#Alexander historians

[jeannereames]

Your wish is my command. Ha.

The poll showed Alexander's hero as the clear favorite, the other two choices were pretty much tied, so I'll do one of them next week.

This is a deep dive into the sources themselves, literary and visual, as to Alexander's own hero emulation (and cosplay!). Who did HE most want to be, in his own lifetime. The conclusion might irritate the Patrochilles fans, alas.

Btw, if you enjoy these, please subscribe to the channel!

[ciderbird]

academic bias is so funny because you’ll be reading about the same historical event and one person is like “Despite the troubles that befell his homeland and near constant criticism of the court King Blorbo remained strong in the face of adversity” and the other one is like “after letting his people carry the brunt of his cringefail decisions Blorbo the Shitface refused to listen to any reason and continued to be a warmongering piece of shit. Also he was ugly.”

[taxmacabre]

Chernow: A Bad Historian?

Though better historians/researchers than myself have posted aplenty on the speculative nonsense Ron Chernow gets up to in his biographies, he sometimes still gets praise for his work. Yes, sure, he's bad at his conclusions, but he's a good historian.

Right?

I would argue, no. Not even close.

His sources seem extensive, and can certainly serve as a jumping board for the budding historian - but he cannot be trusted. Even his sources are sometimes either lied about (directly or through subterfuge), edited, or plain untrue. Let me take two pages as an example in his biography of Alexander Hamilton, page 74-75.

Midway through the first page, he states,

"Hamilton had already informed his distant St. Croix readers, "This city is at present evacuated by above one half of its inhabitants under the influence of a general panic.""

He then gives a source - a source, however, which has not proven to be Hamilton at all. This is a similar mistake he made on p.68, 69 and 72 (that he drew wild assumptions about Hamilton's disposition and opinions on, unsubstantiated as his source is dubious). It wouldn't be this harmful of a thing to do, if the exact same source which he blatantly pretends must be Hamilton, just because it was printed in the Royal Danish Gazette, addressed from an anonymous New York soldier, wasn't used again and again and again.

Michael Newton does a better job than I do in proving that these were not, in fact, written by Hamilton. In his book (Alexander Hamilton: The Formative Years, Ch.13), he explains that the anonymous letter attributed to Hamilton by Chernow had been published previously in London newspapers, and just reprinted for the Danish Gazette. Chernow's entire argument for why it obviously must be H, falls through.

Then, Chernow states that in April 1776 (where the current narrative of the book is at) that Washington stayed at a Hudson River mansion called Richmond Hill. Fair enough. But then follows a wild assumption; that Burr visited Washington in that house, quit it in disgust, and wrote this letter (this is the one Chernow cites here!) - a letter which was written more than a full year later, and has no mention or reference to Burr visiting him at Headquarters.

We do know that Burr was appointed aide-de-camp of Genl Putnam on June 22, 1776, as seen in this General Order. He later joins Col. William Malcom's regiment, as seen here. This appointment is what the above letter was in reference to - not, as Chernow assumes, about Burr potentially meeting Washington in New York.

Not only that, but Chernow continues,

"Something about Aaron Burr - his penchant for intrigue, a lack of sufficient deference, perhaps his insatiable chasing after women - grated on George Washington."

What? Where does he get any of this information? From the fact that this letter - the same letter that happens a year after Chernow alleges it took place - went unanswered? As usual, this speculative nonsense goes unsourced. Chernow wants Burr to be the antithesis of Hamilton, the villain of this sordid tale - and he is willing to make up facts and bend the truth to make this happen.

[If anyone can find the source for Burr's supposed few week sojourn at Washington's headquarters as ADC and subsequent firing by the Genl, please, let me know. I can find plenty of other sites and books repeating this, but no source is ever given.]

At the top of page 75, he mentions (assuredly) that in June, 1776;

"Hamilton gallantly led a nighttime attack of one hundred men against the Sandy Hook lighthouse outside New York harbor."

No one but Chernow has ever asserted that Hamilton led this attack. Neither Hamilton himself nor any of his contemporaries mention his involvement, let alone his leadership.

Instead, this attack was led by Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Tupper. (Who, a year prior, had already led a mission against this same lighthouse). He wrote what happened after the attack on the lighthouse to Washington on June 21st,

"I advanced within 150 yards of the light-house in so secret a manner that my party was undiscovered, I advanced with an officer and desired to speak with the commanding officer, and after a few words he fired several shots at me, but as God would have it, he mist me. I returned to my party and ordered the artillery to play, which continued for about an hour, but found the walls so thick as to make no impression."

Here's some more information on this.

Yes, he sources a great many things - but clearly, that does not make it a reliable piece of work. And remind you - this is barely 1,5 page of closer scrutiny.

So, sure, read his work, as his is one of the few complete cradle-to-grave biographies out there on the subject (for now). But oh god, be careful. Don't trust a thing coming out of this man's mouth. Don't trust the Pulitzer he won. Do your homework, and stay vigilant.

[icarusbetide]

Reminder that apparently Alexander Hamilton was invited to Thomas Jefferson's for a dinner in a room with portraits of "the three greatest men the world had ever produced": Bacon, Newton, and Locke.

