate the entire document, even if nobody other than Dr. Wilson will be reading it. The other main challenge is one of time management. Because of my job, I have limited time to work on this project, and I need to make better use of my weekends.

 

Blog Post Entry#2- Kelton Dawson

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Hamilton And Burr Duel correspondences

          For this annotation project I learned many new things. One of the many things I learned was that you can’t just try and read the articles that you will have to have peer reviews or experts that break down the meaning of the letters, so when I discovered this it gave me a deeper look to the letters and not only did it do that but it also help me to understand the letters more and understand the conflict that these two had with each other. As I went through the different topics the duel between Hamilton and burr were one of the most eye openers to me. As we watched the music videos of Hamilton pass life and learning more about him, was the cause of me picking this documents. Another reason I chose the Hamilton and burr documents because they were the documents that led to Hamilton death. This was very interesting to me because Hamilton seemed like a very interesting person that didn’t bother anybody so I wanted to know why he was killed.

While gaining the knowledge from the letters as I have been reading I take notes of every key thing Hamilton or Burr write that can help me lead to the reason he was murdered. In order to do that I will look at every letter closely and have an open minded and try to think as much as the characters as possible to understand the two difference.  The letters were not only a good source for the case they were also a good source for people that didn’t know much about Hamilton or bur mood to each other and you can see how each of them felt about each other. That is the only progress I have made so far with this project and im excited to understand and learn more as I continue to work on this project.

BLOG ENTRY 2: Understanding Alexander Hamilton

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By: Ozkul Ege Akin

For the historical annotation project, a part of the course of English 1102, I chose to annotate the letters which Alexander Hamilton sent to his wife, Elizabeth Hamilton, which were published by the American “National Archives” webpage. The main aspect that drew me to this document was emotion. I have graduated from the Istanbul University Conservatory of Music in piano and continued to perform and sing throughout my life. One could say that I’m an expert in feeling and conveying emotions through my art. Thus, I thought it would be very interesting and exciting to historically annotate letters between two lovers who are separated by war, and analyze historical events through these sorrowful documents. Moreover, in my choice of document I was also inspired by Alexander Hamilton. I’ve got to know this man and his deeds in class and got to respect him, therefore I wanted to study and actually scrutinize his own self through his writings instead of a musical reflection of his character.

That being said, there will be additional toughness to annotating these letters because they do not necessarily include historical events in them. My plan is to research all the important historical aspects of the period in which these letters were sent, which is 1781, and refer to these historical aspects and/or their outcomes as I am annotating the letters. Additionally, I will research the social aspects of the environment Elizabeth and Alexander Hamilton are in during that time and their effects on the writers. After that, I will cross-refer to them as I’m annotating the tone and other emotional aspects of the letters.

The challenges I’ve encountered so far is analyzing the language in the letters, due to the difference in period between the two languages of the year the letters were written and our time. My plan is to find other letters or historical documents belonging to that time period and figure out how to best analyze the literary components without the old language getting in my way.

Overall, I think the choice I made for the historical annotation project is perfectly suitable for me as I have previously mentioned. It might be more difficult than a usual annotation project but in my opinion it will make me grasp much more about Alexander Hamilton, not only historically, but also emotionally.

Burr v Hamilton

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by Jake Smith

 

For my historical annotation project, I am annotating the Hamilton-Burr duel correspondence letters. These are a series of argumentative letters between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr responding to a prior letter by Dr. Charles D. Cooper that was published in the Albany Register saying, “General Hamilton and Judge Kent have declared in substance that they looked upon Mr. Burr to be a dangerous man, and one who ought not be trusted with the reins of government.” Burr took exception to this and the letters he wrote in response as well as Hamilton’s responses are the letters I am annotating. Hamilton and Burr corresponded by writing each other in New York.

I was initially drawn to these documents because I wanted to learn what exactly caused Hamilton and Burr to duel and what events led up to it. Upon reading the letters, you can sense the uneasiness and frustration the two have with each other as they go back and forth. I was also drawn to the letters because being able to read two life long rivals’ personal correspondences is fascinating- you get a glimpse into their mind and what they are actually thinking. This kind of personal writing was more interesting to me than an actual publication. The importance of these letters is to establish the events that caused Hamilton and Burr to duel. It is still not fully known what specific event led to their duel, but these letters tell part of the story.

In order to fully understand the letters, I need to look at what was going on at the time they were written, more specifically the Dr. Cooper letter. I plan to use as many primary sources like the letter by Dr. Cooper in my research as they provide the best information. I have been approaching this by using the national archives website which has many letters by Hamilton and Burr and reading secondary sources explaining the tension between the two at the time. The main challenges I’ve faced so far is finding sources that reference the correspondence letters because there are not many. I plan to work around this by piecing together the events before and after these letters to get a greater understanding of the whole situation.