"The Reynolds Pamphlet" | |
---|---|
Song by original Broadway cast of Hamilton | |
from the album Hamilton | |
Released | 2015 |
Genre | |
Length | 2:08 |
Songwriter(s) | Lin-Manuel Miranda |
Audio | |
"The Reynolds Pamphlet" on YouTube |
"The Reynolds Pamphlet" is the fourteenth song from Act 2 of the musical Hamilton , based on the life of Alexander Hamilton, which premiered on Broadway in 2015. Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote both the music and lyrics to the song.
The song refers to a 95-page document written by Alexander Hamilton, former Secretary of the Treasury, to defend his name in the wake of a sex scandal. [1] Hamilton does so to protect himself from a major political threat, as Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and Aaron Burr are made aware by Hamilton of his adulterous actions after they accused him of speculation and misappropriation of Treasury funds. He then publishes the document to the public, proving that he did not abuse his Cabinet position for financial gain, but had been instead victim of blackmail by James Reynolds for his one-year affair with Reynolds's wife Maria Reynolds. Jefferson celebrates the news, as Hamilton's career has been sullied, [2] which is a boon for the Democratic-Republican Party. The document causes Angelica Schuyler to return from London to support her sister, Hamilton's wife Eliza. Hamilton turns to Angelica for support, but she angrily rebukes him. The song concludes with all of the characters expressing sympathy for Eliza.
Although the musical Hamilton is based on true events, Miranda does use some dramatic license in retelling the story. In the case of the song "The Reynolds Pamphlet" the main differences are:
The song refers to the pamphlet penned by Alexander Hamilton in July 1797 (whose original title was Observations on Certain Documents), and the beginning of the song consists of Hamilton's opponents quoting from the document. The song further stands out from many others in the musical courtesy of its use of auto-tune, leading critics to consider it the most modern song on the album. [7]
It also incorporates musical cues that point towards earlier songs in the musical, including "Satisfied".
The Young Folks considered the song to be the 34th best in the musical, [8] while a community post on BuzzFeed ranked the song 20th. [9]
Huffington Post remarked that "the mash-up of previous tunes works well" and complimented the use of auto-tune. [10]
During his monologue while hosting Saturday Night Live , Lin-Manuel Miranda referenced the song. [11]
Miranda also discussed the song and the eponymous document on an episode of Drunk History . [12]
In the show, King George III comes on stage and mocks Hamilton with the Burr, Jefferson, Madison, and the ensemble. This since has become a popular meme with many gifs of it appearing online.[ citation needed ]
Alexander Hamilton was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795 during George Washington's presidency.
Maria Reynolds was the wife of James Reynolds, and was Alexander Hamilton's mistress between 1791 and 1792. She became the object of much scrutiny after the release of the Reynolds Pamphlet and central in America's first political sex scandal.
The Compromise of 1790 was a compromise among Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison, where Hamilton won the decision for the national government to take over and pay the state debts, and Jefferson and Madison obtained the national capital, called the District of Columbia, for the South. This agreement resolved the deadlock in Congress. Southerners had been blocking the assumption of state debts by the Department of the Treasury, thereby destroying the Hamiltonian program for building a fiscally strong federal government. Northerners rejected the proposal, much desired by Southerners, to locate the permanent national capital on the Virginia–Maryland border.
James Thomson Callender was a political pamphleteer and journalist whose writing was controversial in his native Scotland and later, also in the United States. His revelations concerning George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and later Thomas Jefferson, led to his marginalization politically. His contemporary reputation as a "scandalmonger" has overshadowed Callender's frequently perceptive analyses of revolutionary events. He wrote against the continuing influence of the British Crown, and he warned that Adams, Washington and Hamilton planned to impose a titled aristocracy and hereditary positions in the Senate and the Executive. In the United States, he was a central figure in the press wars between the Federalist and Democratic-Republican parties. After Jefferson won the presidency, Callender solicited employment as a postmaster, which was denied by Jefferson. Callender then published existing rumors claiming President Jefferson had children with slave Sally Hemings.
Elizabeth Hamilton, also called Eliza or Betsey, was an American socialite and philanthropist. She was the wife of American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton and was a passionate champion and defender of Hamilton's work and efforts in the American Revolution and the founding of the United States.
Angelica Church was an American socialite. She was the eldest daughter of Continental Army General Philip Schuyler, and a sister of Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton and sister-in-law of Alexander Hamilton.
The Hamilton–Reynolds affair was the first major sex scandal in United States political history. It involved Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, who conducted an affair with Maria Reynolds from 1791 to 1792, during the presidency of George Washington. When he discovered the affair, Reynolds' husband, James Reynolds, subsequently blackmailed Hamilton over the affair, who paid him over $1,300, about a third of his annual income, to maintain the secrecy. In 1797, Hamilton publicly admitted to the affair after his political enemies attacked and accused him of financial corruption during his time as the Treasury Secretary. Hamilton responded by writing, "The charge against me is a connection with one James Reynolds for purposes of improper pecuniary speculation. My real crime is an amorous connection with his wife, for a considerable time with his privity and connivance."
Hamilton: An American Musical is a sung-and-rapped-through biographical musical with music, lyrics, and a book by Lin-Manuel Miranda as well as choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler. Based on the 2004 biography Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow, the musical covers the life of American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton and his involvement in the American Revolution and the political history of the early United States. Composed over a seven-year period from 2008 to 2015, the music draws heavily from hip hop, as well as R&B, pop, soul, and traditional-style show tunes. It casts non-white actors as the Founding Fathers of the United States and other historical figures. Miranda described Hamilton as about "America then, as told by America now."
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Angelica Hamilton was the second child and eldest daughter of Elizabeth Schuyler and Alexander Hamilton, who was the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.
Joanne B. Freeman is a U.S. historian and tenured Professor of History and American Studies at Yale University. Having researched Alexander Hamilton both independently and collaboratively with mentors and peers for more than forty years, she is regarded as a leading expert on his life and legacy. Freeman has published two books as well as articles and op-eds in newspapers including The New York Times, magazines such as The Atlantic and Slate and numerous academic journals referencing the U.S. Founding Father. In addition to her many public lectures on Hamilton, outside of her regular student curriculum at Yale, her talks on the topics of political partisanship and violence in the pre-Civil War Congress have appeared on C-SPAN. In 2005 she was rated one of the "Top Young Historians" in the U.S.
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