The work has stalled recently because I fell into the huge pit of "Hamilton"?
I finished watching the musical first , then read his biography , and studied the "Federalist Collection" he participated in .
Next, I want to share with you the interesting scenery that I saw during my journey to meet Hamilton. I hope you will like it.
Hamilton Musical
If throughout July, I can only recommend one show, I would recommend you to watch the official movie version of the musical "Hamilton" .
This is not a new drama. It premiered on Broadway in New York five years ago in 2015.
The reason why I chose to recommend it at this time is because in July this year, its official movie version was launched on Disney+. (You can also find the video at station B)
This means that domestic audiences can watch the performance of "Hamilton" in high-definition quality for free (here I am extremely grateful to Disney who bought the copyright).
How rare is this?
To answer this question, let me first talk about the status of this play in the world of musicals.
After 2015, it turned out, in 2016, basically to take over the world's most important plays, musicals awards -
At the Tony Awards ceremony, it won a total of 11 awards including Best Musical, Director, Screenplay, Arrangement, etc., which can be described as sweeping. Not only that, it also won the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album, as well as the Pulitzer Prize for Drama Award and other heavyweight awards...
Let's talk about the fare situation that year.
When the show was performed live, it was notoriously difficult to find a ticket and high ticket price . I see media reports that the average ticket price on Broadway is US$800, which is equivalent to more than 5,000 yuan.
When it performed in the West End of London, the Guardian reported that the ticket price had been fired up to £6,000 (equivalent to more than 52,000 yuan). In order to stabilize ticket prices and crack down on ticket sellers, the government specifically stipulates that ticket buyers are not allowed to transfer tickets and must enter the venue with their identity documents.
But now, you don’t need to go overseas, you don’t need to grab tickets, you have a computer, Internet access and basic search capabilities, and you can enjoy this landmark drama in the history of musicals. This is really a wonderful benefit in the Internet age, which lowers the aesthetic threshold of national boundaries and money.
Let’s talk again, why is there a milestone in the history of "Hamilton" musicals?
To borrow from the Pulitzer Prize presentation, " The story is both contemporary and irresistible. "
This play tells the legendary life of Hamilton .
Before watching the show, my knowledge of Hamilton was very limited. I only knew that he was a founding feat of the United States. He wrote the "Federalist Anthology" and worked as a lawyer. His head was printed on ten dollars, and he died in a duel.
As a result, the rap music at the beginning of the musical quickly grabbed my attraction——
"The son of an illegitimate, orphan, and slut, was born on a forgotten island in the Caribbean. How did he grow into a hero and a scholar in squalor and poverty? "
The following long rap quickly introduced Hamilton's life experience as an immigrant before coming to the United States. It is not uncomfortable.
When he was ten, his father left home. Two years later, his mother died. He borrowed his cousin's house, and his cousin also committed suicide soon. He went to work in a firm at the age of 13, and was already in charge of trading with a firm at the age of 14. At the age of 17, his hometown was hit by a hurricane. He wrote an article about what he thought and saw in the disaster, which was appreciated by the people in his hometown. Everyone raised funds to send him to New York to study.
As a low-level immigrant, he set foot on the land of the United States and started his life of making contributions and making great achievements.
In the play, the key events of his life are highly condensed.
Met with friends such as John Lawrence; studied at King’s College in New York; participated in the War of Independence, became Washington’s deputy, and made military exploits in the Battle of Yorkton; met and fell in love with his wife Eliza, and had emotional surging with Eliza’s sister; in marriage Derailed, rumored a peachy scandal; built a financial system for the United States, established a national bank; his son died in a duel; supported the Jefferson election, which led to a feud with Aaron Burr; duel with Aaron Burr and died under the gun.
When he died, he was only 49 years old, and he had not had time to grow old.
His life ended in a hurry, but if you look at what he has done, you will find that he has shown a full range of talents in governing the country from politics to military to economics-to promote the convening of the constitutional convention and write the "Federalist Collection" Explaining the spirit of the Constitution and serving as the first Minister of Finance, "designed a complete set of mechanisms for the smooth operation of a modern nation-state, including a budget system, a long-term debt system, a tax system, a central bank, a customs system, and a The Coast Guard..."
You will be surprised how he did it. Is he able to help him with three heads and six arms?
His life is like turning on the accelerator key to move forward with all his strength, and the rhythm is super fast, which is why I think that the director LMM chooses Hip-hop-based music for this show is a very cool and suitable decision.
