Last factchecking article of Hamilton! After seeing Tick, tick....boom! I have an even bigger respect for Lin Manuel Miranda as a creator of....real good things. But here are some more inaccuracies. Read to the end if history doesn’t bore you to death! And note for any football fans: James Madison was a politician and eventually the fourth president of the United States, not to be confused with James Maddison (two Ds), the current Leicester City and England midfielder. Spoilers for Hamilton ahead, enjoy!
We Know
🎵(Jefferson) We have the check stubs from separate accounts
(Madison) Almost a thousand dollars paid in different amounts
(Burr) To a Mr James Reynolds, way back in 1791🎵
The show has the antagonist trio of Madison, Jefferson and Burr confront Hamilton about his payments to James Reynolds to keep seeing his wife, Maria. What actually happened was James Monroe (then a Senator and later the 5th US President) along with two congressmen (Frederick Muhlenberg and Abraham Venable) confronted Hamilton in only 1792 about the payments after Reynolds was arrested and claimed that Hamilton was investing in stock using the US treasury’s money. Hamilton, as he does in the show, showed his accusers the letters proving the affair, and they accepted this as proof he was not embezzling money, though Monroe opened the accusations up again years later after Jacob Clingman informed him that Maria denied the affair. Monroe’s private notes recording Maria’s testimony were leaked to a writer (James Callender) who then published the accusations 5 years later.
The Reynolds Pamphlet (I changed the order for coherency’s sake)
This was why, incidentally, Hamilton published the infamous Reynolds Pamphlet, because (not depicted in the show) he was responding to the accusations of Callender that he had covered up financial illegalities. There’s also a follow up story where Hamilton, outraged, accuses Monroe of lying when he promised to keep quiet about the affair, then challenges Monroe to a duel ironically diffused by....one Aaron Burr. But that’s another story.
And also, the real Reynolds Pamphlet is not as catchy as the song. It’s impossible to read if you’re not a real historian and just someone doing some research for a blog post.
Hurricane
🎵(Hamilton) When I was 17 a hurricane destroyed my town🎵 The musical puts Hamilton’s birth as 11th January, 1757, but the hurricane that destroyed Christiansted took place on August 30, 1772, which would make him 15 according to the show, if we are assuming he was not born in 1755, as some historians believe, which would make him 17 at the time of the hurricane but not in accordance with the show stating that he was 19 in 1776.
🎵(Hamilton) I was 12 when my mother died, she was holding me🎵
Agan, Hamilton implies its titular character was born January 11th 1757, but states that he was 12 when his mother died, even though she died on February 1768, which should put him at 11.
Blow Us All Away
🎵(Philip) Ladies, I’m looking for a Mr George Eacker
Made a speech last week, our Fourth of July speaker🎵 Philip didn’t encounter (he saw him by happenstance) Eacker until 4 months after Eacker’s Independence Day speech. He also went with his friend, Stephen Price, who duelled Eacker on the same day as Phillip did, but no shots were exchanged.
🎵(Philip) Then slowly and clearly aim your gun towards the sky
(Ensemble) 1,2,3,4,5,6,7–
(Gunshot)🎵
Eacker didn’t cheat by shooting too early and Philip didn’t point his gun towards the sky in this duel, nor was this his father’s advice as it was in the play. Alexander did tell him to give up his first shot, which he did, but he and Eacker stood there, not firing at each other, for a full minute, until Eacker shot him. Philip also fired his gun as he fell, but it is unknown whether this was an involuntary movement or not.
Stay Alive (Reprise)
🎵(Hamilton) Is he alive?
(Doctor) Yes, but you have to understand, the bullet entered just above his hip and lodged in his right arm🎵
The bullet actually ended up in his left arm.
The Election of 1800
This song (obviously in 1800) takes place after Philip’s death in Stay Alive (Reprise) when in real life Philip died in 1801. 🎵(Madison) It might be nice, it might be nice, to get Hamilton on your side🎵 The show implies Madison might have convinced Jefferson to ask Hamilton to endorse him for the election, however, it was pretty different in real life. Hamilton, having failed in his endeavour to advocate Charles C. Pinckney for the Presidency, began a letter writing campaign (after Burr and Jefferson tied in state votes) to convince Federalists in the House of Representatives to vote for Jefferson; a more active action than in the musical, but in fact some historians believe the musical overstates the importance of Hamilton in the outcome of the election-Jefferson later states “It’s up to Hamilton” which may mislead you to think he was a deciding vote in the election. In fact, he merely influenced those deciding House of Representatives’ votes.
