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pub-lius · 9 months ago

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Hey, so recently I saw a post about the misogyny of hamilton, so I wanted to ask you if it was true. Not the part of misogyny (because in that time it was normal, I guess), but rather how much was? (does make sense?), did it affect the relationship with eliza or with her daughters?

Thankyu!!! (Muak)

hm okay so im not completely sure what you mean but i am going to do my darndest

So, in the time period which Hamilton was alive, which is the latter half of the 18th century, there definitely was a profound attitude of misogyny, but it was very different from what we know today. Most of our idea of sexism comes from the religious revivals of the 20th century (and people who know me know how i feel about the godforsaken 20th century when it comes to history). This is yk your typical idea of a housewife being at home, taking on the burdens of homemaking and child rearing and basically keeping everything together at home while the husband worked a stressful 9 to 5 and didn't do shit at home and weaponized incompetence and implicit biases and yadayada

This was not the case in the 18th century! 18th century gender roles are very different from what we're used to, and even more different than what the Victorians and Edwardians considered the norm. This is especially visible in Hamilton's relationship with women, so I'm quite excited to talk about this.

Firstly, I want to talk about the joker to my batman: Ron Chernow. A major theory he supports in his biography of Hamilton is the two sided nature of Hamilton's perception of women. He says that there is a clear distinction between two "types" of women in Hamilton's wife-- the good, Christian mistress of the house and the stupid, mentally unstable skank. These are his terms. I want to hit him in the head with a brick.

"Together, the two eldest [Schuyler] sisters formed a composite portrait of Hamilton's ideal woman, each appealing to a different facet of his personality. Eliza reflected Hamilton's earnest sense of purpose, determination, and moral rectitude, while Angelica exhibited his worldly side- the wit, charm, and vivacity that so delighted people in social intercourse." -Ron Chernow, Alexander Hamilton, page 133

Yeah, this is horseshit. It gets worse when he compares Elizabeth Hamilton and Maria Reynolds on page 367, but I'm not going to get started because I won't stop. And this isn't about him anyway.

Instead, I want to talk about WHY this is horseshit. First of all, even Alexander "thinks with the wrong head" Hamilton didn't have this fucked up mindset, because it is heavily based in 20th century evangelicalism that didn't even exist in Hamilton's world.

Yes, obviously there was religious attitudes that condemned certain actions from women, but this was not as intense as in later periods. In the 18th century, an upperclass woman, such as Elizabeth Hamilton, would be responsible for maintaining the household, but this meant being in charge of the servants rather than doing the work herself. The work she did do would be maintaining the finances and the family's reputation.

Reputation was everything in the 18th century, and this especially applied to women. Not only did they have to maintain their own reputations, but they had to raise their children to have the skills necessary to do the same, and often had to fill in for their husbands in this department if they held public office. It's very difficult to maintain your reputation if you're beating people with walking sticks in the Continental Congress.

When it came to lower and middle class women, their jobs weren't different in that they carried an equally important role in the family. They would be doing household chores just as well as their husband, and these weren't easy chores that made women "feeble". They very often took a lot of physical strength and endurance, and it wasn't considered unladylike for women to do "men's" chores while their husbands were away. This isn't to say that women in later eras didn't do the same, but it wasn't as publicly frowned upon.

Hamilton had a very unique perspective as he was witness to both sides of this coin. His mother, a single, working class mother would be juggling both the man and woman's role. I think it was really this background that allowed him to have a much more informed perspective on womanhood. He was one of the few men in this period that I've seen write from the perspective of a woman, specifically a grieving mother.

"For the sweet babe, my doting heart Did all a mother's fondness feel; Careful to act each tender part And guard from every threatening evil. But what alas! availed my care? The unrelenting hand of death, Regardless of a parent's prayer Has stopped my lovely infant's breath-" -Papers of Alexander Hamilton, volume 1, page 43.

Chernow attributes this to Hamilton's deeply empathetic nature, which is fair, however I think it also shows that he was able to understand a woman's experience specifically.

I say this because Hamilton does tell us a little bit about exactly what was expected of women in the time during Elizabeth's first pregnancy in a letter that is usually used to call him a sexist, but I think it's a little more complex than that. Here's the excerpt:

"You shall engage shortly to present me with a boy. You will ask me if a girl will not answer the purpose. By no means. I fear, with all the mothers charms, she may inherit the caprices of her father and then she will enslave, tantalize and plague one half [the] sex, out of pure regard to which I protest against a daughter. So far from extenuating your offence this would be an aggravation of it." -Alexander Hamilton to Elizabeth Hamilton, October 12, 1781

In this letter, Hamilton isn't telling Elizabeth that he wants a boy to inherit his fortune, to carry on his name, or the other reasons that were given by his contemporaries for preferring sons over daughters. He specifically states that his reasons are his fear that his traits will be passed onto his children, and that if its a daughter, she will be more discriminated against than his son because of her sex. Essentially, it was easier to be a gay son in the 18th century than a thot daughter. In that question, Hamilton would choose gay son because he knew that men were generally less criticized than women.

