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on-partiality · 2 months

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Hi, I’ve been curious about Hercules Mulligan’s inclusion in the Rev Set ever since I have seen posts saying that one of the other aids like Meade and Tilgman or Tallmadge (if Herc was added solely for spy stuff) would have been a better choice. Id love to hear your thoughts on this.

Also, (terribly sorry if this insults any Mullette shippers) but do you know why people ship Mullette? (Correct me if I’m wrong) but these two have had zero historical relations. In addition, I don’t remember from the last time I saw musical but if you do, what was Laf and Herc’s relationship onstage?

So sorry about this super long ask. I just felt like you would be the best person to ask. Tysm and I hope you have a wonderful day!😊

Aw, this is such a cool question! And you're really nice, anon! I wish you the best! I would also like to make it very clear right now to anyone else who wants to send me a long ask. I love long asks. They give me more to ramble about!

When I was first getting into studying the real history behind the musical two years ago, this same thing confused me heaps. Mainly because we have no proof that Lafayette or Laurens ever even met Mulligan, let alone became good friends with him and he wasn't particularly close to Hamilton either for most of the war (I mean, in the continental army, he would've barely seen Hamilton, and the other aides would have been around him all day). Hamilton lived with him when he was in college, and they got along really well, had fun late-night conversations, just overall were great friends who influenced eachother in positive ways and Mulligan's chats with him definitely made young Hamilton more enthusiastic about the revolutionary cause. Additionally, Hercules Mulligan was part of his artillery company, The Hearts Of Oak or the Corsicans - Mulligan's the whole reason why we know the story of 18 year old Hamilton stealing British cannons with his volunteers is because of the recount of that night that Mulligan later wrote - however, for the rest of the war they just didn't interact with one another much.

They had their separate jobs, and they did them well. Hamilton was confined to his own quaters and the aide-de-camp tent, Mulligan was hanging around British camps and the battlefield doing exactly what Hamilton wanted to do. The relationship between the two was completely different from how Hamilton, Laurens, and Lafayette were through most of the war. Working together, seeing each other just about every other day, creating the same drafts and plans; Especially Laurens and Hamilton as Lafayette got some more 'exciting' jobs because of his rank as a Major General. But out of the bunch, Mulligan really sticks out like a sore thumb, historically the group was called the gay trio and for a good 3 quaters of the war it was just them all together. So why on earth would Lin Manuel Miranda add a fourth to the trio? It very well could be that like you said, he wanted everyone in the main group to have a different role that was integral to how the Continental army ran (Lafayette commanding, Hamilton writing, Laurens battling (?) and Mulligan spying) but I ended up reaching the conclusion that because the musical starts in 1776 while Hamilton was still in college - in the musical at least, presumably, but because of the way events are swapped around with eachother and happen at all the wrong times it's a bit difficult to tell what time things happened in the musical like I believe that when it starts Hamilton's meant to be in college and not yet a soldier however Hamilton left college to make his militia thing in 1775 and he stole the cannons in 1775 however the musical shows this happening after Aaron Burr, Sir and at the start if that song they make it very clear that it's meant to be 1776 which also means that Hamilton and Mulligan should've already known each other, I digress, I could ramble about how the way the musical timeline is makes no sense for years - , they wanted to show someone who was really important to him at that age, and they just kept him with the group for the rest of the show to avoid confusion as to why he disappeared or so that they wouldn't have to introduce another character (like why they used Jefferson instead of Monroe for the Reynolds pamphlet).

I don't know about using Tallmadge as a substitute though, given that I haven't read of any interactions between him and Hamilton or him and Laurens historically, I haven't read of any between him and Lafayette either, but it seems more likely that they would've spoken given Lafayette's position as a major general. It's entirely possible that the trio had heard of him but never actually met him given that I believe that I read somewhere that the whole trio knew of the Culper Spy Ring and a lot of what they would've heard to do with the Culper Spy Ring would have related to Benjamin Tallmadge in some way or other because he was the co-founder of the group. Meade and Tilghman would be good to swap Mulligan for, but then it doesn't make sense that he was talking to them in college (although Laurens and Lafayette didn't meet Hamilton when he was 19 either and like I mentioned earlier, Mulligan should have already known him so with the logic of the Hamilton musical they could be in the main group, yes). If my theory is correct then it would make sense why none of the more historically accurate quadrios were chosen, if they wanted someone who was close to Hamilton in his college years who still fought in the revolutionary war; then Mulligan would've been a great fit.

