(Lin-Manuel Miranda – Hamilton Cast)
[BURR]
After the war I went back to New York
[HAMILTON]
A-After the war I went back to New York
[BURR]
I finished up my studies and I practiced law
[HAMILTON]
I practiced law, Burr worked next door
[BURR]
Even though we started at the very same time
Alexander Hamilton began to climb
How to account for his rise to the top?
Maaaaan, the man is
Non-stop!
[ENSEMBLE]
Non-stop!
[HAMILTON]
Gentlemen of the jury, I’m curious, bear with me
Are you aware that we’re making hist’ry?
This is the first murder trial of our brand-new nation
[HAMILTON]
The liberty behind
Deliberation-
[ENSEMBLE]
Non-stop!
[HAMILTON]
I intend to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt
With my assistant counsel-
[BURR]
Co-counsel
Hamilton, sit down
Our client Levi Weeks is innocent. Call your first witness
That’s all you had to say!
[HAMILTON]
Okay!
One more thing-
[BURR]
Why do you assume you’re the smartest in the room?
Why do you assume you’re the smartest in the room?
Why do you assume you’re the smartest in the room?
Soon that attitude may be your doom!
[ENSEMBLE]
Awwww!
[BURR]
Why do you write like you’re running out of time?
Write day and night like you’re running out of time?
Ev’ry day you fight, like you’re running out of time
Keep on fighting. In the meantime- [ENSEMBLE]
Why do you write like you’re running out of time?
Ev’ry day you fight, like you’re running out of time
Non-stop!
[HAMILTON]
Corruption’s such an old song that we can sing along in harmony
And nowhere is it stronger than in Albany
This colony’s economy’s increasingly stalling and
[HAMILTON]
Honestly, that’s why public service
Seems to be calling me.
[BURR AND ENSEMBLE]
He’s just
Non-stop!
[HAMILTON]
I practiced the law, I practic’ly perfected it
I’ve seen injustice in the world and I’ve corrected it
Now for a strong central democracy
If not, then I’ll be Socrates
[HAMILTON]
Throwing verbal rocks
At these mediocrities.
[ENSEMBLE]
Awww!
[BURR]
Hamilton, at the Constitutional Convention:
[HAMILTON]
I was chosen for the Constitutional Convention
[BURR]
There as a New York junior delegate:
[HAMILTON]
Now what I’m going to say may sound indelicate…
[BURR]
Goes and proposes his own form of government!
His own plan for a new form of government!
[COMPANY]
Awwww!
What?
What?
[BURR]
Talks for six hours! The convention is listless!
[ENSEMBLE MAN]
Bright young man…
[ANOTHER ENSEMBLE MAN]
Yo, who the f is this?
[BURR]
Why do you always say what you believe?
Why do you always say what you believe?
Ev’ry proclamation guarantees free ammunition for your enemies!
[BURR AND MEN]
Why do you write like it’s
Going out of style?
Write day and night like it’s
Going out of style?
[COMPANY]
Why do you always say what you believe?
Awww!
[ALL WOMEN]
Going out of style, hey!
Going out of style, hey!
[BURR AND COMPANY]
Ev’ry day you fight like it’s
Going out of style
Do what you do
[BURR]
Alexander?
[HAMILTON]
Aaron Burr, sir
[BURR]
It’s the middle of the night
[HAMILTON]
Can we confer, sir?
[BURR]
Is this a legal matter?
HAMILTON
Yes, and it’s important to me
[BURR]
What do you need?
[HAMILTON]
Burr, you’re a better lawyer than me
[BURR]
Okay
[HAMILTON]
I know I talk too much, I’m abrasive
You’re incredible in court. You’re succinct, persuasive
My client needs a strong defense. You’re the solution
[BURR]
Who’s your client?
[HAMILTON]
The new U.S. Constitution?
[BURR]
No
[HAMILTON]
Hear me out
[BURR]
No way!
[HAMILTON]
A series of essays, anonymously published
Defending the document to the public
[BURR]
No one will read it
[HAMILTON]
I disagree
[BURR]
And if it fails?
[HAMILTON]
Burr, that’s why we need it
[BURR]
The constitution’s a mess
[HAMILTON]
So it needs amendments
[BURR]
It’s full of contradictions
[HAMILTON]
So is independence
We have to start somewhere
[BURR]
No. No way
[HAMILTON]
You’re making a mistake
[BURR]
Good night
[HAMILTON]
Hey
What are you waiting for?
What do you stall for?
[BURR]
What?
[HAMILTON]
We won the war
What was it all for?
Do you support this constitution?
[BURR]
Of course
[HAMILTON]
Then defend it
[BURR]
And what if you’re backing the wrong horse?
[HAMILTON]
Burr, we studied and we fought and we killed
For the notion of a nation we now get to build
For once in your life, take a stand with pride
I don’t understand how you stand to the side
[BURR]
I’ll keep all my plans
Close to my chest
I’ll wait here and see
Which way the wind
Will blow
I’m taking my time
Watching the
Afterbirth of a nation
Watching the tension grow.
[ENSEMBLE]
Wait for it, wait for
It, wait…
Which way the wind
Will blow
I’m taking my time
Watching the
Afterbirth of a nation
Watching the tension grow.
