Literature Review: Hamilton, By Lin-Manuel Miranda

Introduction Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda makes multiple twists to the historical context of the American Revolution and the founding of the United States. These twists, regarded as historical inaccuracies and aroused criticism from historians and scholars, added dramatic elements to the musical to appeal to the audience. However, often neglected is its political aspect. The twists to the history and political situation during that period changes the musical into a manifesto of democracy, where the potential problems of such a system is displayed in contrast to the monarchy that the characters denounce, in order to remind of the audience from the modern society the vulnerability and risks of a democracy.
Literature Review One of the scholarly
During his political career, Hamilton was involved in policies such as Alien and Sedition Act which leads to the suppression of opposition to the government. His career was full of insults and personal attacks, which completely contradicts the Hamilton in the musical who has ideals for democracy and write against the government and maintaining the freedom of speech. On the other hand, in “Hamilton’s Legacy and the Great Man Theory of Financial History”, Stringham challenges the notion of Alexander Hamilton as a founder of Wall Street. He suggests that Hamilton’s concept of a national bank contradicts the purpose of the American Revolution, which toppled the system of a large centralized government. Instead, the Wall Street and contemporary economic power of the United States is a result of countless decisions made by investors, large or small. However, on the political aspect, Stringham noted that Hamilton did not guide the audience into the conclusions of the debate of national policies, and each character has provided some good arguments at some point in the musical. This informs them of the debates in the musical and does not portray the characters as purely good or purely evil. Meanwhile, in “Can Great Art Also Be Great History?”, Owen noted the distorted American history in the musical, particularly Hamilton’s status as an
In “My shot”, Hamilton denounces King George for not “ever gonna set his descendants free”, and the purpose of the revolution is to set the people in the colony free and a life without a monarchy (“My Shot” 26). Apart from Hamilton’s ideals, in “Farmers refuted”, the lower class and commoners reveal their more fundamental and basic desires that they want to fulfill through the revolution, which is represented by the repeated question in multiple songs about why “a tiny island across the sea should regulate the price of tea” (“Farmers Refuted” 49). Their desires are basic and not as idealistic as Hamilton’s, implying they are far from being able to control the fate of their own country. By starting the revolution, the question implies their naïve belief that the revolution and a democracy automatically solves these problems, and the belief has hinted the failure of the new democratic system even if the revolution succeeded. The unrealistic expectations coming from farmers and commoners but not the upper class conveys the idea that in a democracy, the education level of the public is of crucial importance since they require the knowledge to pick a candidate to run their country. In contrast, King George in the song “What