I'm going to guess that Mullette is one of those ships where people went, 'Hmm, I have ships for every other character but these too, and they seem close enough (in the musical that is), so I'll pair them together!'. Y'know, one of those pair-the-spares kind of things that people who are really into shipping do. Additionally. I believe you're correct; it has to have been an 100% musical fandom ship originally because if there was even just a little bit of historical evidence to back it up, then we'd know for a fact that Lafayette and Mulligan knew each other. Oh, and as someone who has seen the musical rather recently (late may last year) in the show, Lafayette and Mulligan didn't interact much, but they did come across as good friends and for some very creative people, those crumbs of interactions are enough to develop whole stories and relationships and I applaud those people, the way they create so much out of so little is amazing. Personally, I don't like any ships that don't have even a semblance of historical backing because I'm definitely an amrev fan before I'm a Hamilton musical fan (I still love the musical, I just value the real history more). People can like what they like though; I won't judge.

I'll always think Mullette's funny because here in Australia recently it's become a trend again for young boys and men to get mullets and I can't read the name without thinking of some crazy looking mullets that I've seen. Thanks for the ask, Anon! It was super fun to answer :D

Sincerely,

O-P/Milly

(I apologise if I come across as rude, I've struggled with tones my whole life)

#mullette #mulligan #hercules mulligan #lafayette #marquis de lafayette #hamilton fanart #historical hamilton #hamilton #amrev #american revolution #american revolutionary war #american history #revolutionary war #history

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on-partiality · 2 months

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Okay, so I'm absolutely curious:

I don't know if you've been asked this already, but how would you rank the Founding Fathers (from the ones you like the most to the ones you really don't)?

Sorry for taking forever I got sick and then I had school camp but here's how I'd rank them:

1, Alexander Hamilton: I've studied him the most out of the main founding fathers so I've grown rather attached to him. I still acknowlege his flaws like the fact that the trading charter he worked for when he was younger also sold slaves, the fact that he was sexist just like the typical 18th century man and that he did cheat on his wife. But even with all of those, he's my favourite of the bunch.

2. James Madison: when creating this tier list type thing I realised that I really don't know much about Madison that's why he's higher in the list (because I've studied him so little compared to the others, I don't know as much about his flaws and problematic actions as I do the rest of the bunch) I've read a lot about him doing silly things and supposedly being a good husband but the fact that he got along so well with Jefferson throws me off because I really don't like Jefferson. So yeah, I'd say I'm pretty neutral with Madison.

3. John Adams: I haven't studied him as much as the other founders (still more than Madison though) so I find it difficult to have too strong an opinion on him. I like his stance on slavery and the fact that he never owned any, however, I don't like his thoughts on women and men without property (and just generally the requirements he wanted to make on who should and shouldn't be allowed to vote) and I don't believe he was a very good father from what I've read about how he treated his oldest son, I also don't like his personality.

4. Benjamin Franklin: I know that no one is going to agree with me on this one but something about him just grosses me out, probably because I'm semi-sex-repulsed and hearing about the way he was with so many women makes me want to gag. Additionally, the comment he made about old women being the same in the dark grossed me out heaps. I get that he technically wasn't that bad and he freed his slaves and invented so many things but his personal life throws m

5. George Washington: Look, he did some HORRIBLE things, he owned many slaves, his treatment of Native Americans was terrible and I completely disagree with most of his political views... But I really like him as a military commander and a soldier and I like his personality a lot and that's why he ranks higher than the next person on this tier list, I don't agree with most of his actions. I don't support racism or genocide. But also I have far more fun studying Washington than I do the next founding father on this list.

6. Thomas Jefferson: child rapist, owned more slaves than any of the other people on this list (I think) and was really weird with his pets. He advocated for religious freedom and he was smart, I'll give him that but I don't like his personality, I don't like his political views and he was very hypocritical. Really, with his views, he wouldn't have even liked himself and he didn't do enough to make me like him. He's still interesting to study but I find it far harder to empathise with him than I do the men listed above because I really just can't see him as anything but vile.

Bonus!: I would put Aaron Burr between Adams and Madison because while I agree with most of his views and he's really fun to study, I like Hamilton a little bit too much to rank the man that killed him higher than 3rd.