Hip-hop comes with a sense of enthusiasm, youthful blood, and street civilians . Especially the intensive rap music in the first half made people feel that Hamilton and the United States were rising rapidly at the same time , which was very high.
Not to mention, the super fast speech speed of rap can increase the information density of the entire drama .
Someone has counted that if it is to sing according to the conventional musical theatre, then the play will have to be sung for 4-6 hours to finish singing. With the addition of a large number of rap music, the duration of the show is controlled at two and a half hours.
"Hamilton" allowed Hip-hop music to completely enter the mainstream musical audience's vision. Not only that, it also broke the circle and became a popular cultural phenomenon. It is said that on the New York subway, if you sing the last sentence of the lyrics, someone can take the next sentence.
In addition to the bold and innovative use of music, this play also fully reflects the diversity and tolerance in the selection of actors .
You will find that many of the leading actors are played by ethnic minorities .
For example, the actors who starred in Washington, the American father of the United States, and Hamilton’s political enemy, Aaron Burr, are all black . The heroine and Hamilton’s wife, Eliza, is an Asian . Hamilton’s actor, LMM, is also a descendant of Puerto Rico's immigrants . In addition, there are many Latino actors in the film .
When LMM chose to use actors of color to play whites in history, he delivered a message: skin color is not important . LMM did not choose to be part of the stereotype, but chose to be a part of breaking the stereotype, and wanted to applaud him vigorously.
Moreover, this also makes this drama more relevant to reality. Because the current United States is already a multi-racial country. The multi-racial composition presented on the stage is also a projection of today .
Hamilton himself is a person who subverts people's traditional imagination of political leaders, and this drama about his life, whether it is a large number of minority actors or the extensive use of hiphop music, has also successfully subverted people's understanding of traditional historical musicals. .
Going back to the plot itself, I asked myself what moved me .
I see many contradictory qualities in Hamilton , fragility and strength, rationality and madness, self-discipline and loss of control... These contradictions constitute the core of his charm.
He who has God's light , the beast's shadow , but also human vulnerability and tenderness .
Creativity and self-destruction , like twin flames, burned in his body at the same time.
In the War of Independence, he asked Washington many times to go to the front line, longing for the glory of the horse shroud and the heroic martyrdom. After he was finally allowed to lead the army, he went into battle like a "brave lunatic";
He longed to stabilize his family, and he married a gentle and loyal wife, but he cheated on a married woman;
On the one hand, he raced against time for knowledge and work, and didn't waste every opportunity to leave a mark in history; on the other hand, he threw his life and fell into the danger of duels many times, until he was called away by death for the last time.
His whole life reminds me of Akashi Kairen's Japanese song lyrics: " Like a fish family born in the deep sea, if it doesn't ignite spontaneously, it will only be dark. "
In addition to Hamilton, one of my favorite characters in the whole show is his good friend John Lawrence .
In the play, after explaining the line after Lawrence died in the exchange of fire with the British army, "He dreams of liberating and recruiting 3000 blacks and forming the first black army. His dream of freedom has disappeared with him." I cried instantly.
Lawrence’s father was a master slave owner, and Lawrence’s dream was to abolish slavery and liberate slaves , to lead the blacks in battle and to restore their freedom. His choice completely surpassed his class .
He gave his life for the freedom of people of a different class from him.
He reminded me of Prometheus, who, as a god, would risk stealing fire for mankind, willing to endure the pain of being pecked by a falcon.
The portrayal of Hamilton's political opponent Aaron Burr in the play also breaks away from the black and white narrative.
The shot Aaron Burr shot at Hamilton made him a sinner in history. However, he is not a purely bad person.
There are many similarities in the fate of the two people in the play. They are both orphans, both engaged in legal professions, and both are eager to build a free and prosperous new country for their children.
No one is a winner in this unnecessary duel. Hamilton died, and Aaron Burr’s political life ended, and he was infamy for the rest of his life.
The phrase Aaron Burr sang many times in the play, " I should have known the size of the world, could accommodate Hamilton and me " is also the finishing touch of the play.
In a pluralistic society, we need to learn to accept the existence of people who are different from ourselves .
Among different groups, in the words of Martin Luther King, build bridges instead of walls. " Let's build bridges, not walls. "
Hamilton biography
After watching the musical "Hamilton", I became very interested in Hamilton.
I really want to know, how could he, an illegitimate child + orphan + born in a poor and chaotic place, go higher and farther than many people who grew up with a golden spoon and received elite education from childhood?