And this little shit heard Jefferson say this, and replied "the greatest man that ever lived was Julius Caesar" probably KNOWING that it would absolutely make Democratic-Common Folk Woodland Nymph Farmer Thomas Jefferson have a stroke.

Happy Ides of March!

he paused for some time: ‘the greatest man, said he, that ever lived was Julius Caesar.'

Jefferson's Letter to Benjamin Rush

[hiidkwhatimdoing7525]

Others: you ship the Founding Fathers??? eww. it's not real! me: no one else was in the room where it happened

[mikubinderfanatic]

Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story?: Queer Representation in Popular Culture, Fanfictions, and Hamilton AUs

Queer fanworks offer a unique lens through which to examine the limitations of LGBTQ+ representation in popular culture. While mainstream media often sidelines or subtextually hints at queerness without explicit acknowledgement, fan communities actively reclaim and reimagine narratives to center LGBTQ+ identities. God Save Our Foolish Sons by TheInevitableSense, a fanfiction based on Hamilton, and the Thomas Jefferson character sheet fanart affectionately dubbed Miku Binder Thomas Jefferson by the internet, created by Tumblr artist ask-crammaster-ham aka Umbrony, both show this phenomenon by queering historical figures and reshaping them through a contemporary lens. 

Hamilton: An American Musical, created by Lin Manuel Miranda, became a cultural phenomenon due to its innovative blend of hip-hop, R&B, and traditional Broadway music and its diverse casting of historically white figures. Premiering in 2015, the show reimagines the life of Alexander Hamilton and the founding of America through what Miranda describes as “America then, told by America now.” Hamilton was an immediate success, winning several awards and redefining historical storytelling for contemporary audiences. However, while it offers a modernized and racially inclusive interpretation of history, the musical largely avoids explicit queer representation, leaving fan communities to fill in the gaps. 

God Save Our Foolish Sons by TheInevitableSense is an Alternate Universe (AU) Hamilton fanfiction that reimagines the American Revolution within the framework of modern gang warfare. The story is set in NYC, where two rival factions, the Redcoats led by the ruthless leader George King (a stand-in for King George III), and the Sons of Liberty, led by George Washington, are locked in an escalating conflict. The NYPD, unable to control the violence, enlists the help of the FBI. FBI Agents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison are sent to investigate and put an end to the war. However, their mission gets complicated when Jefferson begins to form a connection with Alexander Hamilton, a fiery young member of the Sons of Liberty. What follows is a complex enemies to lovers slow burn romance between Jefferson and Hamilton, set against a backdrop of political maneuvering, gang violence, and personal struggles with identity and morality. The fic explores queerness, internalized homophobia and a liberal interpretation of history, featuring a large cast of Hamilton characters adapted to a gritty, contemporary setting. 

The Miku Binder Thomas Jefferson art originates from a character sheet created by the Tumblr askblog ask-crammaster-ham in September 2017. Run by fan artist Umbrony, the blog reimagined characters from the Hamilton musical in a modern college setting. The depiction of Thomas Jefferson, styled after Daveed Diggs’ portrayal in the musical, presented him as a transgender, bisexual art major obsessed with anime, taking Japanese lessons, and wearing a chest binder adorned with Hatsune Miku. The character sheet also included headcanons such as being a former drug dealer to John Laurens, and having a past cocaine addiction. Jefferson’s shirt, reading, “I met God. She’s Black.” was another focal point to the piece. This portrayal gained significant attention, sparking controversy that led to the blog being promptly shut down less than a month after its creation. 

Fanworks like God Save Our Foolish Sons and the Miku Binder Thomas Jefferson art show how queer communties reclaim and reinterpret mainstream narratives to create space for LGBTQ+ identities. As Jeremy Brett argues in “I Put Myself Back in the Narrative, " Hamilton itself functions as a form of fanfiction, reshaping history through a contemporary lens to center marginalized voices. However, despite its casting and musical stylization, Hamilton largely avoids explicit queerness, leaving gaps that fan creators eagerly fill. God Save Our Foolish Sons builds on this foundation, transforming the Founding Fathers into characters within a modern gang narrative where queerness is not just implied but explicitly explored. This shows the broader function of queer fanfiction, which serves as both a critique of and an expansion on mainstream media, providing representation where it is otherwise lacking. Similarly, Miku Binder Thomas Jefferson operates as a radical reimagining of history. Christopher Michael Roman’s analysis of queer representation in Wolverine in Comics and Fanfiction shows how fanworks transform subtext into explicit queerness, allowing audiences to see themselves reflected in beloved characters. Umbrony echoes a similar response when she was criticized, stating in an Instagram post that, “Lin himself has said that Hamilton is a retelling of ‘America THEN’ by ‘America NOW’, so it’s only right we get representation for everyone. There’s literally TONS of trans versions of Alexander Hamilton and they get little to no hate.” This attitude displays a broader trend within the fandom where artists and writers often separate Hamilton’s characters from their historical counterparts entirely, a creative decision that remains the subject of debate. Both God Save Our Foolish Sons and Miku Binder Thomas Jefferson demonstrate how fan communities engage with queerness in ways that mainstream media, even progressive works like Hamilton, often fail to do. Ultimately, Hamilton fanworks reflect a broader desire for personal identification with media, particularly among queer people who often lack representation in mainstream media. The musical provided a progressive foundation, but fan creators have expanded upon it to explore identities and narratives left unaddressed in the original work, whether the internet agrees with it or not.

