Top 10 Things Hamilton Got Factually Right and Wrong

creative liberty and justice for all welcome to watch mojo and today we're counting down our picks for the top 10 things hamilton got factually right and wrong for this list we're looking at the historical accuracy of the musical hamilton going over which plot lines were true and which were false number ten martha washington named her tomcat after hamilton wrong now hamilton's skill with a quill is undeniable but what do we have in common during the a winter's ball number aaron burr paints alexander hamilton as a notorious womanizer claiming that martha washington named her feral tomcat after him martha washington named her feral tomcat after him that's true breaking the fourth wall hamilton says this is true although it's more fiction than fact while hamilton did commit adultery at least once little evidence suggests he regularly slept around when manuel miranda attributes the tomcat story to a rumor john adams spread but historians michael newton and steven knott believe it stemmed from a satirical letter published again 56 years after hamilton died apparently there was a joke about washington naming her cat after hamilton in a positive way which developed into the tomcat story over time there wasn't even a correlation between the term tomcat and philandering during the 18th century or which one hey number nine hamilton was fired by john adams wrong how does hamilton the short tempered protein creator of the coast guard founder of the movie ardently abuse his cabinet post destroy his reputation [Music] [Applause] while they were both members of the federalist party hamilton and john adams didn't always see eye to eye in the musical this rivalry reaches its boiling point when adams becomes the second president of the united states john adams i know him that can't be he subsequently fires hamilton from his position as secretary of the treasury but adams literally could not have done this in real life hamilton privately calls him pre-order hamilton publishes his response shut down john you fat mother hamilton actually resigned from office on december 1 1794 although he did maintain close ties with george washington and other political figures adams wouldn't be elected until 1796 two years after hamilton tendered his resignation as the adams administration song shows us however hamilton did strongly oppose adam's re-election this ultimately contributed to adam's loss against thomas jefferson making him a one-term president if you were to ask me who i promote jefferson has my vote number eight phillip hamilton's fatal duel right i'm looking for him mr george eaker made a speech last week our fourth of july speaker he disparaged my father's legacy in front of a crowd i can't have that i'm making my father proud hamilton's eldest son states during take a break that he'd rather have a brother than a sister practice friendship play piano with my mother i have a sister but i want a little brother by age nine though philip had two little brothers alexander hamilton jr and james alexander hamilton the musical also implies that philip entered a duel with george eaker before adams lost the presidency but it was really one year later that said philip and eaker did engage in a duel at his father's suggestion philip threw away his shot after counting 10 paces eeker in return didn't immediately fire which differs from the musical where he blows philip away without thinking twice [Music] nevertheless the two eventually raised their pistols and eager fired resulting in philip's death at age 19. and ironically his father later met the same tragic fate number 7. hamilton's rivalry with thomas jefferson right the musical sees hamilton and thomas jefferson butt heads over numerous issues from economic programs to the war of the first coalition ow but hamilton forgets his plan would have the government assume states deaths now place your bets as to who that benefits the very seat of government where hamilton sits not true indeed these two founding fathers had their fair share of cabinet battles while serving under washington one being a federalist and the other being a democratic republican politics aside their personalities couldn't have been more different we signed a treaty with a king whose head is now in a basket would you like to take it out and ask it or should we honor our treaty king louie's head oh do whatever you want i'm super dead whereas hamilton wasn't afraid to say exactly what was on his mind jefferson's reserved demeanor helped him ascend to the top of the political ladder while hamilton's hot-headedness didn't always work to his career's a walk hamilton take a walk despite their differences hamilton did endorse jefferson during the 1800 presidential election believing that aaron burr was the more dangerous candidate [Music] jefferson has beliefs burr has none number six eliza kept her husband's story alive right just as alexander hamilton was something of an unsung american hero the same can be said about his wife [Music] as the musical reaches its tear-jerking finale elizabeth schuyler hamilton vows to preserve alexander's legacy and put herself back in the narrative [Music] who lives who dies who tells your story remains faithful to eliza's life after alexander's death she did live another 50 years interviewing soldiers who fought alongside her husband and collecting the various writings he left behind every soldier who fought by your side i tried to make sense of your thousands of pages of writings you really do right like you're running out of time elizabeth also rose up as a significant figure in her own right raising money to construct the washington monument and co-founding new york's first private orphanage elizabeth's story might not be the most well-known but it's definitely one worth [Music] telling number five burr was a constant figure throughout hamilton's life wrong and me i'm the damn fool that shot being the one responsible for hamilton's death aaron burr is built up as his arch rival from the opening number while the two did have contrasting personalities and views the rivalry between burr and hamilton didn't have as much build up as one would assume you wanna get ahead yes fools who run their mouths off wind up dead the musical makes up several instances where the two crossed paths during non-stop hamilton asks spur to assist with the federalist papers which never actually happened my client needs a strong defense you're the solution who's your client the new u.s constitution no hear me out no way it's also implied that burr aided charles lee during the 10 duel commandments alexander aaron burr sir can we agree the duels are dumb and immature sure but your man has to answer for his words bro in reality burr wasn't lee second but he did serve in the battle of monmouth firm may have been the damn fool that shot him but some historians would argue that hamilton had a more heated rivalry with jefferson you must be out of your