Hamilton the Musical

When Hamilton was young, his father left the family and he was raised by his mother. Washington would likely have been able to relate. His father, Augustine Washington, died when he was only eleven, and Washington’s mother, Mary Washington, never remarried.

Hamilton likely met the high society Aaron Burr when he came to New York City in 1773, but did not truly get to know Burr until later. Had they spent more time together, Hamilton might have won him over with his charm, as he excelled at “impressing older, influential men”.1 Washington too made important connections as a young man, including with Lieutenant Governor Robert Dinwiddie. Washington traveled through 250 miles of rough wilderness to deliver an important message to the French for Dinwiddie.2 After this success, Dinwiddie appointed Washington a lieutenant colonel at the young age of 22 and put him in charge of 160 troops.3

Much like Hamilton, Washington was not going to throw away his shot at glory. Washington found much of his glory in the military. His first military assignment was as a lieutenant colonel defending Virginia land claims. Washington skirmished at Jumonville Glen with a small group of French troops and won. But the French came back strong and just over a month later defeated Washington’s troops at Fort Necessity. This embarrassing surrender ignited the French and Indian War and led to Washington resigning from the army, but Washington did not throw away his shot. Instead, he rejoined the military a short while later as a volunteer aide to General Braddock.

In "The Story of Tonight," Hamilton and his friends raise a glass to freedom in a toast. This was a common practice during the 18th century. During and after the Revolutionary War, Washington was frequently singled out and toasted.

Just like the Schuyler sisters, Washington read Common Sense by Thomas Paine. This famous pamphlet reached around 50,000 people. With its simple and patriotic writing, it created revolutionary fervor in both the masses and the political elite. Everyone from students like Hamilton to land gentry like Washington would have heard about Common Sense.

Samuel Seabury, the author of Farmer Refuted, was a loyalist Episcopalian rector. Airing his beliefs as a man of the cloth was not uncommon in the 18th century. Pastors and priests were often the moral and spiritual leaders of their communities.

King George III’s price for “his love” (military protection) was high taxes on sugar, stamps, paper products, and tea. Many Americans weren’t willing to pay these taxes since they were established in the British Parliament without colonial representation. Washington wrote in 1795, “The Stamp Act, imposed on the Colonies by the Parliament of Great Britain engrosses the conversation of the speculative part of the Colonists, who look upon this unconstitutional method of Taxation as a direful attack upon their Liberties, & loudly exclaim against the violation…”4

In "Right Hand Man," Washington is introduced as the general of the Continental Army, leading his New York City Campaign in 1776. The Continental Army performed poorly during this campaign and was chased out of New York State, partly because Washington was outgunned, outmanned, outnumbered, and outplanned. So Washington requested supplies, information, and help, from men like Hamilton, who served as his aide-de-camp.

“Martha Washington named her feral tomcat after him [Alexander Hamilton].” As the story goes, Martha Washington befriended a cat at Morristown during the Revolution. According to several secondary sources, she named the cat Hamilton, after her husband’s long-time aide. This name was not bestowed as a way of honoring Hamilton but was a way of teasing him, for his roving eye and romantic escapades; in other words, for acting the part of a tomcat.5

Alexander Hamilton and Elizabeth Schuyler met, fell in love, and promptly married. The relationship of George and Martha Washington was similar. Martha was an extremely eligible and wealthy widow and George a dashing military man who caught her heart. After courting less than a year, the couple married.

In "Satisfied," Angelica Schuyler could never marry the man who emotionally and intellectually satisfied her, Hamilton. Washington possibly could relate, as he too (might have) loved a married woman. The beautiful and charming Sally Fairfax caught his attention as a young man and their flirtations were well documented in letters. However, Sally Fairfax was married and out of Washington's social league, so the relationship eventually became one of friendship.

Learn More About Washington's Love Life

Hamilton, John Laurens, and the Marquis de Lafayette were all part of Washington’s military family. They spent large amounts of time together throughout the war, responding to Washington’s correspondence and fighting in battles. These men developed close bonds, especially during the daily meal that Washington called “family dinners.”6

Washington was willing to wait for many things in life and his patience made him successful. Washington waited to join the military, as his mother, Mary Washington, did not want him to join the British navy. When he finally joined the army, Washington waited to earn command of troops. This opportunity came during the French and Indian War. Waiting for the correct opportunity is key to diplomacy, which Washington learned and practiced during his presidency.

Staying alive during the 18th century was tough business. Washington dealt with various illnesses, such as dysentery, smallpox, yellow fever, and the flu. He was also heavily involved in two wars. During the French and Indian War, he gained the reputation of being bulletproof. He had two horses shot out from under him and four near misses during the Battle of Monongahela. During the Revolutionary War, Washington survived standing 30 yards from the British front line during the Battle of Princeton, while his troops fired in his direction.

Learn More About Washington's Health

Washington strongly opposed duels and never participated in one. After the Battle of Monmouth, Charles Lee slandered Washington’s name. So John Laurens challenged Lee to a duel over Washington’s honor. Hamilton served as Laurens' second. Shots were fired and Lee missed, whereas Laurens' shot grazed Lee.