[gracehosborn]

If you had to pick a favorite Hamilton scholar, who would it be and why?

And semi related, whose career would you most like to emulate?

Howdy, Anon!

Oooh, these are some fun ones. In all honesty though, I don’t think I can really do justice to your first question. By this point, I’ve read far more of Alexander Hamilton’s papers themselves than scholarly work written about the man. Ironic, maybe, but my first Hamilton biography was Chernow’s (sigh…) and looking back now, I think what led me here is that having given myself the biggest platter to start with, my interest to learn more (without a heavy heaping of bias) about Hamilton and his time was very intense and as a result I craved for more detail. The few other biographies I ended up reading after were interesting, and I did learn lots of things, but the depth to surpass the 800-page biography I had started with just wasn’t there. It was all in Hamilton’s papers. The closet I’ve read in terms of detail and with a dedication to research that I do respect are Michael E. Newton’s two Hamilton-centric books (although, Newton as a person gives me the ick, and I think some of his claims are based upon a very literal reading of primary sources).

Anyway, to not go further into my tangent: I think my default answer to the question of who my favorite Hamilton scholar is would be Dr. Joanne Freeman. If I’m not mistaken, I believe all of her works are someplace on my overflowing bookshelf at home. Affairs of Honor is likely to be one of my favorite books written about the overall early American time period, both for Freeman’s writing and the interesting topic at hand. I appreciate her more leveled approach towards educating about Hamilton, even if I disagree on things here and there. But what I like most about her is the fact that in everything I’ve seen, she’s not afraid to let the world know how passionate she is about her subject when discussing it. Her excitement and enthusiasm are palpable, and that has an effect.

This leads nicely into answering your second question, as Dr. Freeman is largely influential in my dream to pursue graduate school research, and potentially become a professor myself (the state of academia notwithstanding). Unfortunately, 90% of the people in my real life have openly expressed over the years that they don’t think positively about, or simply have no interest in, my interest in Hamilton and his time. So, to see someone so passionate about it be very public-facing is very inspiring to me, and I’d love to follow Freeman’s footsteps in that regard.

[toastytrusty]

top 10 frustrating things is hearing that there's some two dozen surviving hamilton-laurens letters and only having been able to find 18 in my effort to compile them all. need to take extensive notes on every bit of surviving correspondence between them but i can only scrounge up some dates from when other letters that were destroyed were supposed to have been written on. a tragedy really

[thejohnlockedfemboy]

Help me decide on a Hamilton c.ai bot!

I’m not making this a poll because I despise the format. Comment below what your choice is! 🍂

🍺

TW FOR: mentions of injury, torture, possible gore, emotional distress

a. Lafayette x hurt!User during the Revolutionary war. User is either shot or ran through with a bayonet, I haven’t decided which yet.

b. User is captured by the British Army during the Revolutionary War and tortured for information. Hamilton and the boys ( Laurens, Lafayette, and Mulligan ) rescues them and tries to deal with the aftermath of their trauma.

c. User is unfairly sentenced of being a spy in the Revolutionary War and is to be executed via firing squad at dawn. Share a tender, heartbreaking moment with the boys as they’re allowed to visit you as your last request the night before.

[opera-ghosts]

Alexander Glazunov, Leopold Auer, St. Petersburg 1912

[selfproclaimed-historian]

I’m a historian; of course I dream about late-night conversations with George Washington and Alexander Hamilton.

[jeannereames]

"There is no one about whom more have written more variously." --Arrian, speaking of Alexander

(...οὐδ᾽ ἔστιν ὑπὲρ ὅτου πλείονες ἢ ἀξυμφωνότεροι ἐς ἀλλήλους... [Anab. 1.1.2])

[ciderbird]

you know considering how many clinically insane takes on history I’ve already seen I’m surprised no one wrote a paper on Alexander I’s sexuality yet. Like Napoleon has a whole book trying to prove he’s bi but Alexander “religious guilt” Romanov who doesn’t have any kids, keeps platonic relationships with nearly all his ‘mistresses’ and is routinely described as effeminate is supposed to be straight? Like there should be at least some sort of discussion about this

[wylanzahn]

Oh also are there any historians on here who have specific studies in Ancient Macedonia? I have the idea for a really cool series.

[minjaefreedom]

just remembered alexander hamilton had a grandson named after john laurens who ALSO died tragically young in the army omg

[gracehosborn]

I decided to work on updating my bibliography for The American Icarus: Volume I and I started counting…. In total (as of writing this) I have/will consult three massive manuscript collections, twenty secondary books, and a freaky THIRTY volumes of printed primary sources.

What the hell????