Analysis Of The Duel In Founding Brothers

Chapter One: The Duel was a well-known duel in American history. Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton. July 11, 1804 is the exact date when the duel took place. It was presumed to have taken place in Weehawken, New Jersey; when in actuality, the duel really took place on a ledge above the water near Weehawken. This isolated spot was foolproof for illegal acts like this. Hamilton ends up dying because of Burr. Burr shot him from a distance. The bullet hit a rib and then ricocheted off into his spine mortally wounding Hamilton. Hamilton was the one that chose the position and the weapons for the duel, but the public thought that Burr killed him in cold blood. The public also started to call Burr the new Benedict Arnold. (Benedict Arnold was considered a traitor.) Burr was never harmed in the whole incident. Because everyone thought Burr was the initiator, he had to leave the city and this was the decline of his political power. Both of these men’s reputations were failing by 1804. Hamilton was appointed the first Secretary of Treasury under George Washington after the Revolutionary War. The Federalist Party was in decline and Hamilton did not hold office for approximately ten years. Burr lost the support

Founding Brothers by Joseph J. Ellis is a study of the lives of the founders of the American republic or as Ellis sees them, the founding fathers-- Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, John Adams, Aaron Burr, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison. It mainly focuses on important segments in the lives of these men. “Ellis shows us how the relationships of the Founding Fathers shaped the period in which they lived.” (Melanie R. McBride. Cedars, S.R. ed. "

The chapters are titled "The Generation", "The Duel", "The Dinner", "The Silence", "The Farewell", "The Collaborators" and "The Friendship". In "The Duel", the story of the legendary duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr is related in its entirety. It was by far the most prominent deadly standoff between two men in history. Ellis relates the background and brief biographies of the two men involved in the duel. He also reveals the context for the duel, a culmination of political and personal jabs at Burrs character by Hamilton. In fact these jabs held a good deal of truth, and finally resulted in Burr challenging Hamilton. Both Hamilton and Burr went to the plains in Weehawken to conduct the duel in defense of their honor and characters. Historically, Hamilton is seen as a martyr in the duel and Burr seen as a treacherous murderer. This Hamiltonian viewpoint is dominant among historians because it is widely believed that Hamilton went into the duel not intending to fire a shot and that Burr fired the first shot. Ellis believes this version of the story to be wrong. He believes that Hamilton honored his bargain of not firing on Burr, wasting his first shot by firing it into the trees. Burr, thinking that Hamilton fired at him, shot and killed Hamilton with his shot.

As history is commonly viewed as dull and boring, Miranda changes this perception through the integration of popular music styles, rap and hip-hop, into the musical. While all of the facts are historically accurate, the audience is exposed to the debates through articulated rap battles and charged emotions are expressed through songs. The songs are also accompanied by choreography, which is a writing idea that is taken and exaggerated to an emotional state that is physicalized. Through these methods, the public gets an easier understanding of motives behind certain actions, such as Aaron Burr shooting Alexander Hamilton at a duel, as well as an clearer comprehension on what happened in history. Through rap and the hip hop style, music is used to keep history current, and provide stories the audience hasn’t heard before. In effect, Hamilton has inspired kids who weren’t good at history to look at a different perspective of the characters. In the musical there is no protagonist nor antagonist. Instead, all of the characters are portrayed as flawed, especially Hamilton, as he not only owned slaves, but was the center of the first political sex scandal in the United States. This allows the audience to know the characters on a realistic level, and acknowledge the fact that although Hamilton is one of the nation’s greatest founding fathers, he is also a man capable of

On the other hand, Hamilton’s self-righteousness sometimes helped him and his country. When the Constitution was under fire by many in Congress and in the public, Hamilton took it upon himself to defend it and make sure it stayed in place even with a few amendments. In the song “Non-Stop,” Hamilton puts so much effort into defending the Constitution. This attitude led him to rise to his highest points in the cabinet. At the beginning of the song, he tries to convince Burr to help him in the middle of the night, as Burr puts it, “How do you write like you’re running out of time?” (Miranda and McCarter 143). Hamilton ends up leaving his wife home against her wishes to go and be the secretary of the treasury. From here on, Hamilton joined forces with one of his political opponents, Madison, to write The Federalist Papers. On that topic, the narrator Burr states, “The plan was to write a total of 25 essays work divided evenly among the three men. In the end, they wrote 85 essays, in the span of six months. John Jay got sick after writing 5. James Madison wrote 29. Hamilton wrote the other 51.” This shows the positive impact of Hamilton’s self-righteousness and describes the reason that he became secretary of the treasury and a founding father. His love to write and his attitude brought him far in his line of work and has impacted his life positively by making him a high official in the government and a respected person.

The rap style music this show possesses is unique It takes you through the life of Alexander Hamilton beginning after he arrived in America in the summer of 1776. Alexander meets Aaron Burr to discuss his opinion on the impending revolution. He meets a group of revolutionaries, including the historical icon Lafayette. The Schuyler sister join them soon after, and Alexander meets his future wife, Eliza. The revolution begins to go from a steam to a boil. All while, Eliza’s sister, Angelica, confesses her undying attraction to Alexander. It illustrates Alexander's place in Washington’s team. After the revolution, Alexander returns to find Eliza is pregnant with his son, Philip. Alexander then goes to the constitutional convention and later becomes the first secretary of treasure. The story later goes though Alexander’s struggle with trying to climb to power. It goes into detail about Alexander’s feud with Aaron Burr. The heart wrenching story of his son’s death in a duel defending his father’s reputation is enough to break your heart. The musical does a good job to idolize and immortalize the life of Alexander

The Burr and Hamilton duel is a major part in american history. It was a moment in history were two foes battled out their anger in each other. Though many historians wonder if Hamilton able to avoid this duel. Many people would agree that this is one thing that would not turn into a big deal if it was avoided. Today many history classes are debating “was the consequences of the the Burr vs. Hamilton duel inevitable?”