Washington and Hamilton’s relationship was complicated. Hamilton was intelligent and wanted to fight, but Washington found him more useful as an aide-de-camp and refused to give him a command. The tension broke on February 15, 1781, when Hamilton quit. Hamilton later explained to his father-in-law that he left because Washington was a moody, temperamental boss. According to Hamilton, he was uninterested in a friendship with Washington and refused all of Washington’s attempts to forge one. Hamilton wanted to stand “upon a footing of m[ilitary confidence than] of private attachment.”7 Hamilton eventually returned to Washington’s service and was rewarded with an infantry.8

Martha visited George on the front lines about half of the 104 months he was away during the Revolutionary War. When the two weren’t together, they constantly worried about the other. George feared Martha would be kidnapped and held for ransom, so he ordered an armed guard be with her at all times. Martha worried her husband would be killed, captured, or hung for treason against the crown.

The Marquis de Lafayette and Washington’s relationship was both military and familial. The two met during the Revolutionary War when the younger French man volunteered his services. They quickly became close and Washington told his personal military doctor to treat Lafayette like his son. Even after the war, Lafayette traveled from France to visit Washington at Mount Vernon.

Washington was only 22 when he received his first military command during the French and Indian War. After the first day of the battle at Fort Necessity, Washington found one-third of his men dead or wounded and all of his horses and livestock had been killed.

The Battle of Yorktown was pivotal for Hamilton. Washington finally gave him command of troops and he played a key role during the campaign. Yorktown resulted in a huge victory and signaled the end of the Revolutionary War.

On December 23, 1783, Washington resigned his military command. This yielding of power shocked the nation and the world. He planned to retire from politics and spend time with his family. However, he was called back into action, first to negotiate waterway rights in the Mount Vernon Compact, then as president of the Constitutional Convention, and finally as president of the United States.

While Hamilton had eight children, Washington never had any. However, Mount Vernon was constantly home to many children, including Martha’s children and grandchildren from her first marriage and George’s many nieces and nephews. George was a stricter parent than Martha, but he cared deeply for all of the children he helped raise.

Learn More About The Washington Family

Washington was asked to lead, and to do the best he could, he needed his right-hand man, Hamilton. Washington appointed Hamilton as the first secretary of the Treasury. During the war, Hamilton had advocated for a national bank and foreign exchange to strengthen the economy.

Thomas Jefferson was appointed Secretary of State because of his experience as ambassador to France. Washington and Jefferson’s relationship deteriorated greatly during Jefferson’s tenure in the cabinet.

When Washington was elected president, one of the first things he established was the cabinet. The cabinet consisted of men from around the country who could advise the president on important issues, such as the creation of a national bank. The national bank was a contentious subject. Jefferson believed a bank would give the federal government too much power over the states. He also thought that since the Constitution did not explicitly authorize its creation, the bank could not be created. Hamilton argued the Constitution didn’t forbid a bank and that it would tie the fledgling nation together. Eventually, Hamilton’s arguments won and the national bank was created.

Learn More About Hamilton and Jefferson's Disagrements

Washington seldom found opportunities to take a break. He was relentlessly scrutinized in both his public and private life. As president, he was constantly establishing precedents in decorum and behavior that distinguished him from a king. How should people address the ruler of the new nation? What kind of clothes should a president wear? How should the president travel? Take his meals? Meet with the public?

Learn More About The Challenges Washington Faced

Hamilton was able to have an affair with Maria Reynolds because he had sent his wife and children to upstate New York for the summer. It was common practice for families to leave the city when the summer heat created dangerous and disease-ridden conditions. This danger peaked in 1793 when a yellow fever epidemic raced through the city and killed one-tenth of Philadelphia’s population.9 Even Hamilton became ill, although he eventually recovered. Washington refused to leave the city during the epidemic, determined to continue working. Congress, however, would not reenter the city and the government was temporarily moved to Germantown, Pennsylvania.10

“Did Washington know about the dinner, was there presidential pressure to deliver?” It’s impossible to fully answer this question, but it’s likely that Washington supported the outcome. Washington knew how important establishing a national bank was in uniting the states underneath a common debt. Washington also had interest in the federal capital being built near the Potomac, partly because of his holdings in the Potomac River Company. When the deal was made, New York City became the financial center and the Potomac area became the federal capital. Washington was highly active in designing and supporting the federal city even after he became a private citizen.

Washington disliked Arron Burr because of his “penchant for intrigue [and] a lack of sufficient deference” during the Revolutionary War.11 Burr was relegated to an outsider and quit his post in Washington’s camp. As a result, Burr equally disliked Washington, once saying in 1798, that “he despised Washington as a man of no talents and one who could not spell a sentence of common English.”12 With such hostility between the two men, it seems likely that Washington would have disapproved of Burr switching political parties to run against his friend Philip Schuyler for the New York Senate.