[ANGELICA]
I am sailing off to London. I’m accompanied by someone
Who always pays
I have found a wealthy husband who will keep
Me in comfort for all my days
He is not a lot of fun, but there’s no one who
Can match you for turn of phrase
My Alexander
[HAMILTON]
Angelica
[ANGELICA]
Don’t forget to write
[ELIZA]
Look at where you are
Look at where you started
The fact that you’re alive is a miracle
Just stay alive, that would be enough
And if your wife could share a fraction of your time
If I could grant you peace of mind
Would that be enough?
[BURR]
Alexander joins forces with James Madison and John Jay to write a series of essays defending the new United States Constitution, entitled The Federalist Papers. The plan was to write a total of twenty-five essays, the work divided evenly among the three men. In the end, they wrote eighty-five essays, in the span of six months. John Jay got sick after writing five. James Madison wrote twenty-nine. Hamilton wrote the other fifty-one!
[BURR]
How do you write like you’re
Running out of time?
Write day and night like you’re
Running out of time?
[BURR AND MEN]
Ev’ry day you fight
Like you’re
Running out of time
Like you’re
Running out of time
Are you
Running out of time?
[ALL WOMEN]
Running out of time?
Running out of time?
Running out of time
Running out of time
Awwww!
[FULL COMPANY (EXCEPT HAMILTON)]
How do you write like tomorrow won’t arrive?
How do you write like you need it to survive?
How do you write ev’ry second you’re alive?
Ev’ry second you’re alive? Ev’ry second you’re alive?
[WASHINGTON]
They are asking me to lead
I am doing the best I can
To get the people that I need
I’m asking you to be my right hand man
[HAMILTON]
Treasury or State?
[WASHINGTON]
I know it’s a lot to ask
[HAMILTON]
Treasury or State?
[WASHINGTON]
To leave behind the world you know…
[HAMILTON]
Sir, do you want me to run the Treasury or State department?
[WASHINGTON]
Treasury
[HAMILTON]
Let’s go
[ELIZA]
Alexander…
[HAMILTON]
I have to leave
[ELIZA]
Alexander-
[HAMILTON]
Look around, look around at how lucky we are to be alive right now
[ELIZA]
Helpless…
[HAMILTON]
They are asking me to lead
[ELIZA]
Look around, isn’t this enough?
[ANGELICA]
He will never be satisfied
He will never be satisfied
Satisfied
Satisfied…
He will never be satisfied
Satisfied
Satisfied…
Why do you fight like
History has its eyes on you…
[HAMILTON]
I am not throwin’ away my shot!
I am not throwin’ away my shot!
I am
Alexander Hamilton!
I am not throwin’ away my shot!
Category: Insight
Hamilton: Twin Developments Shaped His Path
Hamilton’s bravery and leadership got General Washington’s attention; thus he became the general’s Right Hand Man. And then his charisma at a Winter’s Ball caught the eye of a certain Schuyler, and she was Helpless.
[WASHINGTON]
Don’t get me wrong, you’re a young man, of great renown
I know you stole British cannons when we were still downtown
Nathaniel Green and Henry Knox wanted to hire you…
[HAMILTON]
To be their Secretary? I don’t think so
[WASHINGTON]
Why’re you upset?
[HAMILTON]
I’m not-
[WASHINGTON]
It’s alright, you want to fight, you’ve got a hunger
I was just like you when I was younger
Head full of fantasies of dyin’ like a martyr?
[HAMILTON]
Yes
[WASHINGTON]
Dying is easy, young man. Living is harder
[HAMILTON]
Why are you telling me this?
[WASHINGTON]
I’m being honest
I’m working with a third of what our Congress has promised
We are a powder keg about to explode
I need someone like you to lighten the load. So?
[COMPANY (EXCEPT HAMILTON)]
I am not throwin’ away my shot!
I am not throwin’ away my shot!
Ayo, I’m just like my country, I’m young
Scrappy and hungry!
[HAMILTON]
I am not throwing away my shot!
[WASHINGTON]
Son
[WASHINGON AND COMPANY]
We are outgunned, outmanned!
[HAMILTON]
You need all the help you can get
I have some friends. Laurens, Mulligan
Marquis de Lafayette, okay, what else?
[WASHINGTON AND COMPANY]
Outnumbered, outplanned!
[HAMILTON]
We’ll need some spies on the inside
Some King’s men who might let some things slide
[HAMILTON]
I’ll write to Congress and tell ‘em we need supplies, you rally the guys, master the element of surprise
I’ll rise above my station, organize your information, ‘til we rise to the occasion of our new nation. Sir!
[ENSEMBLE]
Here comes the General!
[HAMILTON]
Rise up!
[HAMILTON]
Rise up!
[ENSEMBLE]
Here comes the General!
[HAMILTON]
Rise up! [COMPANY]
Boom!
Chicka-boom!
[ENSEMBLE]
Here comes the General!
[SCHUYLER SISTERS]
Rise up!
[SCHUYLER SISTERS AND WOMEN]
Rise up! [ELIZA/ANGELICA/PEGGY]
Whoa, whoa, whoa…
Whoa, whoa, whoa…
[ELIZA/ANGELICA/PEGGY AND WOMEN]
Whoa, whoa, whoa…
[LAURENS/
LAFAYETTE/
MULLIGAN]
What?
