10 Best Moments from Hamilton’s America

Image via Joan Marcus

 3. Talking ‘Bout Revolution

With Hamilton‘s popularity sometimes it is easy to forget that the Founding Fathers were actually a bunch of white dudes, many who owned slaves. The documentary shows how Jackson, a black man, dealt with playing a slave owner and how the play is changing our perception of these men in general.

We put the founders on a pedestal because these are the men who founded our country. They gave us the ideas of life, liberty,and that all men are created equal. Except not really. Diggs puts it the best.

"“You don’t have to separate these things with Jefferson. He can have written this incredible document…with things that we all believe in and he sucks. Those are both true and they both have to be true.”"

The play is changing how we look at history. Instead of completely vilifying or idolizing historical figures it is painting them as real people. These were men who made decisions, both good and bad. They were flawed, but it didn’t make their contributions less brilliant.

Hamilton’s America is great for moments like this. The idea of our forefathers as human may not be something you overtly notice, but it makes you stop and think. The stories are especially powerful coming from the cast members who play these men and who have grappled with their place in our past.