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Hamilton

An American Musical

Featured Excerpts

Associated Excerpts

Protestors use the celebrated Hamilton lyric, “Immigrants: We Get the Job Done” to protest the first inauguration of President Donald Trump.

“The Premise of Our Founding”: Immigration and Popular Mythmaking

On the tension between celebratory rhetoric and restrictive policy surrounding immigration.
Collage of popular culture references from 2008 onward.

That Feeling You Recognize? Obamacore.

The 2008 election sparked an outburst of brightness and positivity across pop culture. Now hindsight — and cringe — is setting in.
Jessica Serifilippi inside the Schuyler Mansion

Schuyler Mansion Works to Bring Clarity to Alexander Hamilton’s Role as Enslaver

Throughout his career, Hamilton acted as a middleman for his family and friends to purchase enslaved people.
A map showing the path of the 1772 hurricane through the Caribbean.

Inside the Hurricane That Drove Alexander Hamilton to America

The young Founder’s evocative account of the tempest inspired people to send him to the Colonies for a formal education.
A pen and ink portrait of Alexander Hamilton as Treasury Secretary.

A New Hamilton Book Looks to Reclaim His Vision for the Left

In “Radical Hamilton,” Christian Parenti argues that the left should use Alexander Hamilton’s mythologized status to drive home his full agenda.
Poster from the WPA Federal Theatre Project promoting "The Case of Philip Lawrence"

Making Theatre Dangerous Again

In segregated units set up under the Federal Theatre Project, African American artists took on work usually reserved for whites and wrote radical dramas.
Trump shaking hands with wealthy supporters.

Even the Founding Fathers Couldn’t Envision a President Like Trump

Reflections on Alexander Hamilton, Alexis de Tocqueville, and the power of the presidency.
Daveed Diggs and Lin Manuel Miranda on stage in the musical Hamilton.

Notes Toward an Essay on Imagining Thomas Jefferson Watching a Performance of the Musical "Hamilton"

"But he'd have to acknowledge that the soul of his country is southern; the soul of his country is black."
Lin Manuel-Miranda, not in costume, and the cast of Hamilton, on stage.

In "The Haunting of Lin-Manuel Miranda," Ishmael Reed Revives an Old Debate

If “Hamilton” is subversive, the mischievous Reed asks, what is it subverting?
Actors on in 18th-century costumes on stage in "The Low Road."

Unrevolutionary Bastardy

A review of a "The Low Road," a “mordantly anti-Hamiltonian” play that made its debut at New York's Public Theater this spring.
Cast of Hamilton on stage.

Alexander Hamilton: Statesman, Dueler, Birthday Party Theme

Projected to earn $1 billion and earning Tony-Award glory, 'Hamilton' the musical is still going strong in backyards and classrooms across the country.
Conservator cleaning the Hamilton statue in the Capitol rotunda, with upward light casting shadows.

How the ‘Hamilton Effect’ Distorts the Founders

Too often, we look to history not to understand it, but to seek out confirmation for our preexisting beliefs. That’s a problem.
Cast of Hamilton take a curtain call.

The Original Attack Dog

James Callender spread scurrilous rumors about Alexander Hamilton and John Adams. Then he turned on Thomas Jefferson, too.
Mural of Pauli Murray.

On Memorial Day, Weaponizing the American Flag

As a young woman, civil rights pioneer Pauli Murray discovered that the flag could be used as a symbol of defiance.
Cast members from Hamilton singing at the White House.

Liberals Love Alexander Hamilton. But Aaron Burr Was a Real Progressive Hero.

Why Broadway's biggest villain is worth a second look.