“Letters to Lyrics: Alexander Hamilton at the Library of Congress” will be on view between May 19 and Aug. 21.
Hamilton on War: Nov. 11, 1769, letter from Alexander Hamilton to Edward Stevens.
Song: “Right Hand Man” (“As a kid in the Caribbean I wished for a war”)
Ending a letter to friend Edward Stevens with “I wish there was a war,” Alexander Hamilton said he would “willingly risk my life tho’ not my Character to exalt my Station.” The correspondence occurred when Hamilton was a 12-year-old importer’s clerk in St. Croix.
(Courtesy Alexander Hamilton Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress)
(Courtesy Alexander Hamilton Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress)
Courtesy Alexander Hamilton Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress
Hamilton on war: Oct. 15, 1781 Letter from Alexander Hamilton to the Marquis de Lafayette.
Song: “Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)”
Hamilton got his wish and went to war as an officer fighting for the Revolution. In this letter to the Marquis de Lafayette, he’s reporting on a joint French and American attack on the British in Yorktown, Virginia. The Battle of Yorktown was the last of the Revolutionary War.
A portion of letter reads: “I have the honor to render you an account of the corps under my command in your attack of last night, upon the redoubt on the left of the enemy’s lines. . . . Inclosed is a return of the prisoners. The killed and wounded of the enemy did not exceed eight. Incapable of imitating examples of barbarity, and forgetting recent provocations, the soldiery spared every man, who ceased to resist.”
(Courtesy Alexander Hamilton Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress)
(Courtesy Alexander Hamilton Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress)
Courtesy Alexander Hamilton Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress
The Schuyler Sisters: Sept. 6, 1780 Letter to Elizabeth Schuyler
Song: “Helpless” (“I’m writin’ a letter nightly/ Now my life gets better, every letter that you write me”)
“Pardon me my love for talking politics to you. What have we to do with any thing but love?” Hamilton wrote this to Elizabeth Schuyler two months before their marriage. There are 14 lines crossed out in the letter’s second paragraph; the Hamiltons’ son, John Church Hamilton, is thought to have redacted part of the letter when publishing his father’s papers in 1850-1851.
The Library of Congress recently used hyperspectral imaging to reveal the very personal, romantic tone of what a potentially embarrassed son may have chosen not to share with the world. Read about it here.
(Courtesy Alexander Hamilton Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress)
(Courtesy Alexander Hamilton Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress)
Courtesy Alexander Hamilton Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress
The Schuyler Sisters: Feb. 4, 1790 Letter from Angelica Schuyler Church to Alexander Hamilton
Song: “Take a Break.” (“Thoughts of you subside/ Then I get another letter/ I cannot put the notion away…”)
Hamilton had a warm, even flirtatious, relationship with his wife’s sister, Angelica Schuyler Church, Library Of Congress Manuscript Division historian Julie Miller said. In 1790, Church and her husband were living in London. She closes this letter to her brother-in-law:
Adieu my dear Brother, remember me affectionately to Eliza. I have this moment received her letter, and have received three from you. I accept this attention on your part as I ought, and if in return I cannot give you any agreeable information, I can at least give you the History of my Mind, which is at present very much occupied by a very great, and very amiable personage. Adieu my dear friend.
(Courtesy Alexander Hamilton Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress)
(Courtesy Alexander Hamilton Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress)
Courtesy Alexander Hamilton Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress
Constitution: June 18, 1787 Alexander Hamilton’s outline for a speech delivered at the Constitutional Convention.
Song: “Nonstop.” (“Goes and proposes his own form of government!”)
Hamilton created this outline of the speech he delivered at the Constitutional Convention on June 18, 1787. It begins by detailing flaws of the Articles of Confederation, which were written before the Constitution.
A portion of the outline reads: “1. Objections to the present confederation I Entrusts the great interests of the nation to hands incapable of managing them— All matters in which foreigners are concerned— The care of the public peace: DEBTS Power of treaty without power of execution Common defence without power to raise troops—have a fleet—raise money Power to contract debts without the power to pay— These great interests of the state must be well managed or the public prosperity must be the victim–”
(Courtesy Alexander Hamilton Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress)
(Courtesy Alexander Hamilton Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress)
Courtesy Alexander Hamilton Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress
The Federalist: A Collection of Essays, Written in Favour of the New Constitution.
Song: “Non-Stop” (“Hamilton wrote the other fifty-one!”)
After the Constitutional Convention ended in September 1787, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and, to a lesser extent, John Jay, began writing a series of essays to promote and explain the Constitution to the public. The essays, collectively known as The Federalist, initially appeared in New York newspapers under the pen name Publius.