[LAURENS/
LAFAYETTE/
MULLIGAN]
What?
[LAURENS/
LAFAYETTE/
MULLIGAN]
What?
[FULL COMPANY]
Here comes the General!
[HAMILTON]
What?
[WASHINGTON]
And his right hand man!
[FULL COMPANY]
Boom!
(Lin-Manuel Miranda – Hamilton Cast)
[BURR]
How does the bastard, orphan, son of a whore
Go on and on
Grow into more of a phenomenon?
Watch this obnoxious, arrogant, loudmouth bother
Be seated at the right hand of the father
Washington hires Hamilton right on sight
But Hamilton still wants to fight, not write
Now Hamilton’s skill with a quill is undeniable
But what do we have in common? We’re
Reliable with the
[ALL MEN]
Ladies!
[BURR]
There are so many to deflower!
[ALL MEN]
Ladies!
[BURR]
Looks! Proximity to power
[ALL MEN]
Ladies!
[BURR]
They delighted and distracted him
Martha Washington named her feral tomcat after him!
[HAMILTON]
That’s true
[FULL COMPANY]
1780
[BURR]
A winter’s ball
And the Schuyler sisters are the envy of all
Yo, if you can marry a sister, you’re rich, son
[HAMILTON]
Is it a question of if, Burr, or which one?
[HAMILTON/BURR/LAURENS]
Hey
Hey
Hey hey
(Lin-Manuel Miranda – Hamilton Cast)
[HAMILTON/BURR/LAURENS/ALL WOMEN (EXCEPT ELIZA)]
Hey hey hey hey
[ELIZA]
Ohh, I do I do I do I
Dooo! Hey!
Ohh, I do I do I do I
Dooo! Boy you got me [ALL WOMEN]
Hey hey hey hey
Hey hey hey hey
Hey hey hey hey
Hey hey hey
[ELIZA AND WOMEN]
Helpless!
Look into your eyes, and the sky’s the limit I’m helpless!
Down for the count, and I’m drownin’ in ‘em
[ELIZA]
I have never been the type to try and grab the spotlight
We were at a revel with some rebels on a hot night
Laughin’ at my sister as she’s dazzling the room
Then you walked in and my heart went “Boom!”
Tryin’ to catch your eye from the side of the ballroom
Everybody’s dancin’ and the band’s top volume
[ELIZA AND WOMEN]
Grind to the rhythm as we wine and dine
[ELIZA]
Grab my sister, and
Whisper, “Yo, this
One’s mine.”
My sister made her way across the room to you
And I got nervous, thinking “What’s she gonna do?”
She grabbed you by the arm, I’m thinkin’ “I’m through”
Then you look back at me and suddenly I’m
Helpless!
Oh, look at those eyes
Oh!
Yeah, I’m
Helpless, I know
I’m so into you
I am so into you
I know I’m down for the count
And I’m drownin’ in ‘em.
[ALL WOMEN]
Oooh
Oooh
Oooh
Oooh
Helpless!
Look into your eyes
And the sky’s the limit
I’m
Helpless!
Down for the count
And I’m drownin’ in ‘em
I’m helpless!
Look into your eyes
And the sky’s the limit I’m helpless!
Down for the count
And I’m drownin’ in ‘em.
[HAMILTON]
Where are you taking me?
[ANGELICA]
I’m about to change your life
[HAMILTON]
Then by all means, lead the way
[ELIZA]
Elizabeth Schuyler. It’s a pleasure to meet you
[HAMILTON]
Schuyler?
[ANGELICA]
My sister
[ELIZA]
Thank you for all your service
[HAMILTON]
If it takes fighting a war for us to meet, it will have been worth it
[ANGELICA]
I’ll leave you to it
[ELIZA AND WOMEN]
One week later
[ELIZA]
I’m writin’ a letter nightly
Now my life gets better, every letter that you write me
Laughin’ at my sister, cuz she wants to form a harem
[ANGELICA]
I’m just sayin’, if you really loved me, you would share him
[ELIZA]
Ha!
Two weeks later
In the living room stressin’
My father’s stone-faced
While you’re asking for his blessin’
I’m dying inside, as
You wine
And dine
And I’m tryin’ not to cry
‘cause there’s nothing that your mind can’t do
My father makes his way across the room
To you
I panic for a second, thinking
“we’re through”
But then he shakes your hand and says
“Be true”
And you turn back to me, smiling, and I’m
Helpless!
Helpless!
Hoo!
That boy is mine
That boy is mine!
Helpless! Helpless!
Down for the count
And I’m drownin’ in em
[ALL WOMEN]
Stressin’
Blessin’
Oooh
Oooh
Oooh
Oooh
Helpless!
Look into your eyes
And the sky’s the
Limit I’m
Helpless!
Down for the count
And I’m drownin’ in
‘em I’m
Helpless!
Look into your eyes
And the sky’s the
Limit I’m
Helpless!
Down for the count
And I’m drownin’ in em
[HAMILTON]
Eliza, I don’t have a dollar to my name
An acre of land, a troop to command, a dollop of fame
All I have’s my honor, a tolerance for pain
A couple of college credits and my top-notch brain
Insane, your family brings out a different side of me
Peggy confides in me, Angelica tried to take a bite of me
No stress, my love for you is never in doubt
We’ll get a little place in Harlem and we’ll figure it out
I’ve been livin’ without a family since I was a child
My father left, my mother died, I grew up buckwild
But I’ll never forget my mother’s face, that was real
And long as I’m alive, Eliza, swear to God
You’ll never feel so…
[HAMILTON]
Eliza…
I’ve never felt so-
My life is gon’ be fine cuz Eliza’s in it.
