Alexander hamilton biography musical notes
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Teaching Notes - Hamilton: An American Musical
December 17, 2019
Welcome to Teaching Notes - a blog series written by a teacher to help other teachers #TeachtheSongbook.
A Note from the Author: I can’t imagine life without music. When tunes float by, memories flood in. My foot starts tapping, fingers uppstart snapping, and I get caught up in the emotion of the song. For 28 years, music was always a key component in my classroom. It never failed to grab the attention of my students and made past cultures come alive with connections to daily life.
I’m excited to open up a discussion about the new Songbook exhibit, Of Thee I sing Politics on Stage. It’s a berättande device where cultural values are seen in the context of music. Including musical theater in your classroom has never been easier. Join me in this forum where you can share your lesson plans and get ideas from others. It’s your point of access for creative ways to engage your students through musi • 2015 biographical musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda This article is about the 2015 musical. For the 1917 play, see Hamilton (play). Hamilton: An American Musical is a sung-and-rapped-through biographical musical with music, lyrics, and a book by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Based on the 2004 biography Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow, the musical covers the life of American Founding FatherAlexander 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.[1][2][3] Miranda described Hamilton as about "America then, as told by amerika now".[4] From its opening, Hamilton received near-universal acclaim.[5] • We delve beyond the remarkable performances with historian Dr Tom Cutterham to discover what historical debates this award-winning musical has provoked. In the musical, Hamilton is portrayed as being a firm abolitionist, someone who wanted to end slavery. He furiously accuses Thomas Jefferson of using slave labour to pay off the South’s debts and keep the economy afloat. Hamilton himself was a member of the New York Manumission Society, a group which provided financial and legal assistance to the abolitionist cause. However, he did retain links with slavery and some of the society’s members were themselves slaveholders. Cutterham highlights how slavery featured in Hamilton’s personal life: “Hamilton's close family relations, such as his father-in-law Phi Hamilton (musical)
Hamilton: An American Musical has become a global phenomenon, but how accurate is this story of one of the US' Founding Fathers?
Hamilton wasn’t as anti-slavery as he first appears