My Dear Hamilton by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie is the novel about Eliza Schuyler Hamilton, a founding mother who is responsible for preserving the legacy of Alexander Hamilton. A general’s daughter, Eliza Schuyler came of age during tumultuous times in the colonies and the fight of independence hanging on by a thread. When she meets Alexander Hamilton, he is a handsome, passionate aide-de-camp of General George Washington. Penniless yet brilliant and charismatic, Hamilton wins Eliza’s heart. After the war, as the country struggles to establish itself, Eliza and Alexander find themselves in the middle of glittering highs and bloody lows including the Reynolds Affair, America’s first sex scandal. After Hamilton’s death in the famous duel in 1804, Eliza struggles to survive and later preserve her husband’s legacy as a founding father as well as other prominent figures in the Revolutionary War.
I have always loved historical fiction, fueling my own research into the real historical events and figures. I am also a fan of the musical Hamilton (2015) and I have read the Ron Chernow biography. I have eagerly read other historical fiction books about Hamilton and the Revolutionary War. While My Dear Hamilton is a historical fiction novel, I feel the authors strayed too much from what is known about Eliza to try and fill in the holes of what is not known, especially with modern attitudes that, I feel, would have been too progressive for the time, even for a rebellion against a monarchy. My Dear Hamilton just didn’t live up to my expectations and I found myself skimming sections. I did not have an emotional reaction to this story and I was glad it was over. I do not recommend My Dear Hamilton.
My Dear Hamilton is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook
Hamilton’s Choice by Jack Casey is a story about the final years of Alexander Hamilton’s life. The book opens with Philip as he hears and reacts to George Eacker’s Fourth of July speech, in which Eacker trashes his father’s legacy and character. This leads to the duel which will end his life. His beloved son dead, his daughter, Angelica, has a breakdown due to the grief, and Eliza avoids him when he needs her the most. Tormented by a secret that he can’t bear to reveal, Hamilton is alone to shoulder his grief. Meanwhile, Aaron Burr, Hamilton's long time political opponent, begins a campaign that threatens to rip apart the nation that Hamilton and the other finding father so carefully crafted. Hamilton does what he can to ensure that the power obsessed Burr does not win. When a mysterious note arrives, suggesting that Hamilton is behind his humiliating loss, Burr becomes determined to bring Hamilton to the same ruin. Torn between his duty and promise to his wife and children and his committed allegiance to the country he fought to build, Hamilton must make a life and death choice. In a time of honor, duel, and political games, we know how the story ends but how did it come to the duel that ends Hamilton’s life?
As a fan of Lin Manuel Miranda’s musical, Hamilton, and Ron Chernow’s biography which inspired it, I was intrigued and hesitant when I came across Hamilton’s Choice. Ultimately, I decided to give it a chance and I am so glad that I did. Jack Casey brings the interior struggle and emotion of Hamilton to life more than the musical and biography does. Hamilton was torn between two loves, two desires and ultimately couldn’t find a way to satisfy both. I enjoyed seeing the egomaniacal Burr desperately try to take his place in the political power machine of his day and ultimately his place in history. He finds himself without friends and more enemies. Although, he never counted on being remembered as the “villain of our history.” The story also brings to life the pieces that moved in this careful game that Burr and Hamilton played as they moved closer and closer to that fateful day in July 1804. I also enjoyed seeing Eliza’s observations and her own internal struggle with her grief and Hamilton’s unwillingness to settle into a comfortable and quiet life. It is an excellent and moving story that brings Hamilton’s final years to life. Even though I have the eBook of this book, I want a paperback for my permanent library. I highly recommend Hamilton’s Choice.
Hamilton’s Choice is available in paperback, eBook, and audiobook.
Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow has been on the
reading lists of many since Lin-Manuel Miranda read the book and was inspired
to write his award-winning musical, Hamilton (2015). I have long been a
fan of history and musicals. When I finally was able to see the musical in
July, I knew I had to read the biography. Alexander Hamilton came from nothing
as the illegitimate self-taught orphan from the Caribbean. He overcame the
abandonment of his father, the death of his mother and a devastating hurricane
to start a new life in the Americas. He would arrive at the height of the
Revolutionary War and he would quickly join in the fight for freedom. Alexander
Hamilton was a controversial figure in his day as well as today. Chernow
details how the political and economic power of America today is the handiwork
of Hamilton and his unrelenting fight to champion ideas that we take for
granted today.