[ELIZA]
I do I do I do I do!
I do I do I do I do!
Hey, yeah, yeah!
I’m down for the count
I’m-
I look into your eyes, and the sky’s the limit
I’m
…drownin’ in ‘em. [ALL WOMEN]
Helpless!
Helpless!
Helpless!
Down for the count
And I’m drownin’ in ‘em
Helpless!
Helpless!
Helpless!
Down for the count
And I’m drownin’ in ‘em.
Wedding march plays
[ALL WOMEN]
In New York, you can be a new man…
In New York, you can be a new man…
In New York, you can be a new man…
[ELIZA]
Helpless
Hamilton: Rise to The History to Which You Are Called
[WASHINGTON]
I was younger than you are now
When I was given my first command
I led my men straight into a massacre
I witnessed their deaths firsthand
I made every mistake
I felt the shame rise in me
And even now I lie awake
[WASHINGTON]
Knowing history has its eyes on me
[HAMILTON/WASHINGTON]
History has its eyes on me. [LAURENS/MULLIGAN]
Whoa…
Whoa…
Whoa…
Yeah
[COMPANY]
Whoa…
Whoa…
Whoa…
Yeah
[WASHINGTON]
Let me tell you what I wish I’d known
When I was young and dreamed of glory:
You have no control:
[WASHINGTON AND COMPANY]
Who lives, who dies, who tells your story
[WASHINGTON]
I know that we can win
I know that greatness lies in you
But remember from here on in
[WASHINGTON/HAMILTON AND MEN]
History has its
Eyes on you.
[ENSEMBLE]
Whoa…
Whoa…
Whoa…
[FULL COMPANY]
History has its eyes on you
Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)
(Lin-Manuel Miranda – Hamilton Cast)
[COMPANY]
The battle of Yorktown. 1781
[LAFAYETTE]
Monsieur Hamilton
[HAMILTON]
Monsieur Lafayette
[LAFAYETTE]
In command where you belong
[HAMILTON]
How you say, no sweat
We’re finally on the field. We’ve had quite a run
[LAFAYETTE]
Immigrants:
[HAMILTON/LAFAYETTE]
We get the job done
[HAMILTON]
So what happens if we win?
[LAFAYETTE]
I go back to France
I bring freedom to my people if I’m given the chance
[HAMILTON]
We’ll be with you when you do
[LAFAYETTE]
Go lead your men
[HAMILTON]
See you on the other side
[LAFAYETTE]
‘Til we meet again, let’s go!
[ENSEMBLE]
I am not throwin’ away my shot!
I am not throwin’ away my shot!
Hey yo, I’m just like my country, I’m young
Scrappy and hungry
And I’m not throwin’ away my shot!
I am not throwin’ away my shot!
[HAMILTON]
‘Til the world turns upside down…
[ENSEMBLE]
‘Til the world turns upside down!
[HAMILTON]
I imagine death so much it feels more like a memory
This is where it gets me: on my feet
The enemy ahead of me
If this is the end of me, at least I have a friend with me
Weapon in my hand, a command, and my men with me
Then I remember my Eliza’s expecting me…
Not only that, my Eliza’s expecting
We gotta go, gotta get the job done
Gotta start a new nation, gotta meet my son!
Take the bullets out your gun!
[ENSEMBLE]
What?
[HAMILTON]
The bullets out your gun!
[ENSEMBLE]
What?
[HAMILTON]
We move under cover and we move as one
Through the night, we have one shot to live another day
We cannot let a stray gunshot give us away
We will fight up close, seize the moment and stay in it
It’s either that or meet the business end of a bayonet
The code word is ‘Rochambeau,’ dig me?
[ENSEMBLE]
Rochambeau!
[HAMILTON]
You have your orders now, go, man, go!
And so the American experiment begins
With my friends all scattered to the winds
Laurens is in South Carolina, redefining brav’ry
[HAMILTON/LAURENS]
We’ll never be free until we end slavery!
[HAMILTON]
When we finally drive the British away
Lafayette is there waiting-
[HAMILTON/LAFAYETTE]
In Chesapeake Bay!
[HAMILTON]
How did we know that this plan would work?
We had a spy on the inside. That’s right
[HAMILTON/COMPANY]
Hercules Mulligan!
[MULLIGAN]
A tailor spyin’ on the British government!
I take their measurements, information and then I smuggle it
[COMPANY]
Up
[MULLIGAN]
To my brother’s revolutionary covenant
I’m runnin’ with the Sons of Liberty and I am lovin’ it!
See, that’s what happens when you up against the ruffians
We in the shit now, somebody gotta shovel it!
Hercules Mulligan, I need no introduction
When you knock me down I get the fuck back up again!
[COMPANY]
Left! Right! Hold!
Go!
What! What! What!
