HAMILTON    

The musical Hamilton opened on Broadway in August 2015 and began several road performances In November, 2016  It received high acclaim for its depiction of epic events in colonial times blended with contemporary culture. Sellout performances continued until March 2020 when all performances were closed because of the Corona virus which affected and imperiled the whole nation.

While performances by the original cast were being performed, the Disney Company made a high quality video of the performance, thankfully will preserve the musical for all time. Although I did not attend a live performance, I was fortunate  to have an opportunity to watch the video. Admittedly, some of the of the fast-moving dialog went right over my head. Some of my friends related a similar experience. So what was the play about? What gives Alexander Hamilton  hero status in history? Or was it too distant and irrelevant to be worthwhile?

I began a search for information about Hamilton and people and events surrounding him. Some of which I remembered from school days. His accomplishments were gigantic. As an immigrant from The Caribbean Hamilton joined the army and works his way up the ranks until he became the aide de camp of general Washington. After the war Washington was elected president and appointed Hamilton as the first secretary of the Treasury. In this capacity Hamilton established the federal banking system and the first Bank of the United States. He also established the Coast Guard and strengthened the army and Navy. I began to search for information about

People often remember from their schoolbooks that Alexander Hamilton had a dual with Aaron Burr in which Hamilton was killed. While interesting, this event would not nearly as significant as Hamilton's participation in the formation of the  United states constitution. In the period from 1775 to 1789, a debate raged between the states which wanted maximum power to be held by the individual states (confederation) and the states that wanted the power to be held in the central government (Federalism). Three men, Hamilton, future president James Madison and future chief justice of the Supreme Court , John Jay,  analyzed,\and debated the issues and prepared 90 papers (“the Federalist  Papers”) documenting the analyses. The framers of the U.S. Constitution referred extensively to these papers (later bound into a book and preserved in the national archives

The intense debate between Federation and Federalism led to the format which was adopted In the Constitution. This format has been referred to as a “Dual sovereignty” having one set of laws for the states dealing with matters internal to individual states and another set for the Federal for matters across state boundaries and those involving foreign countries. The federal government is not permitted to assume any authorities assigned to the state governments as enumerated in the Constitution.The people elect the executives and legislators at both levels.  This government model didn’t exist at the time of the preparation of our Constitution, and is said to be admired worldwide.

A beauty of the Hamilton musical is in the diverse elements it combines. People with widely diverse interests—drama, contemporary music and political science—can sit together enjoying their primary interest while having exposure to the others. This certainly is one reason the musical has been so remarkably successful.  Hopefully, it will enjoy an exceptionally long run when theaters can open again.