As a line in the musical says, “His enemies destroyed his
rep America forgot him.” He had very public feuds with the Titans of the day:
Jefferson, Adams, Madison, and Monroe. He had the first sex scandal of American
history as his affair with Maria Reynolds became public. I learned about
Alexander Hamilton in college as my history professor used his story of the
American dream. To rise above your origins to become a success. While he was
largely be forgotten in our history lessons, now thanks to Ron Chernow and
Lin-Manuel Miranda, he will no longer be forgotten. It is a large book at 700+
pages and it took me several months to read. However, it will be so worth it.
Alexander Hamilton is worthy to be among the heroes of our country’s history as
much as Washington, Jefferson and others are celebrated. While he was a hero,
he was also deeply flawed. While we can celebrate his contributions, we should
also understand the man and human he was. His mistakes, his failures to stand
are all lessons to us as much as his successes. I highly recommend Alexander
Hamilton.
“You've seen the show, you've sung the songs, now read the
full story of America's most misunderstood founding father.”
Alexander Hamilton
is available in hardcover, paperback, eBook and audiobook
Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton has come back into the spotlight
due to the popularity of Hamilton (2015). She was more than just the
widow of Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804). She a philanthropist in her own right.
She was the co-founder and deputy director of Graham Windham, a private
orphanage in New York City. She helped Dolley Madison and Louisa Adams raise
money for the Washington Monument, She was also a strong defender of her
husband’s work and legacy. Today is the 166th anniversary of her
death. I wanted to look deeper into the woman, the Founding Mother, who was
more than just the wife of a Founding Father.
Elizabeth, Eliza to her family, was born on August 9, 1757,
the second daughter of Continental Army General Philip Schuyler, and Catherine
Van Rensselaer Schuyler, the daughter of one of the richest and most
politically influential families in the state of New York. She was raised in
the Reformed Dutch Church of Albany which instilled in her a strong and
unwavering faith she would have throughout her life. On December 14, 1780, she
married Alexander Hamilton. Her first child, Philip, was born on January 22,
1782. She and Hamilton would have a total of 8 children with the last child,
another son named Philip, born June 1, 1802. In addition to their own children,
Eliza and Hamilton often took in orphan. Frances “Fanny” Antill, was the
two-year-old daughter of Colonel Edward Antill, a family friend, was taken in
by the Hamilton when her mother died and stay with them when her father died,
until her older sister was married and able to take over her care. Eliza would
be more than just a wife and mother. She would also aid her husband in his
political career, serving as an intermediary and helping him write out his
papers when he was too weak and too tired to hold a pen. Many of his surviving
writings have portions in were written in her hand. Even after the very public
revelation of her husband’s affair, Eliza would reconcile with Hamilton and she
would two more children. When Hamilton died on July 12, 1804, she and their
children were by his side.
Eliza would dedicate the rest of her life to various
endeavors. She was determined to preserve her husband’s work and memory. Eliza
was determined to make sure Americans remembered and acknowledged Alexander’s
contributions to America and his achievements from a humble birth to the
pantheon of American heroes. She has a steady stream of visitors whom she would
interview for their memories and recollections of her husband. In June 1848,
she petitioned Congress to buy and publish Hamilton’s works. In August 1848, it
would be granted, and the works would be added to the Library of Congress. Her
son, John C. Hamilton would go on to publish History of the Republic of the
United States America, as Traced in the Writings of Alexander Hamilton and his
Contemporaries (1861). History of the Republic would set the bar for
future biographies of Alexander Hamilton. She was a committed abolitionist who
delighted in entertaining slaves children and referred to the slaveholding
states as the African States. Unfortunately, there are no records which detail
her abolitionist; however, after reading Chernow’s biography of Alexander
Hamilton, I have a feeling she did most of her work in privately conservations
rather than public activism.
In 1798. Eliza accepted the invitation of her friend,
Isabella Graham, and joined the Society for the Relief of Poor Widows with
Small Children. New York in 1806 was a harsh place even with the best of circumstances
with poverty, hunger and diseases being rampant. As life expectancy was short,
countless children would lose one or both parents. And with no child protective
services or a public child welfare program, many children would be placed in
the care of family or a church family. Sadly, many children would end up
indentured or placed in almshouses. To answer this need, Eliza, along with
several other woman including her friend, Joanna Bethune, founded the Orphan
Asylum Society. She would service as its first director in 1821 and held that
position for 27 years until she left New York in 1848. She would raise funds,
collected the needed goods, and oversaw the care and education of at least 765
children. She had a particular interest in one child, Henry McKavitt (Long,
2016). She personally paid for his schooling and arranged for a military
commission at West Point. When he died in the Mexican American War, he left his
entire estate to the orphanage. The orphanage is now known as the Graham
Windham which operates as a family and youth development agency. It currently
serves approximately 5,000 children and families every year. The services they
provide include family counseling and treatment, after school academic support
and health services.
