Broadway’s new revolutionary musical Hamilton is noted for its accurate retelling of American history and the story of the iconic figure gracing our ten dollar bill who contributed much of his life to establishing the independence and success of the United States government and people. Based on Ron Chernow’s 800+ page biography of Alexander Hamilton, the overarching plot and character sketches are historically accurate. However, there are a few things in the musical, both scripturally and musically that are not. Lin-Manuel Miranda, the writer and star of Hamilton, claims he took creative agency in order to create a more dramatic effect within the context of a stage production. Here are some things that got distorted in the translation from life to script.
John Laurens at Hamilton’s Wedding
In the musical, Laurens makes an appearance at Hamilton’s wedding as his best man to show their close relationship. However, in reality, Laurens was completely absent from Hamilton’s wedding. Hamilton actually wrote him a letter telling him how much he wished Laurens could have come and even joked about him joining him and his wife Eliza on their wedding night. With the musical already being nearly three hours long, placing Laurens in a more convenient position seems the logical and time savvy thing to do.
The Schuyler Sisters
The song “Satisfied,” details the feelings Eliza Schuyler-Hamilton’s sister Angelica secretly had for Alexander but didn’t act on because of his reputation and Eliza’s feelings for him. In reality, Angelica was already married when she and her sisters met Alexander and she never harbored any romantic feelings towards him.
In addition, in the same song, Angelica claims that “I’m a girl in a world in which / my only job is to marry rich / my father has no sons so I’m the one / who has to social climb for one,” making a statement on the limits and expectations for women in the colonial American time period. However, as important as this statement is, her father, Philip Schuyler, had fifteen children, several of whom were male. Miranda states that he disregarded Schuyler's thirteen other children because "it's stronger dramatically if societally she can't marry him." Both of these changes to Angelica's character were made to keep the theme of how different perspectives can change history running throughout the show.
Fans also wondered where Peggy Schuyler, the third sister disappears to over the course of the first act when the actress who plays her returns as a different character in the second act. Her disappearance is never explained in the musical. However, Peggy actually passed away from disease when she was 42 and was always less known than her sisters because she never got involved in politics.
Philip Hamilton
In the musical, Anthony Ramos is portrayed as Philip, Alexander and Eliza’s only son. In reality, they had eight children, including their daughter, Angelica, who had a nervous breakdown as a result of Philip’s death.
Washington and Jefferson
In the song “One Last Time,” George Washington informs Hamilton that he is stepping down as President and that Thomas Jefferson subsequently resigned from his governmental position to run for president. However, while these two events did occur, they happened approximately three years apart.
While Hamilton portrays most of its historical counterparts accurately, some alterations were needed in order to enhance the dramatic effect of the musical. Either way, the fanatical following has only grown and tickets are sold out for the foreseeable future, unless you have upwards of $600 to spare for access to the “room where it happens.” Or enter the #Ham4Ham lottery, where $10 tickets go on sale just a few hours before the show to only 21 lucky people.