So, I'm not saying Hamilton wasn't sexist, because, by definition, he was. He was taught that women were fundamentally different than men, but he didn't look down on women for that, because that simply wasn't normal. You wouldn't be a gentleman if you looked down on a woman for being physically and psychologically different from a man, you'd be an asshole. While their interpretations of these differences don't align with what modern medicine has determined, they weren't the same as in the later eras in American history. Women were, most certainly, oppressed because of these perceived differences, but it was a different system of oppression than what typically defines our idea of sexism.

It's hard to say if it affected Hamilton's relationship with his wife and daughters, as there isn't any real written proof, but I imagine Hamilton's attitude specifically towards women did make their relationship different than other fathers, daughters, husbands, and wives of the time. We do know that Hamilton was a very hands on father who dedicated a lot of time and care towards his children, and he did not treat his daughters any differently than his sons. He put the same amount of energy into their education, though they weren't educated in the same thing, and he seemed to be equally close with all his children.

Hamilton and women is a very interesting topic, and it gets more complicated when it comes to Rachel Faucette and Maria Reynolds and those parallels, but that is a topic for another time. Good thing its women's history month! Hope this helped :)

#alexander hamilton #history #amrev #american history #elizabeth hamilton #women's history #18th century #founding fathers #founding mothers #women's history month #asks

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pub-lius · 2 years ago

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Martha Washington for richie my beloved menace <3