In conclusion, Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton is a hero in her
own right. Without her determination to preserve his papers, biographers like
Ron Chernow would have had very little information to research. And Lin Manuel
Miranda’s musical would have never been. As Alexander Hamilton deserves to be
among American heroes like Washington and Jefferson, America owes her a great
debt as it was her efforts to see that he was remembered. When she died at the
age of 97, she held firm to her belief that she would see her beloved Hamilton
again. She was buried next to him in the Trinity Churchyard.
This weekend is the anniversary of the famous duel between
Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton. At dawn on July 11, 1804, Aaron Burr and
Alexander Hamilton met at Weehawken, New Jersey. Hamilton would later die the
following afternoon on July 12, 1804, 216 years ago. With the help of the
brilliance of Lin-Manuel Miranda, he is back in the forefront of American
minds. With the release of Hamilton (2015) on Disney+, the story of this
founding father is reaching a wider audience than ever before. While I was in
school, I knew his name and his basic contributions as a founding father. I
first learned of the famous duel, and this might be true for many people, in
the 1993 Got Milk? commercial. However, it would not be until I was in college
when I took a US History course that I was exposed to more detail about this
man. I remember my professor being a great admirer of Hamilton and used him as
an example of someone who pulled himself up from nothing and made his mark on
history.
Alexander Hamilton was born on January 11, 1755 or 1757 in
Nevis, British West Indies. He would come to New York, orphaned, with no money
to his name, at a time when change was brewing. He would become General George
Washington’s right-hand man and eventually lead his own battalion at the Battle
of Yorktown to help end the war. By the end of his life, he would accomplish so
much. He was an influential interpreter and promoter of the US Constitution as
well as the first Secretary of the Treasury. He was the founder of the US
financial system. He was the founder of the Federalist Party. He was the
founder of the US Coast Guard and founder of the New York Evening Post
newspaper. He was a prolific writer, writing 51 of the 85 Federalist Papers. He
is generally regarded as an astute and intellectually brilliant politician and
financier. He was also known to be impulsive which led to the end of his
political career as well as personal issues. He was an abolitionist as he had
written “Who talks most about freedom and equality? Is it not those who hold
the bill of rights in one hand and a whip for affrighted slaves in the other?”
However, his close friendships and other relationships, including his
father-in-law, Philip Schuyler, indicated “he somewhat partook in the system
himself” (Vincenty, 2020).
In today’s social climate, many are looking back at our
founding fathers in a new light. Many have called for their statutes to be
removed. We, as Americans, have been taught to revere and hold the founding
fathers and even our leaders, to hero/icon statues, that we often ignore or
push aside their mistakes and faults. Because they were human too. As Shannon
Lallier, co-author of Jefferson’s Children: The Story of One American Family,
said “He [Thomas Jefferson] was a brilliant man who preached equality, but he
didn’t practice it. He owned people” (Halliday, 2020). We need celebrate these
men and women’s accomplishments as well as acknowledge and learn from their
mistakes and faults. Hamilton’s 5th great-grandson, Douglas Hamilton
agrees, “None of us are perfect. None of them were perfect” (Somerville, 2020).
As Aaron Burr sings in Hamilton, “Life doesn't discriminate/Between the
sinners and the saints/It takes and it takes and it takes/And we keep living
anyway/We rise and we fall and we break/And we make our mistakes,” we need to
examine the whole person in the situations in which they faced. They didn’t
have the benefit of hindsight like we do. We can look back on their successes
and their mistakes. To learn from their example. To be better. “I think we do
need to keep the past. You need to understand it. You do need to learn from it.
But, at the same time, you need to look forward and say, ‘How can we get
better?” (Sommerville, 2020).
In conclusion, on this anniversary of the famous duel and
his death, we look back on Alexander Hamilton. He was a man of flaws and
amazing intellect. He wasn’t saintly, he made mistakes, but he left a legacy
that we cannot ignore. Hamilton is a brilliant show about one man and
the creation of our country. American is the land of opportunity and Alexander
Hamilton is one of many examples of men and women rising from nothing to make a
better life for him or herself as well as make a huge impact on America. There
are many examples that follow him who came to this country with nothing and
become something. We have the benefit to learn from history. To learn about the
men and women, good and bad, to follow their path and avoid their mistakes. We
cannot undo their mistakes, but we can learn from them. Erasing the statutes
for the individuals’ mistakes doesn’t erase their successes and impact on our
country. I highly recommend watching Hamilton, the brilliance of the
music, the talents of the cast are worth the time spent.