goddamn mind number four hamilton's affair right yes i have reasons for shame but i have not committed treason and sullied my good name as you can see i have done nothing to provoke illegal action are my answers to your satisfaction just like in the song say no to this mariah reynolds supposedly came to hamilton's house claiming that her husband james had left her one thing led to another and hamilton entered an affair with mariah james knew of his wife's adultery leaving hamilton vulnerable to blackmail five to six years after the affair ended hamilton found himself backed into a corner and decided to pen a lengthy confession in the reynolds pamphlet this is the eye of the hurricane this is the only way i can protect my legacy the reynolds pamphlet while elizabeth would come to forgive her husband's infidelity hamilton became forever tied to what was arguably america's first political sex scandal charge against me is a connection with one james reynolds for purposes of improper speculation my real crime is an amorous connection with his wife for a considerable time with his knowing consent researchers would argue that hamilton's criticisms towards john adams were the main reason for his downfall but the affair and pamphlet certainly didn't help his reputation number three angelica's infatuation with hamilton wrong it might be a highlight of hamilton but there's no evidence confirming that angelica schuyler church harbored a secret love for her brother-in-law based on what they exchanged it can be deduced that hamilton and angelica shared a close bond but not a romantic one no matter i received from you two weeks ago i noticed a comma in the middle of a phrase it changed the meaning did you intend this one stroke and you've consumed my working days it says my dearest angelica in the musical angelica says that she can't marry hamilton because her father has no sons therefore she must put social status before love i'm a girl in a world in which my only has no job so i'm the one who has the social glide for one cause i'm the oldest and the wittiest in the gospels in new york city although angelica did marry wealthy she actually had two adult brothers i forgot and i think my brain wanted me to forget because um it's it's stronger dramatically if society at least you can't marry him most notably angelica had already eloped with john barker church in [Music] in comfort 1777 all my days he is not a lot of fun but there's no one who can match you for turning phrase my alexander angelica she wouldn't even meet hamilton until he tied the knot with elizabeth three years later miranda has acknowledged this inaccuracy but we have to admit that his version is more dramatically satisfying number two hamilton was against slavery right a bunch of revolutionary manual mission abolitionists give me a position show me where the ammunition is according to research hamilton stands out as one of the only founding fathers who didn't directly own slaves you don't have to separate these things with jefferson he can have written this incredible document and several incredible documents that we all sort of with with things that we all believe in and he sucks his mother had two slaves when she passed away but hamilton didn't inherit them since he was born out of wedlock even if he did have some legal claim hamilton was known for being an abolitionist in defense of black rights hamilton once wrote quote their natural faculties are as good as ours while hamilton was against slavery he occasionally found himself caught in the middle of a racist system a civics lesson from a slaver hey neighbor your debts are paid because you don't pay for labor we plan seeds in the south we create you keep ranting we know who's really doing the planting practicing law he helped exchange slaves for his clients as a member of the new york manumission society though hamilton ultimately helped end the international slave trade maybe he would have done even more if his story hadn't been cut short [Music] before we unveil our top pick here are some honorable mentions hamilton's illegitimate birth right the founding father was abandoned by his own father [Applause] how does a bastard orphan son of a [ __ ] 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 hamilton was an immigrant right he was born in the west indies and immigrated to the u.s finally on the field we've had quite a run immigrants we get the job done the number of schuyler siblings wrong there were 15 schuyler siblings eliza destroyed her letters right although it's unclear if this was because of the [Music] affair hamilton met lauren's lafayette and mulligan simultaneously wrong they met at different times check what we got mr lafayette hard rock like lancelot i think your pants look hot lauren's i like you a lot let's hatch a plot blacker than the kettle call in the pot what are the odds the gods will put us all in one spot before we continue be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos you have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them if you're on your phone make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications number one hamilton gave up his shot right 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 the musical does take some creative license with the climactic duel as it didn't occur immediately after burr lost his shot at the presidency what's more hamilton also neglects to emphasize that burr became jefferson's vice president when jefferson ditched him during his 1804 re-election burr ran for governor of new york and lost to morgan lewis once again hamilton called burr's ability to govern into question so burr challenged him to the historic duel i can't apologize because it's true then stand alexander weehawken dawn guns drawn you're wrong even if some background information is off it is widely believed that hamilton threw away his shot they won't teach you this in your classes but look it up hamilton was wearing his glasses why if not to take daddy firing first hamilton intentionally missed burr and instead hit a tree branch over his head unaware that hamilton had taken a pledge not to shoot him burr fired back at his lower abdomen ending his life world was wide enough for both hamilton [Music] do you agree with our picks check out this other recent clip from watchmojo and be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos you

Channel: WatchMojo.com

Views: 692,635

Rating: 4.8474073 out of 5

Keywords: hamilton, hamilton the musical, hamilton right and wrong, what hamilton got right, what hamilton got wrong, historical accuracy of hamilton, how accurate is hamilton, fact or fiction hamilton, history behind hamilton, truth behind hamilton, the real story of hamilton, alexander hamilton, martha washington, philip hamilton, lin manuel miranda, broadway, musical, film, watchmojo, watch mojo, ms mojo, top 10, list, mojo

Id: zJHdO1jIdgY

Length: 16min 12sec (972 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 14 2020