History ArtisticLicenseHistory / Hamilton

** King George III is portrayed as a CardCarryingVillain who gladly and even gleefully starts the war with the Colonies, but while George was obviously not a LaughingMad maniac (at least not until later on in his life), he also was largely not responsible for the war starting. He certainly kept it going, but the incidents that led to the Revolution starting were mostly due to Parliament and British soldiers actually in the Colonies, not George himself. His portrayal as a sadist and an out-and-out psychopath who delights in seeing war break out also stands in stark contrast to the real King George's reported personality: throughout his life, he was noted to be mild-mannered, humble, and kindhearted (and presumably saw preventing the colonies from defecting as his job).

* Burr's final challenge to Hamilton was not a direct result of the 1800 presidential race, although it was certainly a contributing factor to Burr's anger. Hamilton actually censured Burr as a candidate in ''two'' races; in 1804 it was in New York's gubernatorial race, another political clusterfuck that Burr took ''far'' more personally than his presidential defeat.[[note]]Burr ran against fellow Republican Morgan Lewis, a protégé of outgoing Governor George Clinton (who would ironically replace Burr as Vice President). As the Federalists failed to field their own candidate, Burr campaigned to gain Federalist support along with the state's anti-Clinton Republican faction. For Hamilton, Burr's fishing for Federalist votes confirmed his view that Burr completely lacked principles; subsequently, he convinced the state's leading Federalists to withdraw support from Burr while also publicly denouncing him. Burr lost to Lewis in a landslide; unlike in 1800, he blamed Hamilton personally for his defeat and became convinced that Hamilton [[ItsPersonal was obsessed with destroying his career]].[[/note]] ''Then'', in the same year, Charles Cooper revealed that Hamilton was slandering him further to his professional colleagues, and that is when Burr finally snapped and decided to duel him[[note]]Whatever Hamilton said to prompt this is a RiddleForTheAges; Hamilton refused to specify and Cooper never publicly repeated it. Many historians, however, believe it was an insinuation that Burr had an incestuous relationship with his own daughter[[/note]]. This was all likely left out [[CompressedAdaptation in the interests of time]] and not making Hamilton look like a complete {{jerkass}}. This also has the unfortunate side effect of implying that the duel took place in 1800 instead of 1804.

* Hamilton is portrayed as pro-immigrant, while the Democratic-Republican characters are portrayed as anti-immigrant; in reality his Federalist party was opposed to non-English immigration and denied citizenship to people from elsewhere even if they fought for the Patriots in the Revolutionary War, while the Democratic-Republicans supported it.

** Musical Eliza Hamilton is portrayed as demure, shy, and "helpless", singing, "I have never been the type to try and grab the spotlight". The real Eliza was noted to have been a tomboyish child and to never have lost her strong will and impulsiveness, also said to be suppressing a temper that periodically flared up. Incidentally, she also preferred "Elizabeth" and was almost never called Eliza; "Betsy" was the pet name used by her family and Hamilton himself, and prior to Chernow's book Eliza was rarely addressed as such.[[note]]Which Miranda may have adopted simply because Eliza [[PragmaticAdaptation is an easier name to rhyme]] than Betsy.[[/note]] [[spoiler: But then, she ''is'' the one to tell this story...]]

* In the same song, Burr is called “the prodigy of Princeton College,” and Alexander heard his name there. Princeton College was not always called that, with its name only changing from the College of New Jersey to Princeton in 1896.

* "The Election of 1800" has Hamilton [[spoiler: emerging from mourning for his son Philip]] to place his vote for Jefferson, rather than Burr. [[spoiler: In reality, Philip didn't die until 1801, when the election was long over.]]

** Eliza already knew about Hamilton's affair with Maria Reynolds long before he admitted it publicly; in the show she finds out along with everyone else when the Reynolds Pamphlet is published, maximizing the hurt and betrayal she feels. Although she didn't exactly cut him off during this time, as they conceived two children, a son and a daughter, in the years between the scandal breaking and [[spoiler: Philip's death]].