(note: I wrote this on like an hour of sleep, this may be the worst amrev take ever)

Edited, 24th of February: Got reminded of this post's existence thanks to a comment by @c0ckmuncher pointing out how inaccurate one of these takes was and checked it again and safe to say I'm never posting anything late night ever again, the rankings have now been changed to better suit what I actually think of these men

#amrev #founding fathers #liberty's kids #Alexander Hamilton #hamilton #historical hamilton #george washington #john adams #benjamin franklin #james madison #thomas jefferson #aaron burr

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on-partiality · 3 months

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currently have the worst sore throat I've ever had in my entire life (i got it because of high school bacteria, I was literally only there for 3 days) and all I can think is 'this is so james madisoncore'

#I'll make good posts later #for now #everything kinda sucks #and I've just been watching documentaries in my room all day #amrev #james madison

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on-partiality · 3 months

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Some Aide boys <3

( I start high school in 3 days btw so if anyone has any advice that'd be great, fyi: Australian high school starts at year 7. Americans do not give me advice for year 10)

#john laurens #historical john laurens #alexander hamilton #historical hamilton #historical alexander hamilton #Washington's aides-de-camp #Richard Kidder Meade #Meade #amrev #washington's aides #amrev art

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on-partiality · 3 months

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Thx @my-dear-gal and @chaotic-history for tagging me! I love you both very much (platonically)!!!

'Alright, mum, so I start going to high school in 8 days - yes I know we've spent over 50 dollars on cute school things already - but I just saw this Hello Kitty chapstick....'

no pressure tagging:

@hivemindofevilbats, @kwilooo, @almaprincess66

+ anyone else who wants to join!

New Picrew challenge! Make this picrew, and write what your charcter is thinking/doing/saying!

“No, officer, that’s hair dye on my cheek, not blood.”

Tags! @quotidian-oblivion @kelotalks @sardonic-sprite @mispeltnostalgia @marithefriendlyghost @somerando369 @milky-fresh-bones and anyone else who wants to join!

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on-partiality · 3 months

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hey :D

first of all: love ur blog <33

second: what's your opinion on Thomas Jefferson? He's such a weird historical figure to think about because he's so conflicting. I know that we shouldn't glorify nor condemn these people, but one moment I see him as a skrunkly, but then I'm reminded of what a monster he is. I just...arghhhhh :/

Oof, if I have to be honest, Thomas Jefferson is one of the only founding fathers that I genuinely hate. I have a few that I feel conflicted with like Washington, I have ones that I dislike because of their personality or actions like Franklin but Jefferson and Monroe? Utterly despise them.

Sometimes I find goofy little anecdotes about him that I laugh at before sobering up and realising that the man I just read about was a hypocritical child rapist. I actually completely disagree with you with the 'we shouldn't condemn these people' in the case of Thomas Jefferson. As I stated in a post of mine about historical relativism, I don't believe it's entirely fair to judge someone by a standard created years after they died that they could never have known would exist in future; Slavery and marrying young were both widely accepted in the 18th century but Thomas Jefferson publicly claimed to be against slavery, he claimed it was wrong, cruel and immoral so he knew. It wasn't some standard that he was unaware of because it didn't exist in his lifetime, no, it was one of his own standards and yet, he didn't release his slaves, he continued to profit off of their suffering when he knew just how horrible what he was doing was. Also 14 is young, even for the 18th century and 14 year olds would still have been considered children, he knew Sally was far too young and he still went ahead and got her pregnant, multiple times. Washington freed his slaves in his will, Franklin freed his as an old man, Thomas Jefferson only freed 10 of his 600+ slaves, 6 of those 10 were his children.

So yeah, looking at history the way Jefferson and just general folk of the 18th century would've looked at it, Jefferson's still a pedophile and a slaveowner. Regardless of how goofy he was at times. I admit the declaration was a revolutionary document for America, literally and a lot of his bills and such have contributed a lot to America's development and creation as a country but he was still a horrible man and we should remember him as such.

#thomas jefferson #thomas jeffershit #amrev #history #and yes I am going to tag certain fandoms #that I'm a part of but #that tend to glorify this man #hamilton #1776

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on-partiality · 3 months

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January 22nd, 1782 - The day Philip Hamilton was born!

Happy 242nd birthday to the sad rake! For his birthday I've decided to write about all of the information we know about him from letters sent to him, letters written about him and any other scintilla of information relating to him that I can find!