sorry this is late, but we're in the final stretch of this where it's my Main Focuses (washington, lafayette, burr, and hamilton), so these posts are going to be a bit more separated and in multiple posts bc i just have so much information on them. all my sources for the Washingtons come from Mount Vernon and the Washington papers, other information comes from an assortment of biographies. anyway, enjoy these old white people @thereallvrb0y <3

~~~

Born as Martha Dandridge on June 2, 1731 at Chestnut Grove Plantation in New Kent County, Virginia, Martha was the eldest of eight children of John Dandridge and Frances Jones. John immigrated to America in 1714 and was the son of an English craftsman. Frances was the daughter of a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses. They got married in 1730 when Frances was 20 and John was 30 because all these men were creeps. John was a moderately successful planter, and came to enslave 15-20 people. Their family belonged to minor local gentry, so while not in the Virginia aristocracy as I like to call it, they were still known and respected.

Martha received a typical female education in housekeeping, religion, reading, writing, music, and dancing. She grew to be about five feet tall with brown hair and either brown or hazel eyes.

In her late teens, Daniel Parke Custis thought she was hot, and it was totally fine that he was 20 years older than her because he was a very eligible bachelor. No, like actually really eligible as in rich, because he was so rich that his dad didn't want him to marry Martha because she wasn't rich enough. But eventually he was "as much enamored with her character as [his son was] with her person." Creepy!

But, they didn't ask for my opinion, and got married in May 1750. They had four children, two who died as toddlers. These were Daniel Custis (1751-1754) who probably died of malaria, Frances Custis (1753-1757), John "Jacky" Parke Custis (1754-1781), and Martha "Patsy" Parke Custis (1756-1773). Funny story, their great-grandfather had a condition that only children with the name Parke would receive inheritance, so idk why Daniel and Frances were screwed over since birth, bc that seems a bit prejudiced.

Anyway, they moved into Custis' house called White House (foreshadowing) on the Pamunkey River. Side note, what the fuck is going on with Virginia's rivers and why are they all so... like that??? I guess I can't talk, since I know how to pronounce Natchitoches like it's an everyday term.

The death of Danny boy's dad made him one of the richest men in Virginia. Common Custis W. He exported tobacco and had immense holdings, over 300 enslaved people and over 17,500 acres of land. Get it Martha.

Martha became the mistress of her household, which was a really significant role for any upper class woman in Virginia, but also because women were expected to be "purveyors of sociability". In simple terms, they held the family's shit together. Martha presided over formal dinners, entertained guests, and hosted balls. She also furnished her house with the finest goods to make sure everyone knew how much of a bad bitch she was.

This job also included being the mistress of the enslaved people working in the household. She acted as the overall supervisor of the household which eventually included 12 enslaved people. And she was highkey racist, so fair warning for this quote.

"The Blacks are so bad in their nature that they have not the least grat[i]tude for the kindness that may be shewed to them." -Martha Washington, 1795

What the fuck, Martha??? I'm sure you wouldn't be very happy about your circumstances if you had some entitled white lady being pissy about everything you did all the time.

She never actually expressed her views on slavery, but she didn't question it, so like. yeah she was racist. Also she was really pissed when Ona Judge escaped enslavement, feeling like she was betrayed. Like bitch. Come on. Also she never freed any of the enslaved people who she had the legal ability to.

Oh yeah and she had motherly responsibilities, which is a whole job within itself on top of all the other shit. Luckily, she had experience raising her younger siblings bc yk. Eldest daughter syndrome.

Daniel died on July 8, 1757, and I wouldn't say I'm happy about it but like.................

This death kinda fucked her over. There's no evidence she really liked him that much, but she was left alone at 26 with two children, which really sucks. Other than that, she was popping her pussy bc like. She inherited a third of his property, nearly 300 enslaved people, over 17,500 acres of land and over £40,000 so.

She couldn't legally free or sell those enslaved people because they were already "owned" by the next generation (the whole legal aspect of this bullshit is so uselessly complicated, that's all you need to know to understand). Daniel didn't leave a will, so she was the executioner of his estate. When she died, the estate would automatically transfer to her descendants.

This gave her almost all the legal rights of a man. She could buy and sell property, make contracts, and be sued in court. However, she still considered financial matters to be a man's concern EVEN THOUGH SHE GIRLBOSSED THROUGH IT HERSELF whatever. She likely hoped for another relationship for companionship and also children. Missed opportunity.

Her status as a super fucking rich widow became known and a bunch of dudes wanted in on the marthussy (that is a direct quote from my notes and i just though you had to see that). Annnnnyway, because she didn't have a need for a financial advantage, it would be a love match.

Convenient! She met this dude named George Washington. He's pretty underground, but you might have heard of him.

He was traveling to Williamsburg in March 1758 during a break in the French and Indian War. We don't know when their first meeting was, but it could have been while Daniel was alive because they had mutual friends. Scandalous.

Washington paid a visit to her house on March 16, 1758, and left a generous tip to her enslaved household workers, probably to impress her. Fucking nerd. He visited again on the 25th, then returned to war like a real man.

However, they began to plan a future together within months. Washington started renovating Mount Vernon, and Martha made an order for wedding finery. They were both such dorks.

She trusted and loved George quickly, which is shown by the fact that, although some widows wrote contracts protecting their assets, Martha didn't. Washington would have use of her portion of land inherited from her previous husband until it was passed down to the Custis heirs, and he would also become her children's legal guardian, and she just trusted him with all that.

At the end of 1758, Washington resigned from the military, and on January 6, 1759, they got married at their new home in New Kent County.

They lived 16 years at Mount Vernon, referred to as "the golden years". They had no children of their own, but raised Jacky and Patsy, and lived typical Virginian planter lives. George oversaw lands and business while being involved in politics and society, while Martha supervised the education of the children, domestic operations, and the whole mistress of the household thing. She also oversaw the making of textiles and production of clothing for the entire household. These were pretty typical gender roles for the time.

The golden years ended with the death of Patsy from an epileptic seizure in the summer of 1773 at the age of 17. More information about the Custis kids and their deaths in this ask.

Martha strongly supported the Revolutionary War, and had a wild ride during it. She traveled all over the country to spend time with George at his winter encampments every year of the six that Washington served as Commander-in-Chief. She now had another role as a public figure and a figure of the Revolution.

She ended up being with him for almost half of the Revolution, and Washington regarded her presence as essential as she boosted morale across the Continental Army. Washington even sought reimbursement from Congress for her traveling expenses.

While at camp, she entertained visiting diplomats and officers' wives, assisted with secretarial duties, even being considered a part of Washington's staff. She was Washington's closest confidant.

She also made efforts to improve the lives of soldiers. She became the public face of a campaign to raise money for supplies in 1780, and was a symbol of the American people.

The Revolution ended in her life when Washington came home at the end of the war to have Christmas dinner with his wife.

They were chillin at Mount Vernon for six years after the war, raising their two grandchildren, this time paralleling the golden years. The main difference was the fact that Washington was an international celebrity, and they hosted hundreds of guests each year from around the world, dramatically increasing Martha's workload.

Then they fucking elected Washington as the president after the whole Constitution thing, and Martha was Reasonably Pissed.

She left Mount Vernon on May 16th with Washington's punk ass nephew and their grandchildren. The trip sucked and everything went to shit. They had bad horses, a broken carriage, and a shitty boat ride. They went through parades and receptions, and the kids learned social skills, but Martha was fucking exhausted.

Like her husband, she took criticism personally during his administration. However, the most important thing to her was having good entertainment as the first lady. She initiated weekly receptions on Friday evenings, receiving congressmen, dignitaries, and local community members at the President's House. Critics, however, complained that these events were too aristocratic, but they served as a sign that the new government would be close to the people. Washington also held events, but Martha's were more diverse.

Martha grew more comfortable in her role when the capital moved to Philadelphia in 1791. Her longing to return home was highlighted by the second fucking term. They eventually did go home in March 1797.

George only lived for two years after retiring, leaving Martha as a devastated widow. She burned 40 years of correspondence between them in order to preserve their privacy.

Martha died of illness on May 22, 1802 at her home, surrounded by grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

#martha washington #george washington #history #american history #amrev #amrev history #washington administration #founding fathers #founding mothers #slay slay slay #slay all day #do it for richie 💪

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