[HAMILTON]
After a week of fighting, a young man in a red coat stands on a parapet
[LAFAYETTE]
We lower our guns as he frantically waves a white handkerchief
[MULLIGAN]
And just like that, it’s over. We tend to our wounded, we count our dead
[LAURENS]
Black and white soldiers wonder alike if this really means freedom
[WASHINGTON]
Not. Yet
[HAMILTON]
We negotiate the terms of surrender
I see George Washington smile
We escort their men out of Yorktown
They stagger home single file
Tens of thousands of people flood the streets
There are screams and church bells ringing
And as our fallen foes retreat
I hear the drinking song they’re singing…
[ALL MEN]
The world turned upside down
[FULL COMPANY]
The world turned upside down
The world turned upside down
The world turned upside down
Down
Down, down, down
[LAFAYETTE]
Freedom for America, freedom for France!
[COMPANY]
Down, down, down
[HAMILTON]
Gotta start a new nation
Gotta meet my son
[COMPANY]
Down, down, down
[MULLIGAN]
We won!
[LAFAYETTE]
We won!
[MULLIGAN/LAFAYETTE/LAURENS]
We won!
[MULLIGAN/LAFAYETTE/LAURENS/HAMILTON/WASHINGTON]
We won!
[COMPANY]
The world turned upside down!
BONUS! The performance from the 70th Tony Awards:
Hamilton: My Shot
I am not throwing away my shot!
I am not throwing away my shot!
Hey yo, I’m just like my country
I’m young, scrappy and hungry
And I’m not throwing away my shot!
I’m ‘a get a scholarship to King’s College
I prob’ly shouldn’t brag, but dag, I amaze and astonish
The problem is I got a lot of brains but no polish
I gotta holler just to be heard
With every word, I drop knowledge!
I’m a diamond in the rough, a shiny piece of coal
Tryin’ to reach my goal. My power of speech: unimpeachable
Only nineteen but my mind is older
These New York City streets get colder, I shoulder
Ev’ry burden, ev’ry disadvantage
I have learned to manage, I don’t have a gun to brandish
I walk these streets famished
The plan is to fan this spark into a flame…
I imagine death so much it feels more like a memory When’s it gonna get me? In my sleep? Seven feet ahead of me? If I see it comin’, do I run or do I let it be? Is it like a beat without a melody? See, I never thought I’d live past twenty Where I come from some get half as many
Ask anybody why we livin’ fast and we laugh, reach for a flask We have to make this moment last, that’s plenty
Scratch that This is not a moment, it’s the movement Where all the hungriest brothers with Something to prove went? Foes oppose us, we take an honest stand We roll like Moses, claimin’ our promised land
And? If we win our independence? ‘Zat a guarantee of freedom for our descendants? Or will the blood we shed begin an endless Cycle of vengeance and death with no defendants? I know the action in the street is excitin’ But Jesus, between all the bleedin’ ‘n fightin’ I’ve been readin’ ‘n writin’
We need to handle our financial situation Are we a nation of states? What’s the state of our nation?
I’m past patiently waitin’. I’m passionately Smashin’ every expectation Every action’s an act of creation! I’m laughin’ in the face of casualties and sorrow For the first time, I’m thinkin’ past tomorrow
Still Striving: Not Yet Independence For All
Accessibility links
KQED
RACE
What The Fourth Of July Meant To Those Enslaved In The U.S.
Heard on Morning Edition
History professor David Blight of Yale University talks with NPR’s Noel King about what Independence Day meant to abolitionist Frederick Douglass and America’s enslaved population.
AMERICA RECKONS WITH RACIAL INJUSTICE
VIDEO: Frederick Douglass’ Descendants Deliver His ‘Fourth Of July’ Speech
NOEL KING, HOST:
As we get ready for the Fourth of July tomorrow, we’re remembering a remarkable speech about Independence Day. In July of 1852 in Rochester, N.Y., a crowd of about 600 people gathered together in a hall. They’d been brought together by the Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society. Their guest speaker was Frederick Douglass. Douglass had been born enslaved. He’d secretly taught himself to read and write. He was a genius who became one of the best-known abolitionists and thinkers in the world. This speech that Douglass gave before that crowd in Rochester was called “What To The Slave Is The Fourth Of July?” Yale historian David Blight says it was one of the most riveting and compelling speeches Douglass ever gave.
DAVID BLIGHT: This speech is a symphony with three movements. First movement, he sets them at ease by honoring the Founding Fathers. He calls the Declaration of Independence the ring-bolt of American liberty. He calls the Fourth of July the American Passover. He sets them all at ease, but then he takes them through a litany of all the horrors of the slave trade, of the slave ships, of slave auction blocks. He takes that audience to the dark heart of what slavery really is.
And then that middle movement – he says, oh, be warned. Be warned. There is a horrible reptile coiled up at your nation’s heart. And then he ends. And the last movement of the speech, he says, your nation is still young. It is still malleable, changeable. It’s not quite too late. You might yet have a chance to save yourselves.
This speech is a rhetorical masterpiece. And its great theme is American secular and religious hypocrisy for the practice of slavery. And it is a great warning that if the country doesn’t find a way to face this problem, it will face tremendous disruption, tremendous violence. Today, it will remind people so much of the current crisis we’re in and this ever-lasting problem that we never quite are able to solve – the question of race.