So, on this day 242 years ago, Philip Hamilton was born. The first son of founding father, Alexander Hamilton and the wealthy Elizabeth Schuyler. He was named after his grandfather (on his mother's side of course), General Philip Schuyler.

The earliest piece of writing we have on the young Philip Hamilton is this snippet of a letter:

'If you are not in the humor to read a long letter do, prithee, give this to the child to play with and go on with your amusement of rocking the cradle. '

This letter's from Mchenry, a doctor and aide of George Washington's, to Alexander Hamilton, written on the 11th of August, 1782. While it's short and just a simple humorous opening to a long letter it does give us the fact that Hamilton watched over his son well so there's that. The next letter is far more detailed because it's written by Hamilton himself and as you're about to read about he was very proud of his son. Here's the letter:

'You reproach me with not having said enough about our little stranger. When I wrote last I was not sufficiently acquainted with him to give you his character. I may now assure you... [h]e is truly a very fine young gentleman, the most agreeable in his conversation and manners of any I ever knew—nor less remarkable for his intelligence and sweetness of temper. You are not to imagine by my beginning with his mental qualifications that he is defective in personal. It is agreed on all hands, that he is handsome, his features are good, his eye is not only sprightly and expressive but it is full of benignity. His attitude in sitting is by connoisseurs esteemed graceful and he has a method of waving his hand that announces the future orator. He stands however rather awkwardly and his legs have not all the delicate slimness of his fathers. It is feared He may never excel as much in dancing which is probably the only accomplishment in which he will not be a model. If he has any fault in manners, he laughs too much. He has now passed his Seventh Month.'

This letter is from Alexander Hamilton to Richard Kidder Meade, written on the 27th of August, 1782 (yes, that is Laurens' death day) If I could find Meade's letter to Hamilton that prompted this letter in response then we could've had another early mention of Philip Hamilton as Hamilton says 'you reproach me with having not said enough about our little stranger', this sentence makes no sense if Meade didn't actually tell Hamilton he hadn't told him enough about his newborn son. From this letter we can conclude the obvious: Hamilton's really god damn proud of his son already, he loves him so dearly and it shows. He already calls him handsome, says he'll be great at anything but dancing and that he's intelligent.

+ Around this time I've heard that Hamilton said something about Philip Hamilton being ' attended with all the omens of future greatness' however I've never seen any picture of a letter that has this sentence in it? I've only heard of this through Tumblr so whether this is an actual quote from Hamilton or something made up is a mystery, if anyone actually has a link to a photo of the original letter or just proof that this was in fact written that'd be great. I've also heard of Hamilton rocking young Philip's cradle for very long periods of time (perhaps this idea came from the Mchenry letter?), yet again I've never seen or read anything that confirms this as true. The next mention of Philip Hamilton I could find in a letter is from Hamiltom to his wife, Betsy.

'My beloved Betsey the fifth day after we set out, the three first days with every favourable circumstance but the two last through very bad weather. I am however as well as I can be absent from you and my darling boy—nor was I ever more impatient to be at home. I can have little pleasure elsewhere.'

The darling boy that Hamilton refers to here is Philip Hamilton, this letter is undated but as founders.archives.gov points out, there is no mention of Hamilton's second oldest child, Angelica, Hamilton cared a lot about all of his kids so mentioning his son but not his infant daughter would be weird unless he hadn't had Angie so this trip would have to have been somewhere in the two years in between when Philip was born and when Angelica was born.

The next letter we have that mentions him is also undated:

'Give my love to my darling Philip & kiss with all possible tenderness the other two. Adieu my dearest angel. Heaven bless you'

His name appears as just a sweet little ending to a letter his father wrote to his mother sometime between May 1786 and April 1788 these dates are once again based on the number of children mentioned in the letter (3) and the time his next child was born. This bit of information is so short I debated even putting it in here but I said all facts about young Philip Hamilton's life and that means all (except for stuff about his death, that seems rather grim to be bringing up on his birthday)!

The next time we hear about Philip Hamilton is in a letter from 1789:

'The good Baron has more than ever rivetted himself in my affection: to observe his unaffected solicitude and see his old eyes brimful of sympathy had something in it that won my whole soul and filled me with more than usual complacency for human nature.'

