This refers to the fact that James Hamilton abandoned his family in St. Croix to seek his fortune elsewhere.
Chernow goes so far as to speculate that they reallywerebrothers.
Somehow, though, the hit Broadway musicalStevensdoesn’t quite have the same ring to it.
Credit: Joan Marcus
Even as an orphan immigrant, Hamilton found a home in New York.
It shaped him politically, and his later treasury policies greatly aided the city’s merchant class.
Later, Hamilton’s enemies also derided the city as “Hamiltonopolis.”
Underneath these silly city names, the connection between Hamilton and New York was real.
To further emphasize their familial connection, Laurens is played by the same actor as Hamilton’s son Philip.
The two may have been even closer than friends, however.
Unfortunately, Laurens was shot down by a British soldier near Charleston in 1782.
Their views at the time overlapped so much that scholars have long debated which author wrote certain unsigned essays.
Their once-strong partnership devolved into bitter enmity.
And Peggy
The third Schuyler sister, Peggy, is mostly a joke inHamilton.
Her cry of “…and Peggy!”
has become a bit ofan Internet meme.
Hamilton’s legal business happened to place him in Albany just as her condition worsened.
As Chernow writes, “Hamilton visited her bedside often and kept Eliza posted on developments.
Hamiltons health problems
As the musical makes clear, Alexander Hamilton was indeed “non-stop.”
He was constantly processing information and churning out articles and theses that formed the very structure of American government.
However, his body didn’t always keep pace with his mind.
He had both a constant kidney ailment and a tropical malarial infection that recurred every summer.
After the war ended, Hamilton spent two months recovering in bed.
Hamilton wasn’t the only politician charmed by Angelica, either.
Jefferson shared a flirtation with the married Angelica as well.
Speaking of which…
8.
But Hamilton wasn’t the only Founding Father to have an affair; his was just the most public.
Thomas Jefferson, by contrast, kept all his personal business close to his chest.
Hamilton may have known much earlier than that.
He left his family in debt
Chernow’s book sought to counter some long-standing misconceptions about Alexander Hamilton.
Jeffersonians loved to accuse Hamilton of using his inside knowledge of the burgeoning American economy for personal profit.
She wisely waited until Jefferson’s presidency was over.
Naming it after her husband, Eliza helped found the first school in Washington Heights.
In a strange coincidence, that’s whereHamiltonmaestro Lin-Manuel Miranda hails from.