🎵(Burr) I‘m going door to door-
(Hamilton) You’re openly campaigning? (Burr) Sure! (Hamilton) That’s new....🎵
Burr had actually openly campaigned for election in 1796, 4 years earlier.
Your Obedient Servant
🎵(Burr) How does Hamilton, the arrogant, immigrant, orphan, bastard, whore’s son
Somehow endorse Thomas Jefferson- his enemy, a man he’s despised since the beginning-just to keep me from winning?!🎵
It’s suggested by Hamilton that Burr was so outraged at Hamilton’s endorsement of Thomas Jefferson for the Presidential election of 1800-1801ish (it dragged on a bit) that he challenged him to a duel. In fact, Burr only challenged him to a duel in 1804. Hamilton had endorsed Morgan Lewis for New York governor over Burr (again Burr was thwarted in his political ambitions by Hamilton as he lost to Lewis badly), and Burr finally cracked after hearing of Charles D. Cooper’s letter to Hamilton’s father-in-law, Philip Schuyler, in which he described Hamilton’s “despicable opinion” of Burr and stated that he had called Burr “a dangerous man” not to be trusted with governmental power.
The World Was Wide Enough
🎵(Burr) Hamilton drew first position, looking to the world like a man on a mission
This is a soldier with a marksman’s ability....🎵
Was Hamilton actually a great shot? I have no idea, and he’d probably hadn’t fired a shot since the Revolutionary War. It was probably included in the show because it was intended that Burr appear apprehensive at the thought of Hamilton killing him, which fits the narrative the musical suggests of him shooting Hamilton in a panicked movement. And again....
🎵(Burr) Confession time, here’s what I got
My fellow soldiers will tell you I’m a terrible shot🎵 I’ve seen basically no evidence to suggest Burr was a bad shot, in fact, Ron Chernow’s biography of Hamilton (which the musical was based on) notes him as a great shot.
🎵(Hamilton) Raise a glass to freedom.... (Ensemble) He aims his pistol at the sky! (Burr) Wait!!!!🎵
So this raises a few questions. It’s not inaccurate, it’s a theory of what happened, because no one really knows the exact truth of whether Hamilton did intend to miss Burr, and whether Burr regretted killing Hamilton.
Firstly, there’s a lot of evidence that Hamilton did not intend to kill Burr. Indeed, this song originally included Hamilton’s perspective of the duel, and included him saying “I feel a sense of calm fill me-it’s not in his political interest to kill me”. This I’d agree with, because the duel did end Burr’s political career due to his shattered reputation, and it also suggests Hamilton did not mean to shoot at him as he would gain virtually nothing by killing him either. Some accounts state Hamilton did not shoot at all, some say he fired involuntarily upon being hit, some say he shot above Burr to signal his intent not to kill him, and some say he did indeed shoot at Burr but missed, hitting a tree just above him. In my non-historian’s view on the matter, I think he probably didn’t mean to kill Burr. Before the duel he wrote a letter condemning the practice of duelling, likely having agreed to it to appear honourable, plus, he is reported to have said whilst he was dying that Nathaniel Pendleton, his second in the duel, knew he did not mean to shoot at Burr. However, I also think that if this was his intention, having drawn the first position in the duel, he made the wrong choice. Well, yeah, of course he did given what happened, but it was not uncommon to shoot at the ground to signal a lack of intent to kill your opponent in a duel. Why didn’t he just do that? Eh, I dunno. As for the question of whether Burr regretted killing Hamilton, well.....
Okay, he probably regretted killing him as it caused the death of his political career, but did he regret killing him because he felt saddened by Hamilton’s death? Maybe. William P. Van Ness, Burr’s second in the duel, noted that Burr stepped towards Hamilton in shock after he shot him having supposedly noticed him miss intentionally, but this may have been something Van Ness made up to paint Burr in a better light. Burr reportedly having breakfast with a visitor at his estate after returning to New York after the duel is....difficult to brush away.
Look, this one is harder okay?? I prefer the explanation the show gives. I believe the best in people I guess. And Burr said “I shot my friend Hamilton” long after, so perhaps there is something to be believed by Hamilton implying a genuine friendship between them and maybe even some regret on Burr’s part for shooting the man dead (incidentally possibly with the same pistol that killed Philip).
*Oh, and they weren't rapping either. :)
My sources:
https://itshamiltime.com/2016/10/07/hamil-burrn-hamiltons-letter-on-john-adams/
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alexander-Hamilton-United-States-statesman
https://www.distractify.com/p/did-aaron-burr-regret-shooting-hamilton
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