The letter's about when Philip's aunt Angelica left to go back to London after a trip to America (I think). The only part of this letter that relates to little Philip Hamilton is this little snippet which we can guess is about Philip because earlier in the letter Hamilton refers to him as 'The Baron little Philip'. I thought this sentence was cute because in modern language it's just 'I love my 7 year old son so much, his big ol eyes make me have more hope in humanity :D' It is a little strange that none of Hamilton's other kids are mentioned in this letter though, he had 4 at the time it was written (perhaps I skipped over part of it? Who knows).

Up until this point Philip's been too young and whatnot to go to a boarding school so everything we know about him comes from his father absolutely adoring him but we've gotten to 1791, the year Philip started going to school! And we know he started school in late 1791 because a man who lived in Trenton, where Philip's school was on the 26th of November, 1791, wrote: 'Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton came to town last night they have brought their son to put to boarding school to our Episcopal Church Parson'

I received with great pleasure My Dear Philip the letter which you wrote me last week. Your Mama and myself were very happy to learn that you are pleased with your situation and content to stay as long as shall be thought for your good. We hope and believe that nothing will happen to alter this disposition.

Unfortunately, the letter from Philip that Hamilton's talking about hasn't been found so we can't learn more about his personality from that. But we can tell what it was - at least partially - about, Philip being content with his boarding school.

Your Master also informs me that you recited a lesson the first day you began, very much to his satisfaction. I expect every letter from him will give me a fresh proof of your progress. For I know that you can do a great deal, if you please, and I am sure you have too much spirit not to exert yourself, that you may make us every day more and more proud of you.

This part of the letter shows us how much Hamilton cared about Philip's schooling. He had high expectations for all of his children, wishing them to be the best they could possibly be so he paid a lot of attention to how his kids were doing academically and made sure they did well (The strict study regimens come later on). The 'Master' Hamilton mentions here is William Frazer, a clergyman and episcopal rector. The rest of the letter is just Hamilton asking his son whether he can wait until the upcoming Christmas holidays to go home or if he still wants to be picked up on the next Saturday. The letter was written on the 5th of December 1791 in Philadelphia while Hamilton was working on his 'Report on Manufactures'.

The next bit we have on Philip Hamilton is a letter from Philip himself and the only letter he wrote that we still have today. The letter was written on the 21st of April, 1794, Philip would have been 12 years old and he'd started going to King's college, the same school his father attended two decades before him and his younger brother Alexander Hamilton Jr. started going to the Boarding school at Trenton that his older brother had been to. The letter Philip wrote goes like this:

'Dear Papa:

I just now received the enclosed letter from grandpapa, in answer to a letter I wrote to him, in which he has enclosed to me three receipts for shares in the Tontine Tavern, amounting to £100. I have given the receipts to mama.

I delivered my speech to Dr. Johnson to examine. He has no objection to my speaking; but he has blotted out that sentence which appears to be the best and most animated in it; which is, you may recollect it

“Americans, you have fought the battles of mankind; you have enkindled that sacred fire of freedom which is now,” &c. Dear Papa, will you be so good as to give my thanks to grandpapa for the present he made me, but above all for the good advice his letter contains—which I am very sensible of its being extremely necessary for me to pay particular attention to in order to be a good man. I remain your most affectionate son

P.S. You will oblige me very much by sending back the letter I have enclosed to you.'

It's a nice, short letter about Philip's time at King's College and a present and letter of advice Philip received from his grandpa. When he writes about his favourite sentence in his speech being blotted out by Dr. Johnson (presumably a teacher), he doesn't read as angry, just confused. This gives me the idea that he's alright with change, another thing that supports this idea is how quickly he adjusted to his boarding school which we know about from Hamilton's letter to him in 1791.

Sometime in 1797, Philip fell dreadfully ill with a horrible fever, it's said that his father paid for all kinds of doses of medicine and hired several of the best doctors to help him recover.

Hamilton as a father was very over-protective this could've come from his fear of abandonment that he had since he was a child or just because he cared about his kids so much and didn't want anything bad to happen to them, some combination of these two or even something else entirely. But because he was so over-protective he coulf be a bit of a control-freak at times (here's when the crazy study regimens come into place) here's Hamilton's

'Rules for Mr Philip Hamilton from the first of April to the first of October he is to rise not later than Six Oclock—The rest of the year not later than Seven. If Earlier he will deserve commendation. Ten will be his hour of going to bed throughout the year. From the time he is dressed in the morning till nine o clock (the time for breakfast Excepted) he is to read Law. At nine he goes to the office & continues there till dinner time—he will be occupied partly in the writing and partly in reading law. After Dinner he reads law at home till five O clock. From this hour till Seven he disposes of his time as he pleases. From Seven to ten he reads and Studies what ever he pleases. From twelve on Saturday he is at Liberty to amuse himself. On Sunday he will attend the morning Church. The rest of the day may be applied to innocent recreations. He must not Depart from any of these rules without my permission.'