The musical Hamilton does not portray Aron Burr as a Villain throughout but rather a character who the reader can feel sympathetic for, instead he is portrayed as someone who is seen as equal by the public to Alexander Hamilton or even superior but is consistently shown as inferior to Alexander Hamilton. This is shown in how he acted when in competition with Alexander Hamilton, the protagonist of Hamilton, when it came time to choose an assistant for George Washington, but also shown in the remorse he had when he killed Alexander Hamilton. In the musical Hamilton, Aron Burr is shown in competition with Alexander Hamilton for the role to assist George Washington in the revolutionary war. Burr is shown trying to win general Washington over in the song “Right Hand Man”(62)

“The kernel of truth in Hamilton’s distinction between personal and political criticism of burr resides here. In sense that is was an accurate statement of Hamilton’s assessment. Burr’s reputation as a notorious womanizer or as a lavish spender who always managed to stay one step ahead of his creditors did not trouble Hamilton.” The only thing that did worry Hamilton was the ominous fit between Burr’s political skills and the opportunities for mischief so clearly available in a nation whose laws and institutions were still congealing. “The problem with Hamilton’s distinction, however, was that the putative barrier between personal and political criticism, or private and public behavior, kept getting overwhelmed by real choices.” This was a crucial moment in developing America’s personality. Burr finally stepped up and did what was finest for the Nation. Hamilton’s personality was also essential for the hard situations. The personality difference was a huge significance, it made the founding fathers more substantial and have closer relationships with each

Alexander Hamilton has to go through an initiation to become a hero. "Then I remember my Eliza's expecting me/Not only that, my Eliza's expecting.../Gotta start a new nation, gotta meet my son." This quote from Yorktown would be Sacred MArriage because his wife, Eliza, is having a son. He can't wait to get back to the woman he loves. The next quote is also from the song Yorktown. "We're finally on the field/We've had quite a run." Hamilton and the rest of the colonies have defeated Britain and they are now free. The last quote is from the song Non-Stop. "Why do you assume you're the smartest in the room?/Soon that attitude may be your doom." This quote would be a Brother Battle because Alex and Aaron, who were once friends, were constantly

"Cabinet Battle 1", "Cabinet Battle 2" and "Cabinet Battle 3" are songs written for The Hamilton Musical and are based on the life of Alexander Hamilton. These songs relate the discussions between George Washington, Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson about different points of view in relation to three themes, the national debt, the organization of the national bank, and the proper course of foreign relations. Hamilton and Jefferson always had differences in criterion and this generated controversy and discussions between both. Hamilton understands that Jefferson was not present during part of the War of Independence because he remained in Paris a long time; he left in 1784 and it was not until 1789 that returned and accuses of not protecting the values of the American people.

Alexander Hamilton was a wise man but often fought for what he wanted. Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson weren’t friends upon any lines they different opinions and wouldn’t just agree on the tiniest things. Alexander fought for what he thought is right and his opinion. Everyone disagreed to all of his ideas and didn’t have any of their own.

[3]Depressingly, it was July 12th, 1804, Greenwich Village, New York City, New York, by gunshot. [4]Being the knowledgeable man he is, how did he get himself involved in this assassination? [6]Truth is, he didn’t. [2]In fact, it wasn’t an abominable assassination at all, it was a tragic duel. [1]The duel was between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, who had been at conflict with Alexander Hamilton repeatedly for years, and mournfully, Aaron Burr came out on top. [1]What happened to Alexander Hamilton’s bullet? [1]Some say he purposely missed, some say he fired at the sky. [1]Will we ever know the truth? [1]Alexander Hamilton, a man of substantial dignity, did not die the day of the duel, he actually survived until the next day. [1]This is how Alexander Hamilton a man who helped America in multitudinous ways, fatefully

Oftentimes people have a difficult time connecting with history. They do not see the relevance between something hundreds of years ago and today’s issues. The Broadway musical Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda does a great job of bridging that gap. Many of the issues that were faced in the time period of Alexander Hamilton are also faced in the world today. An example of this is politicians riding the fence on important issues. A main character in the play is criticized greatly for doing this just as people are currently. In Miranda’s Hamilton, characters are faced with issues and are asked to take a stand just as political leaders are today.

Your Obedient Servant is one of the last songs in the musical Hamilton: An American Story. This song is based off a set of interactions between the title character, Alexander Hamilton, and his antagonist, Aaron Burr. It follows the Song, Election of 1800, in which Hamilton openly supports Thomas Jefferson to become president instead of Burr after the electoral tie between the two candidates. The tension that has been growing throughout the entire musical has climaxed at that point and then the infamous duel is set. All the letters that are written to each other during the song are ended with, “your Obedient Servant,” to add humor and also a reference to the actual series of five letters sent in 1804. While this makes for fantastic theatre, it is not completely accurate. Part of what makes Lin Manuel Miranda’s writing so compelling is that he takes Aaron Burr and makes him more dimensional than the man who killed Alexander Hamilton. However, the actual exchanged letters that the song is based off of show the tension breaking by a small incident, not directly relating to the presidential race, and do not actually set the terms of the duel.