The musical first opened in New York a decade ago and went on to travel the world, becoming a huge hit at the West End in London in 2017 and later landing on Disney Plus in the form of a recorded version.
But the story of that immigrant – Hamilton himself, who was born on the Caribbean island of Nevis – is not all backroom manoeuvring. It has dramatic highs and lows, taking in revolution, a sex scandal, blackmail and death in a duel at the hands of the US vice-president.
Is Hamilton the musical based on a true story?
Yes, Hamilton was a real-life person, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, and the first ever Secretary for the Treasury.
So how did Hamilton make his way? As a teenage clerk, he showed such prowess in writing about a hurricane that struck the island of Christiansted that a group of elders teamed up to send him to King’s College (now Columbia University) in New York. Once there, however, he set his heart on achieving glory in the War of Independence and was soon captaining an artillery division, before becoming aide-de-camp to General George Washington, a non-combat role. But Hamilton insisted on returning to action, and in the last major battle of the war, he led a bayonet charge against besieged British forces in 1781 at Yorktown, Virginia (now about seven hours’ drive from New York), which led to the decisive surrender of General Cornwallis’s army.
In New York, he worked as a lawyer, and helped to forge the US Constitution. He also founded the Bank of New York (alongside the man who would later kill him). When George Washington became the first President of the United States, he made Hamilton his Treasury Secretary. In that role, he established a trading relationship with Britain, opposed slavery and created the first national bank.
Hamilton would later air all his dirty laundry in the first political sex scandal of the new country, detailing the ins and outs of the tawdry business to avoid accusations of embezzlement.
The couple would name the new baby Philip, too, and take him home to the newly built family mansion, Hamilton Grange, in Harlem (now relocated to nearby St Nicholas Park and open all year round, from Wednesday to Sunday). But the statesman, though not yet 50, would not live to see his youngest son grow up. In 1804, Hamilton made an enemy of former attorney general Aaron Burr by ruining his chances of winning the governorship of New York.
The Hamilton movie is available to stream on Disney Plus.
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