KING: As you said, he doesn’t start this speech with a condemnation. He starts with a compliment. The Founding Fathers, he says, were great men. They were statesmen, patriots, heroes. Why does he begin that way?
BLIGHT: Well, he’s setting his audience in a safe place. Also, he meant what he said. He called the principles of the Declaration saving principles – equality, the natural rights tradition, popular sovereignty, which means a republican form of government, and the right of revolution. And he says, look, these were geniuses who created this republic out of the 18th century.
But then, of course, the rhetoric begins to shift. And in that middle of that speech, it is almost like a hailstorm. It’s like he’s raining down thunder and hail on his audience. And I have to believe some of them were squirming. And where you see it is how often he uses the pronouns you and your. It’s your nation. Your founders, your Declaration of Independence. You, your and you and your.
He’s separating himself already and says – I quote – “The blessings in which you this day rejoice are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence bequeathed by your fathers is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought life and healing to you has brought stripes and death to me. The Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice. I must mourn. To drag a man in fetters into the grand, illuminated temple of liberty and call upon him to join you in joyous anthems were inhuman mockery and sacrilegious irony.”
KING: Was this speech a gutsy move? Or because he was in front of a friendly audience, was it extraordinary but not particularly brave?
BLIGHT: It was a gutsy move. Even if you’re speaking to a crowd, essentially, of your like-minded friends, this is still a very poignant attack on anyone who considered themselves a patriotic American. What Douglass is really doing here is pointing to America’s creeds, its first principles. They are right there in the Declaration of Independence. He says, you know, you’ve got the document. The principles are terrific. It’s the practice that violates it all.
KING: Have you ever thought, having spent so much time thinking about Frederick Douglass, if he were alive today, what he’d be doing and what he might say in his speeches, in a speech like this one?
BLIGHT: (Laughter) This much we know about his character. He would never miss using a crisis when something shocking happened. He was a creature of words. He was a genius with language. Douglass would go to words and try first to explain to himself what he thought about it. Then he would go take it out to the public. As for the kind of crisis we’re having now, who knows what he would say?
But after 130-some years, he’d say, you know, I died in the late 19th century, and you all are still at this? For God’s sake. But he also – I think he tried to harness young people. He’d be out there trying to harness this energy. And he would be harnessing it and devoting. He always believed that, somehow, the right to vote was at the core of liberty. And he would be out there right now, trying to harness them into voting.
But what he would be seeing is what we’re all seeing, possibly the third great reckoning about this in our history. The first was the Civil War and Reconstruction. The second was the civil rights movement of the ’50s and ’60s. And now we’re probably having a third one – whatever we’re going to end up calling this. But he would be saying harness this now and try to get it right this time. And he’d warn us that the whole world is watching to see whether this thing called an American republic can really survive.
KING: Professor David Blight, author of the award-winning book “Frederick Douglass: Prophet Of Freedom.” Thank you so much for taking the time today.
BLIGHT: Thank you, Noel. It’s an honor.
KING: And on npr.org right you, you can watch an amazing short film featuring five young descendants of Frederick Douglass as they read and respond to excerpts of his famous speech.
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The American Experiment, Continued
We, every human on the planet that has been, is now, of ever will be, we are are ALL born with rights given to us by God or, Nature, and that no other human can take these rights away. Etcetera.
Worth your time to listen.
And the American Experiment continues…
one.npr.org/i/887027361:887027362
Following, Hamilton Snippets …
So MUCH good lyric and beat and rhythm and history and story in those 46 songs that make “Hamilton”, The Musical, come alive.
More than history coming to life, it’s an invitation for each of us to listen and learn and sing and watch the story unfold and churn,
of an immigrant’s contribution and vision of what could be, how it should be, what he thought America would be,
So many words in these songs, lyric like the Federalist Papers Hamilton lead, shed forth, and so much more,
And so snippets for you, for me, just sharing for myself, and for you to maybe remember, or look deeper in, some of my favorites that tell a story,
Go ahead, history has its eyes on you…
Lyrics Post: “Ten Duel Commandments”
These silly rules effected Hamilton’s life twice. Once it was tragic, the second it was fatal.
I’m glad we’ve moved on. But still it’s worth it to remember, least we forget and let ego and so-called honor get in the way of compromise once again.
“Ten Duel Commandments”
[Men:]
One, two, three, four
[Full Company:]
Five, six, seven, eight, nine…
[Burr/Hamilton/Laurens/Lee:]
It’s the Ten Duel Commandments
[Full Company:]
It’s the Ten Duel Commandments
Number one!
[Laurens:]
The challenge: demand satisfaction
If they apologize, no need for further action
[Company:]
Number two!
[Laurens:]
If they don’t, grab a friend, that’s your second
[Hamilton:]
Your lieutenant when there’s reckoning to be reckoned
[Company:]
Number three!
[Lee:]
Have your seconds meet face to face
[Burr:]
Negotiate a peace…
[Hamilton:]
Or negotiate a time and place
[Burr:]
This is commonplace, ‘specially ‘tween recruits
[Company:]
Most disputes die, and no one shoots
Number four!
[Laurens:]
If they don’t reach a peace, that’s alright
Time to get some pistols and a doctor on site
[Hamilton:]
You pay him in advance, you treat him with civility
[Burr:]
You have him turn around so he can have deniability
[Company:]
Five!