We don't know when this letter was written outside of it being written in 1800 and that's pretty vague, we also don't know who this was sent to. I assume Hamilton must have given it to either Philip or one of his Masters in person because the letter isn't addressed to anyone. The routine described in this letter is very, very similar to Hamilton's routine from when he was a student, perhaps he didn't realise how strict this routine was?

Anyway Philip decided to go to Boston and passed through Providence, Rhode Island on his own and his father needed people to look after his boy because like I mentioned before, he was a bit of a control freak and a bit over-protective. Hamilton sent this letter to Jeremiah Olney, the Collector of Customs of Providence:

'As my eldest son Philip, who lately graduated, will pass through Providence on his way to Boston, I give him this line barely to introduce him to you; since the time I have prescribed for his return will not permit the stay of more than a day at Providence.

Yrs. with true regard

A Hamilton'

From this letter we can tell that Hamilton wanted his son back QUICK, the only other thing it does is reaffirm things about Hamilton as a father like that he wants his children to be near him and doesn't like them to be away and he always needs to have an eye on them. Sadly, (for Hamilton) his son went on another trip the next year to Philadelphia. During this trip Philip saw Benjamin Rush and according to Benjamin Rush, Philip was very pleasant:

'His visits to us were daily, and after each of them he left us with fresh impressions of the correctness of his understanding and manners, and of the goodness of his disposition. To One of my Children he has endeared himself by an Act of friendship & benevolence that did great honor to his heart, and will be rememb[e]red with gratitude by Mrs. Rush, and myself as long as we live. My Son has preserved a record of it in an elegant and friendly letter which he received from him After his return to New York.'

(I am once again annoyed that a letter from Philip is mentioned but said letter has been lost to time) But after Philip's death his parents received a letter about an unpaid tavern bill from Charles W. Hare:

“I have paid 20 Dlls 67 to the keeper of the city tavern on account of your son’s bill and have taken a receipt in full. I enquired for other bills, but could not find any, and I believe he owed nothing more.”

20 dollars and 67 cents in 18th Century American currency translates to about 503 dollars in modern day USD. 19 year old Philip spent 503 dollars on booze 😀

Because there was not much written about Philip we don't know about his dynamic with everyone in his family, but we know he looked up to his father and was really close to his sister, Angelica Hamilton, who was only 2 years younger than him. We also know that his namesake, Philip Schuyler was very proud of him from this letter about Philip's graduation, written on the 25th of August, 1800:

'I rejoice My Dear Son that My Philip has Acquited himself so well, and hope that his future progress may correspond with Your & My wishes.'

Robert Troup's - Hamilton's college roomate - writing on Philip is particularly funny as in one letter he writes:

'was very promising in genius and acquirements, and Hamilton formed high expectations of his future greatness!'

whereas in a private letter he states:

'alas Philip is a sad rake and I have serious doubts whether he would ever be an honour to his family or his country'

From all of this we can conclude that Philip as a person was intelligent, charming and polite but a tad immature with liquor and a little mischevious though his father viewed his mischief warmly in a fond 'oh you cheeky little rascal!' kind of way as we see with this letter to Eliza, written on the 25th of October, 1801:

'I am anxious to hear from Philip. Naughty young man. But you must permit nothing to trouble you and regain your precious health.'

With all that said, I wish the naughty little lad a happy birthday! :)

#amrev #american revolution #american history #history #hamilton #philip hamilton #alexander hamilton #elizabeth schuyler #on this day #this day in history

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on-partiality · 3 months

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Intro post!

Salutations, Tumblr! I decided to remake my intro post because I used to have one but I didn't like it so I deleted it but now all my mutuals are making them and I'm bored so here's the On-Partiality intro post!

Names I'm fine with being called: On-Partiality, O-P, Mills, Milly.

Pronouns: any!

Country of origin: Australia

A minor.

