I first started listening to the sountrack of Hamilton a few months ago, both at the recommendation of my friends and because I love cool music and history. I will gladly admit that I was hooked immediately. The story entranced me and I could not get enough. I still listen to it everyday on repeat. I have learned quite a bit of history from Hamilton, the things they don't teach you in your classes (look it up Hamilton was wearing his glasses), but I've realized that Hamilton has done far more than increase my knowledge of history, it has changed the way I view history - at least the part of history which features Alexander Hamilton.

I first made this realization when someone asked me who Alexander Hamilton was and my first response was not a spewing of random facts and titles but rather a description of Hamilton, his personality, flaws, history, and so forth. I know longer view Alexander Hamilton as merely a historical figure, I view him as a person. The same can be said for George Washington, Aaron Burr, Thomas Jefferson and (my personal favorite) Hercules Mulligan.

Lin Manuel-Miranda has taken the lessons of my childhood and woven them into a story, a story which makes the people who founded this country come alive. I don't just care what Hamilton, Burr or Jefferson did, I care about their motivations, their hearts, the thoughts that plagued them at night. I care about history the way it should be. See, history is not some bland list of facts and dates, it's real people doing real things in their real lives. History is a story, a beautiful complex story which deserves to be known. When Miranda penned Hamilton, I don't know if he intended to change the way an entire generation views history, but he did.

Our founding fathers are more than faces on a bill. Our fight for independence was more than some important battles and dates. And our country's founding was influenced by more than just some crusty old men (I'm looking at you, Schuyler sisters). Hamilton is beautiful because it brings to life a story which deserves to be known in it's entirety, not just random facts. Every other founding fathers' story gets told, but perhaps none of them has made quite an impact as Hamilton's.