Historians on Hamilton: How a Blockbuster Musical is Restaging America's Past
2019; Oxford University Press; Volume: 106; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1093/jahist/jaz381
ISSN1945-2314
Autores Tópico(s)American History and Culture
ResumoBefore picking up Historians on Hamilton to write this review, I expected to read scholars pointing out two things: the lack of an enslaved character in the play and only fleeting mentions of slavery. My expectations were met, but also surpassed. Hamilton is a 2016 musical about the life of the nation's first treasury secretary, Alexander Hamilton, drawn from the 2004 book Alexander Hamilton, by Ron Chernow. The show's casting has been hailed as revolutionary because most of the principles—Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, James Madison, Hamilton, and the Schyuler sisters “Angelica, Eliza, and Peggy”—are played by people of color. As an ensemble, they look like the whole of America (then and now) rather than just the white American elite. But historians, much as they may enjoy the show, have been some of its loudest critics. To air these critiques and engage the show in new ways, the editors have organized this volume into three acts: the script (where most of the sharpest criticism appears), the stage (devoted to theatrical themes), and the audience (chapters on the public history dimensions of the show.) The script chapters (on slavery, politics, race, and gender) will be useful for debating Hamilton in the college classroom. Students could reflect on what the musical's writer and star, Lin Manuel Miranda, achieved by using people of color in the roles of the Founders and why silencing slavery in this story is problematic. If your class is studying public history, these questions become even more interesting.
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