Historical interests: Washington's military family, the American revolutionary war in general, any part of the founding of America and early American politics, all things 18th century America, the French and Indian war, 18th century fashion.

Other interests: Hatsune Miku, Sanrio, art, writing, history, anthropology, languages, character design, animation, magical girls, the His Dark Materials books, Gorillaz, Green day, Sleep Token, pretty much any 90s grunge, punk or rock band, the X files, singing and all animals.

Extreme dislikes: any modern day politics, pop music, romance novels (with only 2 exceptions), bright lights, basic people, people who use gen Z slang in real life unironically, tiktok, maths, most trends, staying inside all day, crowded places, tight clothing.

Languages I know: English, Indonesian, Malaysian, Nevisian Creole, Korean (very good but not fluent)

Languages I'm learning: Zulu, Swahili, Italian, German, French, Irish, Taino, Japanese, Mandarin, Cantonese, Spanish, Greek, Dutch, probably more that I just can't remember while typing this ��

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on-partiality · 3 months

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His birthday on the Gregorian calender of course, he was actually born on the 6th of January, 1706, when Britain still used the Julian calender invented by Julius Caesar in 45 B.C. In 1752 they switched to the Gregorian calender because of an issue Pope Gregory XIII found with the Julian calender 2 centuries prior and this meant Franklin's birthday fell on the 17th instead of the 6th. This switch affects quite a few 18th century historical figures' birthdays, anyone born before 1752 (so most of the men that where in the Second Continental Congress). But yeah, happy second 318th birthday balding turkey man!!! :D

Happy Birthday, Sir 🎉🎆

#amrev #1776 #ben franklin #franklin #benjamin franklin #founding fathers #continental congress

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on-partiality · 3 months

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I MISSED GOVERNEUR MORRIS DAY?! NOOOOOOOO

happy gouverneur morris day!!

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on-partiality · 3 months

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Hello! I absolutely love your blog, especially your art and information filled posts. I have a questions about the inconsistencies I have seen about Hamilton’s age. Acording to Wikipedia, Hamilton is older than Lafayette by 9 months but other sources say that Hamilton is older by 2-3 years (while Laf’s age remains the same) Could you please clear up the confusion. Thank you so much and I hope you have a wonderful day/night

Awww thanks anon, you're very sweet ♥︎!

It seems my time has come to answer the century old question; 'just how old was Alexander Hamilton really?' I'm honoured to say the very least :).

So, most historians and biographers of Hamilton and the founding fathers in general say Alexander Hamilton was born on the 11th of January, 1755, on the island of Nevis in the Caribbean. This means he would've been 13 when his mother died, 17 when he arrived in America, 22 when he joined Washington's staff as an Aide-de-Camp, 34 when he became Secretary of the Treasury, and 49 when he died. The most popular believer in this theory is Ron Chernow, the man who wrote the most famous biography of Alexander Hamilton (though some of the 'facts' and takes in that biography are questionable, it's still a good read; however, I would recommend reading people on this platform's critiques of it after reading it just so you know you've gotten your facts right). The main piece of evidence we have supporting this theory is a transcript from a Nevisian probate court case about his mother's belongings not long after she died, stating Hamilton's age at 13. We know that this probate court transaction happened on February 19, 1768, and if Hamilton was 13 in 1768, then he would have to have been born in 1755.

“—where on the 19th of this month Madam Rachael Lewine died, and whose effects were forthwith sealed up, in order now to take an inventory of them for subsequent distribution among the decedent’s surviving children, who are 3 sons, namely, Peter Lewine, born in the marriage of the decedent with John Michael Lewine who, later, is said for valid reasons to have obtained from the highest authorities a divorce from her (according to what the probate court has been able to ascertain), also 2 other sons, namely, James Hamilton and Alexander Hamilton, the one 15 and the other 13 years old, who are the same illegitimate children sc. born after the decedent’s separation from the aforesaid Lewine."

(thanks again, Founders.org)

The other piece of evidence used to support this theory is two poems that were published in the Royal Danish American Gazette, the same publication that later published Hamilton's Hurricane Letter. These two poems were printed one on top of the other, and they present very different ideas about romance. Poem number one is cute and romantic, whereas poem number 2 is lustful and darker.

(you can read the poems here if you want to)

When these poems were published on the 6th of April, 1771 they were prefaced with this message addressed to the printer of the gazette:

I am a youth about seventeen, and consequently such an attempt as this must be presumptuous; but if, upon perusal, you think the following piece worthy of a place in your paper, by inserting it you’ll much oblige Your obedient servant,

A.H.