(Courtesy Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress)
Courtesy Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress
Hamilton as Treasury Secretary: Portrait print made from a painting by Alonzo Chappel (1828-1887).
(Courtesy Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress)
Courtesy Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress
Hamilton as Treasury Secretary: Dec. 5, 1791 First draft of the Report on the Subject of Manufactures: Presented to the House of Representatives.
As the first Secretary of the Treasury, Hamilton prepared a series of reports detailing his views on manufacturing in the United States. Hamilton thought manufacturing would contribute to “national independence and safety” by making the U.S. less dependent on European imports. He thought an economy based on both farming and manufacturing created “greater scope for the diversity of talents and dispositions” of American workers, including women and children.
(Courtesy Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress)
Courtesy Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress
Related to the Duel: July 4, 1804, letter to Elizabeth Hamilton.
Song: “Best of Wives and Best of Women” (“I’ll be back before you know I’m gone”)
Hamilton wrote this letter to his wife before his fatal duel with Aaron Burr at Weehawken, New Jersey, on July 11, 1804. “This letter, my very dear Eliza, will not be delivered to you, unless I shall first have terminated my earthly career . . . Adieu best of wives and best of Women. Embrace all my darling Children for me.”
(Courtesy Alexander Hamilton Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress)
(Courtesy Alexander Hamilton Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress)
Courtesy Alexander Hamilton Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress
Related to the Duel: Consecrated to the Memory of Gen. Alexander Hamilton, undated.
Song: “Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story” (“Will they tell your story in the end?”)
The viewpoint of this image of Hamilton’s tomb is from the site of the fatal duel with Aaron Burr in Weehawken, New Jersey, across from New York City.
(Courtesy Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress)
Courtesy Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress
As a 12-year-old still practicing his signature, Alexander Hamilton closes a letter to a friend lamenting the lack of excitement he was experiencing working as a clerk in St. Croix and said “I wish there was a war.” Later in life, Hamilton signed simply: “AH.”
(WTOP/Kristi King)
WTOP/Kristi King
A very personal, romantic portion of a letter from Hamilton to the woman who would soon be his wife was crossed out, likely by the pair’s son, but restored by using hyperspectral imaging
(WTOP/Kristi King)
WTOP/Kristi King
Working together to create the Library of Congress exhibit, Letters to Lyrics: Alexander Hamilton at the Library of Congress. Kaleena Black on the left is a Library of Congress educational resources specialist and a huge fan of the play. Julie Miller is a specialist in early American history.
(WTOP/Kristi King)
WASHINGTON — Extraordinary interest in the play “Hamilton” has inspired the Library of Congress to put papers on display that are linked to the hit musical.
“Letters to Lyrics: Alexander Hamilton at the Library of Congress” will be on view between May 19 and Aug. 21.
The exhibit documents explore topics including love, war, statesmanship and politics; and show letters that inspired or in some cases were directly quoted to create lyrics for songs such as “Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down),” “Helpless,” “Non-Stop” and “Best of Wives and Best of Women.”
“I think the meeting of the history and the present will really surprise you,” Library of Congress educational resources specialist Kaleena Black said.
She’s a big fan of the play and believes other enthusiasts will be impressed.
“These were real people. These were real events and some of the lyrics that you’ve been singing in your head and become obsessed with some of them are written in these documents that have been in existence for hundreds of years and have been at the Library of Congress for over a hundred years,” Black said.
So, does a specialist in early American history believe that Lin-Manuel Miranda’s play is a fair historical depiction?
“I’m not going to debunk it. I think it has a kind of emotional truth,” Library Of Congress Manuscript Division historian Julie Miller said.
Miller thinks the play is a bit romanticized but accurately portrays Hamilton’s feelings of being an outsider.
“There’s a lot of very anguished letters in the Hamilton papers where he says thing like, ‘I’m just never going to be at home here, I’m ready to give up, forget it.’ So, I think there’s an emotional understanding of what Hamilton was really like that the play makes quite clear,” Miller noted.
The three month window to see the exhibit might seem to some to be as long as the wait was online or in-person to purchase tickets. The play’s national tour has a 14-week run at the Kennedy Center June 12 through Sept. 16.
All of Hamilton’s original, handwritten letters and documents are digitized and now available for viewing online.
To see the papers’ typed text, that’s easier to read than centuries-old handwriting, you can visit Founders Online, hosted by the National Archives.
“The best way to use the Library of Congress Alexander Hamilton papers is to use it together with Founders Online,” Miller said. “Because you’ll see the text typed out and with notes to explain the things that aren’t obvious.”
Kristi King is a veteran reporter who has been working in the WTOP newsroom since 1990. She covers everything from breaking news to consumer concerns and the latest medical developments.