I am also very gossiping to wonder if there is any intimacy beyond friends between him and John Lawrence and Lafayette. Judging from the play, he and John Lawrence have faint emotions.
You know when the musical opens, Lawrence sings, " I die for him ."
I also want to know what kind of relationship he and his wife Eliza and his wife's sister Angelica have and how they get along . Judging from the musical, there is emotional tension and ambiguity between him and Angelica.
I also want to know how his death will affect his children and family? What kind of life did Aaron Burr, who shot him, later lead?
So, I got Ron Cherno's "Hamilton Biography"? to see it.
This book is also the source of inspiration that inspired LMM to create the musical "Hamilton". When LMM was on vacation in Mexico in 2008, he was fascinated by Hamilton's life while reading this book. After 7 years of polishing, the musical was released.
This book has more than 740,000 words and more than 900 pages. If I don't want to finish reading it and then write a manuscript, I should be able to meet with you at least a week in advance of this article.
Don't get me wrong, I don't mean to complain. Although it is very long, it is easy to read .
This book tells a complete story of Hamilton's wonderful life . The fullness of the content greatly satisfied my curiosity about Hamilton.
For example, the book reveals how Hamilton was self-taught .
Although born in poverty, Hamilton loves reading. The priest he met on the island, because he admired his talent, opened his rich collection of books to him.
He worked as a clerk in an import and export firm at the age of 13. This experience allowed him to quickly acquire business and financial knowledge, and also helped him lay a foundation for paperwork and management. It is mentioned in the book that he, as a juvenile, “even if he faces an old sailor who is much older than himself, he can speak without hesitation” and demonstrates the courage to kill and decisive .
This answered my confusion, why he later devoted himself to establishing a customs and currency system -precisely because of the management of import and export trade when he was a teenager. "He clearly understood how merchants and smugglers played tricks that were hidden from the sky. He advocated the establishment of a coast guard and customs system in the United States. He found that business is often plagued by cash flow and due debt, and a unified monetary system will be very conducive to stimulating trade."
The book also mentioned a kind of speculation about Hamilton's life experience : his father may not be James Hamilton, but a businessman named Thomas Stevens .
This Thomas Stevens has a son Edward who is one year older than Hamilton. It is said that Edward and Hamilton look like a mold, and some people often think that they are brothers.
Moreover, Edward and Hamilton have similar preferences and interests, and they are close friends. If this conjecture is true, then it can explain why Hamilton and his father and brother are very strange, but have been in close contact with Edward for a long time. And why did Thomas Stevens become Hamilton's guardian after the death of Hamilton's mother, but he did not take care of Hamilton's brother. Also, who was Hamilton's mother who cheated.
Thomas Stevens is also among the businessmen who funded Hamilton's education in North America. In North America, Hamilton studied at King's College, where he read a lot of law books.
He maintained the habit of reading and writing throughout his life . Even during the War of Independence, he never relaxed his studies. During the war, he read a lot of philosophers and learned about the history of Greece, Prussia and France. "While other Americans dreamed of establishing a brand new society in North America and erasing all the decadent traces of European civilization, Hamilton humbly asked European civilization how to set up a new government... He believed that the new world must humbly learn from the old world. ."
As for the relationship between Hamilton and John Lawrence and Lafayette , from the biography, it is indeed extraordinary .
The book states, "The stories of the three of them must have inspired Dumas to create his famous Three Musketeers".
Lawrence is handsome, has blue eyes, and is a staunch abolitionist. He believes that "unless slaves are freed from the shackles, he is not qualified to say that he is a people who loves freedom."
Lawrence and Hamilton are like " a pair of spiritual twins ", "They have the deepest affection among friends in their relationship. This kind of friendship is close to the love of men and women ... We can at least say that Hamilton has an adolescent obsession with his old friends. Special feelings." Hamilton wrote in a letter to Lawrence, "You shouldn't use my sensitivity to sneak into my emotional world without my consent ." This lover-like complaint is really fascinating.
The relationship between Lafayette and Hamilton, in the words of Hamilton's grandson, " there is a trace of romance in their friendship. " According to the book, Lafayette’s letter to Hamilton wrote: “After returning from France, my feelings for you have grown day by day and become out of control. No one in this world can imagine how much it is. Deeper."
The relationship between Hamilton and his wife Alissa and his wife’s sister Angelica, from the biography, Alissa and Angelica both admire Hamilton, but the relationship between the sisters has not been affected by this. , They remain close for life .