** Alexander Hamilton is portrayed as a flawed yet ultimately well-meaning ByronicHero, but in real life he was an absolute InsufferableGenius who [[MotorMouth loved to hear himself talk]]. Well known for dishing out TooMuchInformation and being a complete {{Troll}} to people he didn't like, Hamilton was defined by his military aspirations and warmongering attitude, first during Daniel Shays' revolt near the end of the war by enthusiastically taking the army's side in the uprising, then during the Whiskey Rebellion by encouraging Washington to use the military on his own citizens in much the same way, and then during the Quasi-War with France where many of his peers went so far as to compare him to UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte. [[WordOfGod Miranda himself]] has emphasized how different the real Hamilton was compared to the show's Hamilton several times since the show became popular.

* Though Samuel Seabury's loyalist sympathies were well-known to other New Yorkers, he published his pamphlets anonymously under the pen name "Westchester Farmer" or "A.W. Farmer," and his authorship of them wasn't proven until after the Revolution, when he was forced to forswear his allegiance to the British crown.

** Alexander Hamilton is portrayed as a flawed yet ultimately well-meaning NiceGuy, but in real life he was an absolute InsufferableGenius who [[MotorMouth loved to hear himself talk]]. Well known for dishing out TooMuchInformation and being a complete {{Troll}} to people he didn't like, Hamilton was defined by his military aspirations and warmongering attitude, first during Daniel Shays' revolt near the end of the war by enthusiastically taking the army's side in the uprising, then during the Whiskey Rebellion by encouraging Washington to use the military on his own citizens in much the same way, and then during the Quasi-War with France where many of his peers went so far as to compare him to UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte. [[WordOfGod Miranda himself]] has emphasized how different the real Hamilton was compared to the show's Hamilton several times since the show became popular.

* Burr's final challenge to Hamilton was not a direct result of the 1800 presidential race, although it was certainly a contributing factor to Burr's anger. Hamilton actually censured Burr as a candidate in ''two'' races; in 1804 it was in New York's gubernatorial race, another political clusterfuck that Burr took ''far'' more personally than his presidential defeat.[[note]]Burr ran against fellow Republican Morgan Lewis, a protégé of outgoing Governor George Clinton (who would ironically replace Burr as Vice President). As the Federalists failed to field their own candidate, Burr campaigned to gain Federalist support along with the state's anti-Clinton Republican faction. For Hamilton, Burr's fishing for Federalist votes confirmed his view that Burr completely lacked principles; subsequently, he convinced the state's leading Federalists to withdraw support from Burr while also publicly denouncing him. Burr lost to Lewis in a landslide; unlike in 1800, he blamed Hamilton personally for his defeat and became convinced that Hamilton [[ItsPersonal was obsessed with destroying his career]].[[/note]] ''Then'', in the same year, Charles Cooper revealed that Hamilton was slandering him further to his professional colleagues, and that is when Burr finally snapped and decided to duel him[[note]]Whatever Hamilton said to prompt this is a RiddleForTheAges; Hamilton refused to specify and Cooper never publicly repeated it[[/note]]. This was all likely left out [[CompressedAdaptation in the interests of time]] and not making Hamilton look like a complete {{jerkass}}. This also has the unfortunate side effect of implying that the duel took place in 1800 instead of 1804.

* Hamilton is portrayed as pro-immigrant when in reality his Federalist party was opposed to non-English immigration and denied citizenship to people from elsewhere even if they fought for the Patriots in the Revolutionary War.

* Though Samuel Seabury's loyalist sympathies were well-known to other New Yorkers, he published his pamphlets anonymously under the pan name "Westchester Farmer" or "A.W. Farmer," and his authorship of them wasn't proven until after the Revolution, when he was forced to forswear his allegiance to the British crown.

* The show has Jefferson's resignation as Secretary of State and his running to succeed Washington as occurring in close sequence, while in the real world Jefferson resigned in 1793, shortly into Washington's second term. Additionally, Washington states that Jefferson resigned from his post so that he could run for president, but in real life, Jefferson was alongside Hamilton in trying to convince Washington not to resign the office in the first place.

** While not outright stated, the show implies Maria and Hamilton are around the same age, if not Maria being slightly younger. In reality Maria was anywhere from 11-13 years younger than Hamilton, and was freshly 23 when she first approached him (Hamilton himself was in his mid 30s).