[Lee:]
Duel before the sun is in the sky
[Company:]
Pick a place to die where it’s high and dry
Number six!
[Hamilton:]
Leave a note for your next of kin
Tell ’em where you been. Pray that hell or heaven lets you in
[Company:]
Seven!
[Lee:]
Confess your sins. Ready for the moment
Of adrenaline when you finally face your opponent
[Company:]
Number eight!
[Laurens/Lee/Hamilton/Burr:]
Your last chance to negotiate
Send in your seconds, see if they can set the record straight…
[Burr:]
Alexander
[Hamilton:]
Aaron Burr, sir
[Burr:]
Can we agree that duels are dumb and immature?
[Hamilton:]
Sure
But your man has to answer for his words, Burr
[Burr:]
With his life? We both know that’s absurd, sir
[Hamilton:]
Hang on, how many men died because Lee was inexperienced and ruinous?
[Burr:]
Okay, so we’re doin’ this
[Company:]
Number nine!
[Hamilton:]
Look ’em in the eye, aim no higher
Summon all the courage you require
Then count
[Men:]
One two three four
[Full Company:]
Five six seven eight nine
[Hamilton/Burr:]
Number
[Company:]
Ten paces!
[Hamilton/Burr:]
Fire!
Lyrics Post: “Satisfied”
So SO many songs in Hamilton, 46 in all, I think it is. And so which ones to highlight in this lead-up to the TV debut of the staged musical from 2016 and the original cast…
This song comes to mind as one of my favorites, but also reflective of one of the fundamental themes of the production: striving, pushing, yearning to be better, to do more, to be happier…to be, satisfied.
Don’t we all strive to that, in the end?
[Laurens:]
Alright, alright. That’s what I’m talkin’ about!
Now everyone give it up for the maid of honor
Angelica Schuyler!
[Angelica (all men) {all women}:]
A toast to the groom!
(To the groom!)
(To the groom!)
{(To the groom!)}
To the bride!
{To the bride!}
(To the bride!)
{To the bride!}
From your sister
(Angelica!)
(Angelica!)
{(Angelica!)}
Who is always by your side
(By your side)
{By your side}
To your union
{(To the union!)}
{(To the revolution!)}
And the hope that you provide
(You provide!)
{(You provide!)}
May you always…
{(Always)}
Be satisfied
{(Rewind)}
[Recorded Samples:]
Rewind, rewind
Helpless,
Schuyler, Schuyler
Helpless
Drownin’ in ’em
Drownin’, rewind
I remember that night, I just might (rewind)
I remember that night, I just might (rewind)
I remember that night, I remember that
[Angelica:]
I remember that night, I just might
Regret that night for the rest of my days
I remember those soldier boys
Tripping over themselves to win our praise
I remember that dreamlike candlelight
Like a dream that you can’t quite place
But Alexander, I’ll never forget the first time I saw your face
I have never been the same
Intelligent eyes in a hunger-pang frame
And when you said, “Hi,” I forgot my dang name
Set my heart aflame, every part aflame
[Full Company:]
This is not a game…
[Hamilton:]
You strike me as a woman who has never been satisfied
[Angelica:]
I’m sure I don’t know what you mean
You forget yourself
[Hamilton:]
You’re like me
I’m never satisfied
[Angelica:]
Is that right?
[Hamilton:]
I’ve never been satisfied
[Angelica:]
My name is Angelica Schuyler
[Hamilton:]
Alexander Hamilton
[Angelica:]
Where’s your family from?
[Hamilton:]
Unimportant
There’s a million things I haven’t done
but just you wait, just you wait…
[Angelica:]
So so so… so this is what it feels like to match wits
With someone at your level! What the hell is the catch?
It’s the feeling of freedom, of seein’ the light
It’s Ben Franklin with a key and a kite!
You see it, right?
The conversation lasted two minutes, maybe three minutes
Everything we said in total agreement, it’s
A dream and it’s a bit of a dance
A bit of a posture, it’s a bit of a stance
He’s a bit of a flirt, but I’m ‘a give it a chance
I asked about his family. Did you see his answer?
His hands started fidgeting, he looked askance?
He’s penniless, he’s flying by the seat of his pants
Handsome. Boy, does he know it?
Peach fuzz, and he can’t even grow it!
I wanna take him far away from this place
Then I turn and see my sister’s face
And she is…
[Eliza:]
Helpless…
[Angelica:]
And I know she is…
[Eliza:]
Helpless…
[Angelica:]
And her eyes are just…
[Eliza:]
Helpless…
[Angelica:]
And I realize
[Angelica and Company:]
Three fundamental truths at the exact same time…
[Hamilton:]
Where are you taking me?
[Angelica:]
I’m about to change your life
[Hamilton:]
Then by all means, lead the way
[Company (except Angelica):]
Number one!
[Angelica:]
I’m a girl in a world in which
My only job is to marry rich
My father has no sons so I’m the one
Who has to social climb for one
So I’m the oldest and the wittiest and the gossip in
New York City is insidious
And Alexander is penniless
Ha! That doesn’t mean I want him any less
[Eliza:]
Elizabeth Schuyler. It’s a pleasure to meet you
[Hamilton:]
Schuyler?
[Angelica:]
My sister
[Company:]
Number two!