The book states that after Hamilton's death, "Alissa has always been selflessly helped by her sister Angelica, who is the strongest bond between her and her past and deceased husband."
These three people also accompany each other after death: their tombs are in the Trinity Church .
I also gossiped to find out where Angelica’s husband, John Buck Church, was buried. The answer was that they were buried in London, not with Angelica. (It hurts Church a little bit.)
Because of watching the show, I know that Hamilton's son Philip died in a duel . And before his son left, Hamilton ordered him not to kill anyone and give up shooting.
Because this kind of request really puts my children in danger, I wondered if this was not the case in history. It turned out to be true by looking at the biography. (I cried, Hamilton is a naive man) Hamilton really ordered his son not to shoot in a duel. This kind of stupid, brave, and well-intentioned behavior is full of emotions.
The book reveals that Philip's death also produced another victim-Hamilton's 17-year-old daughter Angelica went crazy after learning about his brother's death. She was insane and died at the age of 73. The ripples of tragedy lasted for more than half a century.
As for the impact of Hamilton's death on the family after the duel, it was to put the family into financial trouble . As a result, his wife Alissa had to plead with the US government to compensate her for the pension that Hamilton gave up after the end of the War of Independence, so that she could support her family. This made me sigh that Hamilton himself had such a high profile, but his family had to lower their profile to beg for help. It was so hard to be a family member of a great man.
Aaron Burr, who killed Hamilton, never confessed publicly . However, his second half of his life has nothing to do with happiness-he went into exile after being accused of murder, and after the charges were cancelled, he experienced the shock of the successive deaths of his daughter and son-in-law. After two strokes, he left the world with a terrifying face.
And Alissa became the last one of the same generation. She was 97 years old and opened the first private orphanage in New York.
Her love for Hamilton goes beyond death . After Hamilton's death, she devoted herself to organizing his collections, interviewing his contemporaries, and hoping to publish his biography.
There is a detail in the book: "Hanging a small cloth bag around her neck, it contains the lingering farewell book that Hamilton wrote to her on the eve of the duel, and the love sonnets Hamilton gave her during their love in Morris City. Poems-these are some yellow and brittle pieces of paper. As the paper has weathered, Alissa carefully stitched them together ."
Speaking of Hamilton himself, what impressed me the most in the book and what he admired most is that while he dared to resist tyranny , he also dared to oppose the irrational sentiments of the people .
He knew very well that the purpose of the revolution was not to keep revolution, but to build a free, stable, and strong society .
He has stepped forward many times to prevent the people from turning their revolutionary passion into a slaughter of others .
The book states that on the eve of the War of Independence in North America, when anti-British sentiment was high, a mob prepared to lynch the pro-British scholar Miles Cooper. Hamilton took the risk of being attacked by the mob to prevent them from rushing into Cooper's house, and pointed out that their actions would "shame the greatness and glory of freedom."
In the War of Independence, when his men wanted to kill British soldiers who had surrendered, Hamilton also stopped this retaliation for the first time.
After the war, there was a trend of liquidation of the pro-British factions in American society. He also stood up decisively and opposed the expulsion of pro-British elements without a legal trial . He pointed out that such behavior will lead to "no one will be safe, and no one knows when he himself will become an innocent victim of infighting."
"He believes that the revolution should not cut off the connection with the past overnight, or completely abandon the original laws, order and traditions.'The struggle for freedom is noble in itself,' he said,'Dang and noble When justice, justice and humanity are linked, it should respect every friend and treat it as a person. But if it is tainted by crime and unscrupulousness, then it will lose people’s respect .’”
Many revolutionaries will forget the importance of order in their pursuit of freedom. But Hamilton did not. He attached great importance to order. He had been "balancing the relationship between freedom and order throughout his life."
Even if he is misunderstood as a traitor to the revolution, he will continue to use reason to talk to the people with reason to avoid the chaos of anarchy in society . "He is not a politician seeking prestige, but a politician determined to change the thinking of the masses." The United States has such a "father of political system" like him, which is fortunate for the United States.
The evaluation of him in the book is: "As a rational and wise man among the founding fathers of the country, Hamilton always plays the role of a'frustrated', and he often pours cold water on the people."
Compared with his combatant side, I respect and love his " loser " side more. Because the latter requires more wisdom and courage than the former .
"Fighting Ambition with Ambition: "Federalist Humanities Collection" Lectures"
If you have finished reading "Hamilton" and want to know something about Hamilton's initiative and participation in the writing of "Federalist Humanities Collection", then I highly recommend you to read "Using Ambition Against Ambition: "Federalist Humanities Collection" Lectures" .
