George Washington Was A Reluctant President. He Did Not Want To Seek Re-Election in 1792

The Premodernist YouTube Channel points out that "George Washington did not want to be reelected in 1792, but he was anyway." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CSkUqMddgo&t=1940s 0:00 Washington's decision to retire after one term 4:18 Hamilton's proposals: Funding 7:01 Hamilton's proposals: Assumption 7:57 Centralization vs. state autonomy 9:53 Hamilton's proposals: A national bank 11:21 The underlying cultural divide 14:10 …

Re-Interpreting the Founding Fathers For New Generations

In two Slender Threads newsletters, I focus on how America's founding fathers are being reinterpreted for new generations. But Americans born before 2000 or later who encountered old-fashioned, boring, or traditional views of history mainly from the viewpoints of White men will be interested in how to prepare for watching the Alexander Hamilton musical and …

All-Minority Cast Portraying Founding Fathers in ‘Hamilton’?

The musical Alexander Hamilton is making the rounds in American cities through Broadway-On-Tour until at least August 2023. In my free weekly Substack newsletter, I offer tips for people who would consider attending, including cheaper tickets. Some older viewers have complained that they did not find the depiction of George Washington credible as an African …

Hamilton and Jefferson Hated Each Other. This Led to the Two-Party Partisan Divide

George Washington, who feared that hyper-partisanship would lead to tribalism and even civil war in America, accidently planted the seeds of the two-party system by placing Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson in his cabinet when they despised each other, almost from the day they first met. A new book by Dennis Rasmussen, author of "Fear …

14 Posts on Alexander Hamilton

Ron Chernow’s Biography of Alexander Hamilton Is Magnificent Ode to the Federalist Party’s Dazzling Accomplishments in 12 Years Hamilton and Jefferson Hated Each Other. This Led to the Two-Party Partisan Divide Alexander Hamilton’s Truly Miraculous Rise from Orphan in Caribbean to Founding Father Alexander Hamilton: Illegitimate Child and Orphan Who Had A Lifelong Obsession With Honor Alexander Hamilton’s Hyper-Critical View …

Alexander Hamilton’s Hyper-Critical View of John Adams’ Administration

Alexander Hamilton and John Adams were both members of the Federalist political party, but they despised each other. Hamilton even challenged the President of the United States to a duel! Adams viewed the challenge as beneath him and ignored it. This rap that was cut from the "Hamilton" musical pretty much sums up their relationship. …

Ron Chernow’s Biography of Alexander Hamilton Is Magnificent

I admit I was intimidated by the thickness of Ron Chernow's Alexander Hamilton biography, and by reports of friends who said they never finished it. I'm proud to say I have finished it, thanks in large part to the version on Audible.com. I could listen and knock off a few chapters while taking walks with …

Ode to the Federalist Party’s Dazzling Accomplishments in 12 Years

While it is true that after the election of 1800, the Federalist Political Party of Alexander Hamilton was beset by divisions and declined into a regional faction with its base in New England, Federalist ideas continued to hold sway, especially with Supreme Court Justice John Marshall for three decades. And, as Ron Chernow wrote in …

Alexander Hamilton’s Truly Miraculous Rise from Orphan in Caribbean to Founding Father

I am reading Ron Chernow's remarkable biography of Alexander Hamilton, and am awestruck by what AH endured in his early life to become one of America's founding fathers. It is both a tribute to Hamilton and to America that his rise was even possible. What is shocking is not that he died in a duel …

The Duality of Thomas Jefferson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzZnqXvRSLE CBS News: Thomas Jefferson is remembered as a progressive man who wrote the Declaration of Independence and called slavery an abomination, yet he was also a slaveholder himself who fathered several children by a woman he owned. Martha Teichner reports. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piydxMc3B0Q CBS News Jon Meacham, author of "Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power," discusses …