* James Madison boasts about his writing of the Bill of Rights. While this is certainly true, it is unlikely that he would brag about it, as he was against the idea. Madison believed that the government's powers as listed in the constitution were few, limited and defined, and that a Bill of Rights, which illustrated specific things the government was not allowed to restrict, would be not only redundant but actually destructive, and raise the implication that the government had more power than its authors intended.

* Burr's final challenge to Hamilton was not a direct result of the 1800 presidential race, although it was certainly a contributing factor to Burr's anger. Hamilton actually censured Burr as a candidate in ''two'' races; in 1804 it was in New York's gubernatorial race, another political clusterfuck that Burr took ''far'' more personally than his presidential defeat.[[note]]Burr ran against fellow Republican Morgan Lewis, a protégé of outgoing Governor George Clinton (who would ironically replace Burr as Vice President). As the Federalists failed to field their own candidate, Burr campaigned to gain Federalist support along with the state's anti-Clinton Republican faction. For Hamilton, Burr's fishing for Federalist votes confirmed his view that Burr completely lacked principles; subsequently, he convinced the state's leading Federalists to withdraw support from Burr while also publicly denouncing him. Burr lost to Lewis in a landslide; unlike in 1800, he blamed Hamilton personally for his defeat and became convinced that Hamilton [[ItsPersonal was obsessed with destroying his career]].[[/note]] ''Then'', in the same year, Charles Cooper revealed that Hamilton was slandering him further to his professional colleagues, and that is when Burr finally snapped and decided to duel him[[note]]Whatever Hamilton said to prompt this is a RiddleForTheAges; Hamilton refused to specify and Cooper never publicly repeated it[[/note]]. This was all likely left out [[CompressedAdaptation in the interests of time]] and not making Hamilton look like a complete {{Jerkass}}. This also has the unfortunate side effect of implying that the duel took place in 1800 instead of 1804.

** In the musical, Burr takes great pleasure in watching Hamilton's political career crumble due to the pamphlet. In real life, Burr was actually one of the few who sympathized with him and had served as Maria Reynolds' divorce lawyer in the past (indeed, Burr is generally the only person involved in the scandal considered to have behaved honorably during the shitstorm that followed the release of the pamphlet). Conversely, while Washington showcases his disappointment in Hamilton in the musical, the real Washington's opinion of Hamilton was reportedly unchanged by the pamphlet, with Washington still holding him in "very high esteem".

* The show has Jefferson's resignation as Secretary of State and his running to succeed Washington as occurring in close sequence, while in the real world Jefferson resigned in 1793, shortly into Washington's second term.

** Hamilton is portrayed as a passionate abolitionist in the play; one of his main condemnations of Jefferson is involvement in slavery, and he joins Laurens in saying "we'll never be free until we end slavery". In real life, he was far from a firebrand for the cause and was even worse on the issues of slavery and racism than many of his contemporaries. Besides Hamilton's involvement with the slave trade on Nevis (for which he was left two slaves by his mother after her death), he knowingly married into the Schuyler family, who were by far the largest slaveholders in New York at the time, and even brokered numerous slave deals for his father-in-law Phillip Schuyler. Most damningly, [[https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/new-research-alexander-hamilton-slave-owner-180976260/ Hamilton owned at least three personal slaves by 1796]] (along with possibly another enslaved child he purchased in 1798) according to his very own records, and unlike Washington, he never even voiced any thoughts about freeing them; they remained in bondage until his death in 1804, upon which they were auctioned off for 400 pounds each. Although Hamilton did indeed criticize the institution of slavery in his early life, involving himself with the reformist anti-slavery New York Manumission Society together with Burr[[note]]Burr was actually far more progressive than Hamilton on this score; he introduced a bill calling for ''immediate'' abolition of slavery in New York, only for it to be rejected by the legislature, while both Hamilton and the rest of the Manumission Society only ever advocated for slavery to be gradually phased out (which eventually came in the early 1800s)[[/note]] and John Jay throughout the 1780s, he had largely abandoned these stances by the height of his political career. This is further evidenced by his position on the Hatian and [[UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution French Revolutions]]; while Hamilton voiced support for the National Assembly early on, he strongly condemned the French Revolution once it broke out for ''actually'' fully abolishing slavery in 1794 and without compensation for slaveowners, and was even more critical of the concurrent slave revolt in Hati, sympathizing instead with the white slaveowning refugees that fled to America. It was only when Napoleon came to power and reversed the abolition that Hamilton proposed a trade agreement with Free Haiti, fearing that he could grab Haiti for a potential New World expansion of Napoleon's campaign. This still didn't include diplomatic recognition, nor any kind of official backing for the government or any real meaningful help.