“The issue on the table: France is on the verge of war with England. Do we provide aid and our troops to our French allies or do we stay out of it?” France played an essential part in the United States's Revolutionary War victory. Yet, when France and England went to war Washington had to decide what the United States would do. After much debate, Washington decided to remain neutral. He felt that the country wasn’t militarily, economically, or politically stable enough to enter into a conflict.

Washington never publicly supported a political party, but his policies and actions usually aligned with Federalists such as Hamilton. Democratic-Republicans among them, Jefferson and Madison saw this as Hamilton’s influence on Washington. However, it is likely that Washington’s desire for a strong executive branch and tax enforcement came from his experience with a weak and ineffectual Congress during the Revolutionary War.

Learn More About the Democratic-Republicans

“[A]fter forty-five years of my life dedicated to its service with an upright zeal, the faults of incompetent abilities will be consigned to oblivion, as myself must soon be to the mansions of rest.”13 These were only some of the words that Washington and Hamilton wrote to the American people announcing Washington’s retirement from the presidency. Published in papers across the country, this letter became known as Washington’s Farewell Address.

Washington surprised many when he yielded his power and stepped away. People were fearful the nation would tear itself to pieces while picking a new president. Any successor next to Washington looked small. But the nation did not fall apart and John Adams was elected.

“Welcome folks, to the Adam’s Administration.” Washington was aware of the difficulties Adams faced as president. In 1795, Washington ratified the Jay Treaty with England. The treaty angered the French, who responded by harassing American vessels at sea. Adams sent ambassadors to France in what became known as the XYZ Affair. These negotiations angered Adams and a two-year undeclared war with France followed.

Washington didn’t initially know about Hamilton’s affair despite the fact that he was a spymaster. During the Revolutionary War, Washington set up the Culper Spy Ring, to spy on the British. Led by Benjamin Tallmadge, this widespread network of civilians and military officers fed Washington information about British troop movements, army and naval sizes, and future plans of attack.

Washington also survived a hurricane. In July of 1788, he recorded the destruction of the storm, "driving the Miniature Ship Federalist from her Moorings, and sinking her...In aword it was violent and severe."

Read the rest of Washington's record

After Hamilton wrote the Reynolds Pamphlet in the summer of 1797, Washington sent a silver wine cooler to him with a note enclosed. Washington never mentioned the affair but expressed solidarity with Hamilton and reinforced their friendship.14

Lin-Manuel Miranda speculates Elizabeth Hamilton burned the letters sent between her and Alexander Hamilton because he published the Reynolds Pamphlet. Burning personal correspondence was commonplace in the 18th century. Whether out of a desire for privacy or modesty, women such as Elizabeth Hamilton and Martha Washington set fire to personal letters. Almost all of Martha Washington’s letters to and from George Washington were lost however, three survive.

While Washington never had a biological son he did have a step-grandson, George Washington Parke Custis, known as Washy. Washy was a poor student and spoiled by his grandmother, Martha Washington. When George Washington returned from the war he attempted to put Washy back on the right path. However, Washington failed as Washy was secure that he would inherit the Custis fortune from his grandmother.

Eliza and Alexander Hamilton held their son Philip as he died from a gunshot wound. Unfortunately, the death of children and young adults was not uncommon. Martha Washington actually outlived all four of her children.

When Washington died on December 14, 1799, the entire nation mourned. As news of Washington’s death spread around the country, church bells rang in every city and town. Buildings were draped in black, while naval ships flew their flags at half-mast, and America mourned.15 Martha received condolence letters and hundreds of mourners at Mount Vernon.

In his inaugural address, Thomas Jefferson called Washington “our first and greatest revolutionary character, whose preeminent services had entitled him to the first place in his country’s love.” Back at Mount Vernon, Martha Washington dismissed Jefferson's "sarcastic" remarks, claiming his election was the "greatest misfortune our nation has ever experienced."16

Washington and Jefferson never dueled, but their friendship was constantly strained because of their political differences. Jefferson viewed Washington’s constant support of Hamilton’s policies as frustrating and tiring. His party, the Democratic-Republicans, wanted a more agrarian society that directly contrasted with the commercial center the Federalists desired. Both parties constantly spread rumors and lies about Jefferson, Hamilton, and Washington in the press, further straining relationships. The final nail in the coffin came when one of Jefferson’s private letters was released to the public. In it, Jefferson said that American politics under Washington had become like the British government.

In the last letter Alexander Hamilton wrote to his wife Elizabeth, he signed it “best of wives and best of Women.”17 Martha Washington was also the best of wives and women, supporting and loving George Washington throughout their forty years of marriage. Martha followed George everywhere, from the cold front lines of war to Philadelphia and New York as first lady.

On the evening of December 14, 1799 at Mount Vernon, George Washington died of a throat infection after riding through a wet and snowy wintery mix several days earlier. He was buried four days later in the family vault at Mount Vernon.

Martha Washington and Elizabeth Hamilton outlived their husbands and helped to shape their legacies. Alexander Hamilton’s legacy has experienced a recent revival thanks to Hamilton, and as a result, Washington’s legacy is being revived as well by a new generation of Americans. How we view our founding fathers impacts how we view ourselves as a country and by digging into their lives we can find parallels within our own.