You may be curious, why do we need to read the "Federalist Humanities Collection", which was born more than 200 years ago?
I want to answer it with another question: " Can people build a good government through careful consideration and free choice, or can they only rely on strength or opportunity? "-This is the opening chapter of Hamilton's "Federalist Collection" Ask.
If you want to think deeply about this issue, and want to know how people can build a modern democracy through rational and free choice, then you can open this book.
This is the most comprehensible book I have ever read about the "Federalist Humanities Collection" , and there is no one. Even if you don't have the basic knowledge of law and politics, you can still understand it.
And because the author's writing is driven by questions , it will be very pleasant to read. You will find that the title of each chapter in the whole book is a problem. For example, Chapter 8 "What kind of institution is Congress?" Chapter 9 "Does the president have imperial power?".
You can look at the table of contents before reading it, and read the corresponding content if you are interested in it.
?Wang Jianxun, author of "Using Ambition Against Ambition", Associate Professor of Law School, China University of Political Science and Law
The author of this book is Mr. Wang Jianxun , my mentor at the University of France . When I was studying, I seemed to have returned to the university time of listening to Teacher Wang's "Federalist Humanities Collection".
At that time, we would read excerpts from the original text in every class, and Teacher Wang would take everyone to discuss it. This class was a constitutional enlightenment class for me . Many of my ideas have been washed out and reshaped in Teacher Wang's teaching. It can be said that the knowledge seeds that Mr. Wang sown at the time have influenced me to this day.
However, I did not recommend the book because he was my mentor, but because the book is really worth reading.
His writing style and his lectures, like, in layman's language . He will make those obscure and inexplicable sentences in the original text familiar and easy to understand ; he will show you the logical main lines in the text of "Federalist Humanities Collection", which seems to be fragmented or even contradictory in structure ; You add relevant background knowledge so that you can "understand why Americans at the time appointed a new constitution and why there were disputes over certain issues."
My personal favorite part of the book is the seventh chapter of " Why does the U.S. Constitution implement checks and balances ?"
Many people talk about the separation of powers, and they think that the three powers are independent of each other and do not interfere with each other, just like three parallel lines.
But if you read this chapter, you will find that you have completely misunderstood the separation of powers .
If the purpose of separation of powers and checks and balances is to be achieved, then the three powers cannot be completely separated and independent , but must be crossed and connected . In Madison’s words, “If there is no such connection and containment, and three different institutions each exercise their own power, how can they be restricted and contended with each other?”
How should we understand the "division" of the separation of powers ?
The answer in the book is that the separation "does not mean that these three powers cannot be connected in any way, but that a department cannot have all two powers at the same time...or three powers at the same time ." For example, the legislative branch cannot have both legislation. Power also has administrative power.
How to design the relationship between the three powers, how to make them both interconnected and have a certain degree of independence, so as to achieve a state of mutual supervision and checks and balances, is a test of the experience and wisdom of the system designers.
According to the book, the founding fathers of the United States designed such a system:
The balance between the legislature and the executive is: the legislature (congress) can impeach the executive (the president), and conversely, the president can veto laws made by Congress. Congress can also pass a two-thirds majority to deny this veto.
The balance between legislation and justice is that the legislature can impeach a judge if the judge is suspected of abusing power and corrupting the law. Conversely, if the judge believes that a law made by Congress violates the Constitution, the judge can initiate a constitutional review and declare the law invalid.
The administrative and judicial checks and balances are embodied in: on the one hand, the president has the right to nominate judges; on the other hand, judges can declare the president’s orders or actions unconstitutional and invalid.
The book reads: "Between the legislative, administrative, and judicial organs, each organ has formed a certain degree of restraint on the other organ, or in other words, each organ has exercised part of the power of the other organ. Precisely because of this partial possession and partial exercise of the power of another organ, it allows them to restrict and balance each other ."
The reason for this design is that "every agency has ambitions, and therefore, it must be supervised and restricted by other equally ambitious agencies." This is what Madison called " use ambition to counter ambition ."
Finally, share two excerpts:
If people are angels, there will be no need for government; if angels rule over people, there will be no need to impose internal and external restrictions on the government. When constructing a government that governs people, the huge difficulty is that you must first allow the government to control the ruled . Next, it must be able to control itself . --James Madison
Those who give up freedom for temporary security are neither worthy of security nor freedom.
- Franklin
edited by Ani sauce
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