** Thomas Jefferson's charismatic and flamboyant mannerisms in the show have little in common with the actual man, who was very socially awkward and nervous (to the point where many historians think he was on the autism spectrum). In a bit of {{symbolism}}, his personality here is instead based on the larger-than-life language he authored.

** King George III is portrayed as a CardCarryingVillain who gladly starts the war with the Colonies, but while George was obviously not a LaughingMad maniac (at least not until later on in his life), he also was largely not responsible for the war starting. He certainly kept it going, but the incidents that led to the Revolution starting were mostly due to Parliament and British soldiers actually in the Colonies, not George himself. His portrayal as a sadist and an out-and-out psychopath who delights in seeing war break out also stands in stark contrast to the real King George's reported personality: throughout his life, he was noted to be mild-mannered, humble, and kindhearted (and presumably saw preventing the colonies from defecting as his job).

* It's highly unlikely that Burr would have tried to become Washington's "Right Hand Man" as the titular song seems to suggest he did. While he did at one point serve on Washington's staff, he quit in June of 1776 to be on the battlefield and then quickly developed an antagonistic relationship with the General due to his lack of commending Burr's war efforts (thus denying him a promotion).

* In "Take A Break", a nine year old Philip at one point says "I have a sister but I want a little brother!" The real Philip actually had two younger brothers by this point, and would eventually have two sisters and five brothers.

* Peggy Schuyler's death is moved up a few years [[ActingForTwo so Peggy's actress can change into Maria Reynolds for "Say No to This".]] In real life, Peggy died in 1801, which would be much later in Act Two.

* Hamilton is portrayed as pro-immigrant when in reality his Federalist party was opposed to non-English immigration and denied citizenship to people from elsewhere even if they fought in the war.

** King George III is portrayed as a CardCarryingVillain who gladly starts the war with the Colonies, but while George was obviously not a LaughingMad maniac (at least not until later on in his life), he also was not responsible for the war starting. He certainly kept it going, but the incidents that led to the Revolution starting were entirely due to Parliament and British soldiers actually in the Colonies, not George himself. His portrayal as a sadist and an out-and-out psychopath who delights in seeing war break out also stands in stark contrast to the real King George's reported personality: throughout his life, he was noted to be mild-mannered, humble, and kindhearted (and presumably saw preventing the colonies from defecting as his job).

* While Burr and Hamilton really did defend Levi Weeks during the first recorded murder trial in America[[note]]Historically, Henry Brock Livingston was the third defense attorney on the case[[/note]], "Non-Stop" places this event shortly after the revolution and before Hamilton wrote the Federalist Papers. In real life, this trial didn't happen until 1800, but Burr and Hamilton are already on the outs by this point going by the show timeline [[labelnote:If you're interested...]]Weeks was acquitted for the murder, but the general public opposed the verdict and he was eventually forced to flee New York[[/labelnote]].

* Maria Reynolds actually had a daughter, who was just shy of turning six[[note]]she was born just shy of five months after her mother's [[TeenagePregnancy seventeenth birthday]][[/note]] when the affair began and was freshly twelve when the pamphlet was published.[[note]]As in, [[KickTheDog a week after her birthday]] fresh[[/note]] Most accounts agree Maria mentioned her when begging for help and the pair were living in the same boarding house, and if not, James later mentioned her in a letter. Considering there was no way to fit her in, especially not without further making Hamilton look like a jerk, (and considering the ultimately minor roles of both of her parents), she wasn't featured.

* Burr was not Lee’s second in his duel with Laurens. The real second was Major Evan Edwards, a commander of the Eleventh Pennsylvania Regiment and Lee's aide-de-camp. Little else besides this fact is known of Edwards' life, apart from his history in the war (he fought in fifteen battles, including Yorktown). Also, unlike Burr, there is no indication that Edwards disliked Lee, and in fact what evidence exists indicates that he ended the war on good terms with Lee, as he would go on to name one of his children after him.