The Hamilton Letters - Part 2

First off, many thanks to @HamiltonWestEnd for sharing our blog post last month. The post was so warmly received we decided to write a Part 2. If you missed the first blog post, you can read it here.

Aaron Burr, Sir

Lin-Manuel Miranda as Alexander Hamilton.
Original Broadway Cast.

God, I wish there was a war!

Then we could prove that we're worth more 

Than anyone bargained for...

One of the earliest surviving letters written by Hamilton is one he sent to his close friend, Edward (Ned) Stevens, way back in 1769 when he was about 14-years-old. Ned's father informally adopted Hamilton after his mother and other family members died. Hamilton and Ned apparently looked remarkably alike, so much so there were even rumours that the two were brothers!

The letter Hamilton wrote to his adoptive brother is astute and advanced, and it's really no surprise that Alexander grew to be such a profound orator and writer. In it, Hamilton desperately wanted to "exalt" above his station, to be more than just a simple clerk. "My ambition is prevalent," he wrote, ending with "I shall Conclude saying I wish there was a War." Even at a young age, Alexander knew that revolution had the ability to transform and change lives, and he wanted a piece of that for himself. 

Dear Theodosia

Oh Philip, when you smile I am undone

My son

Look at my son. Pride is not the word I'm looking for

This next one isn't a direct quote from a letter, but it's too adorable not to mention. When Philip was seven months old, Hamilton wrote to Richard Kidder Meade, his friend and fellow aide to George Washington, updating him on his son's progress. "He is truly a very fine young gentleman," he wrote, "the most agreable in his conversation and manners of any I ever knew ... It is agreed on all hands, that he is handsome, his features are good, his eye is not only sprightly and expressive but is full of benignity ... and he has a method of waving his hand that announces the future orator. He stands however rather awkwardly and his legs have not all the delicate slimness of his fathers ... If he has any fault in manners, he laughs too much." It's such a lovely glimpse into Hamilton's personal life as a family man and first-time father. It demonstrates his warmth and humour, and shows just how much he adored his son. Sadly, we know what was to come.

Say No To This

Christine Allado and Jamael Westman
as Maria and Hamilton, respectively
London Cast

Half dressed, apologetic. A mess, she looked

Pathetic, she cried:

Please don't go, sir!

So was your whole story a setup? 

I don't know about any letter!

Stop crying
Godammit, get up!

After Maria Reynolds's husband, James, learnt of the affair, he was quick to write to Hamilton. He issued him a mild threat, suggesting that he would tell Eliza everything. He relayed the events back to Hamilton as he knew them, writing "... you took the advantage [of] a poor Broken harted woman. instead of being a Friend. you have acted the part of the most Cruelist man in existance." 

After the affair was discovered, Hamilton appears to have given Maria a wide berth. She wrote to him sometime between January and March 1792, pleading with him to return to her side, writing how unsettled and distressed she was. "Yes Sir Rest assuired I will never ask you to Call on me again I have kept my Bed these tow dayes and now rise from My pillow wich your Neglect has filled with the sharpest thorns ... No I only do it to Ease a heart wich is ready [to] Burst with Greef I can neither Eate or sleep I have Been on the point of doing the moast horrid acts... oh my head I can rite no more do something to Ease My heart or Els I no not what I shall do for I so cannot live ..." 

Needless to say, Maria did carry on writing to Hamilton for a while after, often informing him of when her husband would be out, and thus their affair continued. All the while, Hamilton was buying James Reynolds's silence. 

Reynolds Pamphlet

Hamilton's draft of the Reynolds Pamphlet.
"After this, I had frequent meetings with her - most of them at my own house..."
From the Library of Congress Digital Collection.

The charge against me 

Is a connection with one

James Reynolds!

For purposes of improper speculation 

My real crime is an

Amorous connection with his wife

For a considerable time

 With his knowing consent

It's easy enough to find the similarities between these lyrics and the actual Reynolds Pamphlet, because Lin-Manuel Miranda quoted them more or less verbatim. The actual pamphlet reads: "The charge against me is a connection with one James Reynolds for purposes of improper pecuniary speculation. My real crime is an amorous connection with his wife, for a considerable time with his privity and connivance, if not originally brought on by a combination between the husband and wife with the design to extort money from me." 

Hamilton admits that the whole affair causes him great shame, but he felt it necessary to publish the pamphlet in order to "effectively wipe away a more serious stain from [his] name" i.e. cheating on his wife was deemed socially and morally more acceptable than corruption, though I don't think Eliza would see it quite like that...

He goes on to write: "After this, I had frequent meetings with her, most of them at my own house; Mrs. Hamilton with her children being absent on a visit to her father." These words are also in line with the lyrics in the song. 

Burn

Arianna Afsar as Eliza, Chicago Cast

Do you know what Angelica said

When she read what you'd done?

She said

"You have married an Icarus

He has flown too close to the sun."

The above lyrics are meant to be Angelica's response to finding out about Hamilton's affair with Maria Reynolds. In one letter to her little sister, Angelica wrote of a "dirty fellow" who had caused the family "some uneasiness and wounded [Eliza]." As Angelica praises Hamilton's "merits, virtues and talents" in the same letter, it's unlikely that this was in response to the affair. Unless of course the family believed the news to simply be petty smears at the time of writing. Nevertheless, Angelica closed the letter to Eliza with "All this you would not have suffered if you had married into a family less near the sun." Angelica knew hubris would always be Hamilton's downfall - the only enemy he ever seemed to lose to was himself.

Your Obedient Servant

The real Aaron Burr.

Now you call me "amoral,"

A "dangerous disgrace,"

If you've got something to say

Name a time and place

Face to face

I have the honor to be Your Obedient Servant

A dot Burr

Burr originally confronted Hamilton after a letter came to his attention. In it, it was reported that Hamilton had discussed at length his mistrust and sheer hatred of Burr, completely besmirching his name and character. While it appears Hamilton didn't refer to Burr as "amoral," he did say he had a "more despicable opinion" of him. For someone who understood the power of language, Hamilton surprisingly found himself unable to commit to words just how despicable he thought Burr truly was, which he knew carried a much heavier impact. Less was more for Hamilton.

Hamilton refused to claim ownership of the words attributed to him, arguing with Burr over grammar and syntax and basic comprehension. Classic Ham. Burr admitted that although he was reluctant to "proceed to extremities," he felt Hamilton's lack of response had made it clear that the matter could only be solved on the duelling ground.

"Thus, Sir," Burr wrote on 22 June 1804, "you have invited the course I am about to pursue, and now by your silence impose it upon me." The duel took place on 11 July 1804, and Hamilton died the following day.

Bonus - An Open Letter

When Hamilton was still Off-Broadway, the show included a rap in which Hamilton ripped into John Adams. It was a truly delicious diss track, zero survivors. For a number of reasons, Lin-Manuel and the rest of the creative team decided to cut the rap, though the ending was folded into 'The Adams Administration.' Thankfully, a version of the rap still exists on the Hamilton Mixtape.

Go ahead: You can call me the Devil

You aspire to my level

You aspire to my malevolence!

In a letter to her husband, First Lady, Abigail Adams made her opinion on Hamilton very clear. She detested the man who had tried his best to scupper her husband's chances of becoming President. On 28 January 1797, she wrote "O I have read his heart in his wicked Eyes many a time. The very devil is in them. They are laciviousness itself..." Yikes, Abi.

Thanks so much for reading!

(Read Part 1 of the Hamilton Letters here!)