People take this as irrefutable evidence that Hamilton was born in 1755 because of the same initials. We know Hamilton really liked writing and printing a poem in this same gazette in 1772, and if Hamilton was born in 1755, then he would've been 16 when this was published, and that's 'about 17'.

But how do 1755 Hamilton believers explain how, upon arriving in America, he always stated his birth year as 1757, not 1755? Well, they say that he lied about his birth year to help him get into college. In the 18th century, a lot of kids went to college at the age of 15, or sometimes even younger, and with the 1755 theory, Hamilton would've been 17 when he arrived in America, and he would've finished prep school at 19, making him much older than the other college boys. With an age like that, getting into college would've been very difficult, so it's believed he lied that he was born in 1757, so when he applied to colleges, they saw him as a 17-year-old, far more acceptable than a 19-year-old. Also, they believe Hamilton kept going with this lie and never admitted that he was born in 1755 because to lie about one's age wasn't exactly honourable, and had the democratic-republicans found out about it, then they would've brutally mocked him for it. So even on Hamilton's gravestone, his birth year is 1757 because of his continued lie.

However, this is not the theory I believe to be true. I'm a 1757 Hamilton believer and here's why:

1. The Nevisian court wasn't great; in that same probate court case, Hamilton's stepfather's name is spelt in two different ways: 'Lewine' and 'Lavien'. They also didn't ask Hamilton or his brother for their ages; they asked one of the Lewines, Hamilton's stepfamily, whom he likely barely knew or didn't know of at all. Since they didn't know Hamilton or his brother well, they were probably just guessing their ages based on appearance.

2. We don't know for sure that those poems were written by Hamilton. A.H. is a pretty common initial, and even if they were written by Hamilton, it makes sense that he'd lie about being older because a printer would likely care less about something written by a young, unprofessional 14-year-old than he would about something written by an older, employable 17-year-old. I myself don't believe the poems are written by Hamilton at all, given how much Hugh Knox had to coax him into submitting the Hurricane Letter. We know Hamilton was very shy about publishing his work because of this message that prefaced the Hurricane letter when it was published in 1772:

'The following letter was written the week after the late Hurricane, by a Youth of this Island, to his Father; the copy of it fell by accident into the hands of a gentleman, who, being pleased with it himself, shewed it to others to whom it gave equal satisfaction, and who all agreed that it might not prove unentertaining to the Publick. The Author’s modesty in long refusing to submit it to Publick view, is the reason of its making its appearance so late as it now does.'

The hurricane hit Nevis on the 31st of August 1772. Because it says Hamilton wrote the letter a week later, he must've written it in the first week of September. It was published in the gazette on October 3 of the same year. This means the gentleman mentioned here (Hugh Knox) had to try and coax him to publish the hurricane letter for a full month. No part of the Hurricane letter is explicit or NSFW (at least I didn't interpret any part of it like that), and he published it completely anonymously, with no initials and no age other than being described as a 'youth'. If he wrote that explicit poem with his initials and rough age a year earlier, then his hesitance to publish something inexplicit without anything that could identify him a year later makes no sense.

3. Hamilton never states his year of birth as 1755 outside of the poem, and even then, like I described earlier, there's a chance that wasn't even written by him. At every other point in his life, he's said he was born in 1757. I trust his own word about himself over the Lewine's.

4. Most of the people Hamilton was close to in Nevis later moved to America, and had he been lying about his age, surely at least one of them would've heard of this and pointed it out or at least expressed their confusion at it, but none of them ever did.

I hope that answers your question, anon! That's why the age difference between Hamilton and Lafayette and Hamilton and other historical figures changes depending on your source, and with all that being said and all the facts presented to you anon, feel free to come up with your own opinion on the Hamilton birth year debate. I will forever be a 1757 girlie because I believe the evidence we have for 1755 Hamilton is just so scarce, and none of it really 100% confirms that he was born in 1755. There's always an air of uncertainty, and I trust Hamilton over the Nevisian court any day! I will still treat 1755 believers with respect though because while there isn't anything to definitively prove them right there also isn't anything to definitively prove them wrong.

#amrev #american revolution #american revolutionary war #american history #history #revolutionary war #hamilton #historical alexander hamilton #historical hamilton #asks #revwar

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