[Angelica:]
He’s after me ’cause I’m a Schuyler sister
That elevates his status, I’d
Have to be naïve to set that aside
Maybe that is why
I introduce him to Eliza
Now that’s his bride
Nice going, Angelica, he was right
You will never be satisfied
[Eliza:]
Thank you for all your service
[Hamilton:]
If it takes fighting a war for us to meet, it will have been worth it
[Angelica:]
I’ll leave you to it
[Company:]
Number three!
[Angelica:]
I know my sister like I know my own mind
You will never find
Anyone as trusting or as kind
If I tell her that I love him she’d be silently resigned
He’d be mine
She would say, “I’m fine.”
[Angelica and Company:]
She’d be lying
[Angelica:]
But when I fantasize at night
It’s Alexander’s eyes
As I romanticize what might
Have been if I hadn’t sized
Him up so quickly
At least my dear Eliza’s his wife;
At least I keep his eyes in my life…
[Angelica (all men) {all women}:]
To the groom!
(To the groom!)
(To the groom!)
{(To the groom!)}
To the bride!
{To the bride!}
(To the bride!)
{To the bride!}
From your sister
(Angelica!)
(Angelica!)
{(Angelica!)}
Who is always by your side
(By your side)
{By your side}
To your union
{(To the union!)}
{(To the revolution!)}
And the hope that you provide
(You provide!)
{(You provide!)}
May you always…
{(Always)}
Be satisfied
(Be satisfied)
{Be satisfied}
(Be satisfied)
And I know
{(Be satisfied)}
(Be satisfied)
(Be satisfied)
(Be satisfied)
She’ll be happy as
(Be satisfied)
(Be satisfied)
His bride
{(Be satisfied)}
And I know
(Be satisfied)
(Be satisfied)
(Be satisfied)
{Be satisfied}
He will never be satisfied
I will never be satisfied
Writer(s): Lin-manuel Miranda
Lyrics Post: “Alexander Hamilton”
[Aaron Burr:]
How does a bastard, orphan, son of a whore and a
Scotsman, dropped in the middle of a forgotten
Spot in the Caribbean by providence, impoverished, in squalor
Grow up to be a hero and a scholar?
[John Laurens:]
The ten-dollar Founding Father without a father
Got a lot farther by working a lot harder
By being a lot smarter
By being a self-starter
By fourteen, they placed him in charge of a trading charter
[Thomas Jefferson:]
And every day while slaves were being slaughtered and carted
Away across the waves, he struggled and kept his guard up
Inside, he was longing for something to be a part of
The brother was ready to beg, steal, borrow, or barter
[James Madison:]
Then a hurricane came, and devastation reigned
Our man saw his future drip, dripping down the drain
Put a pencil to his temple, connected it to his brain
And he wrote his first refrain, a testament to his pain
[Burr:]
Well, the word got around, they said, “This kid is insane, man.”
Took up a collection just to send him to the mainland
“Get your education, don’t forget from whence you came, and
The world’s gonna know your name. What’s your name, man?”
[Alexander Hamilton:]
Alexander Hamilton
My name is Alexander Hamilton
And there’s a million things I haven’t done
But just you wait, just you wait…
[Eliza Hamilton:]
When he was ten his father split, full of it, debt-ridden
Two years later, see Alex and his mother bed-ridden
Half-dead sittin’ in their own sick, the scent thick
[Full Company except Hamilton (whispering):]
And Alex got better but his mother went quick
[George Washington (Company):]
Moved in with a cousin, the cousin committed suicide
Left him with nothin’ but ruined pride, something new inside
A voice saying, “Alex, you gotta fend for yourself.”
He started retreatin’ and readin’ every treatise on the shelf
[Burr (Company):]
There would’ve been nothin’ left to do
For someone less astute
He would’ve been dead or destitute
Without a cent of restitution
Started workin’, clerkin’ for his late mother’s landlord
Tradin’ sugar cane and rum and all the things he can’t afford
Scammin’ for every book he can get his hands on
Plannin’ for the future see him now as he stands on (ooh…)
The bow of a ship headed for a new land
In New York you can be a new man
[Company (Hamilton):]
In New York you can (just you wait) be a new man
In New York you can (just you wait) be a new man
In New York you can be a new man
[Women:] In New York
[Men:] New York
[Hamilton:] Just you wait!
[Company:]
Alexander Hamilton (Alexander Hamilton)
We are waiting in the wings for you (waiting in the wings for you)
You could never back down
You never learned to take your time!
Oh, Alexander Hamilton (Alexander Hamilton)
When America sings for you
Will they know what you overcame?
Will they know you rewrote the game?
The world will never be the same, oh
[Burr:]
The ship is in the harbor now
See if you can spot him ([Men:] Just you wait)
Another immigrant
Comin’ up from the bottom ([Company:] Just you wait)
His enemies destroyed his rep
America forgot him
[Mulligan/Madison and Lafayette/Jefferson:]
We fought with him
[Laurens/Philip:]
Me? I died for him
[Washington:]
Me? I trusted him
[Eliza and Angelica and Peggy/Maria:]
Me? I loved him
[Burr:]
And me? I’m the damn fool that shot him
[Company:]
There’s a million things I haven’t done
But just you wait!
[Burr:]
What’s your name, man?
[Company:]
Alexander Hamilton!
