[Win1894]

Originally Posted by MandoMan

Alexander Hamilton was born on the Caribbean Island of St. Nevis. His father was a Scot and the son of a laird. His mother was half English (on her mother’s side) and half French (her father was a Protestant Huguenot). So, Hamilton was 100% white. His childhood was hard, especially after his mother died, leaving him an orphan, in 1768. But he was a precocious genius and voracious reader who took advantage of all the educational and work opportunities offered by mentors and benefactors, and he became one of the most important men in American history.

Instead of watching the musical, which introduces a lot of inaccurate ideas, I recommend actually reading Ron Chernow’s outstanding biography of Hamilton, or listen to it. (The musical was partly based on that biography, but made lots of changes. Chernow praised it, as he was getting a lot of money from being the source, but authors generally do that when their books are turned into plays or musicals or movies or TV, even if privately they are upset by the changes.)

If Hamilton was actually of mixed race, I’d have no trouble with that, but he wasn’t.

You make some great points here MandoMan - my feelings as well. I loved Chernow's book and liked the musical when I saw it in NYC (it was entertaining), but was a bit annoyed by the historically inaccurate aspects of the production. It didn't have to be that way.