Hamilton's America Page #5

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where you have so many

literal touchstones,

places that support the research

that you've done.

It's helped keep

the fire burning,

you know, day after day,

doing the show,

eight shows a week,

and being able

to imagine yourself

in a very real way

in those same footsteps.

-That would have been

Mr. and Mrs. Washington's room.

You're looking at it just

as they would have seen it.

-I can't even imagine how much

stress he must have been under.

-I can't, either.

-All of them, all those guys,

like, how much stress.

They must have been constantly,

every day just...

-When you got 20,000 people

just right outside your door

who are constantly,

you know, trying not to die.

-Trying not to die,

trying to figure out

how to stay alive, like...

-Exactly.

Literally trying not to die.

-The front parlor

would have been used

by General Washington's

aide-de-camps,

Hamilton,

along with John Laurens.

They were

the two prominent secretaries

that worked for Washington here.

All the paperwork it took to

administer the Continental Army

is being done in this room here.

-As Washington's aide-de-camp,

Hamilton is doing everything

from sorting

through intelligence

to carrying out

prisoner exchanges.

He's writing essays.

He's writing letters.

He's teaching himself

about foreign currencies.

So, he was really using

the American Revolution

as a kind of crash course

in history and politics.

-Just being in Valley Forge,

you realize how much

ground they had to cover.

When he was like,

"Retreat, attack, retreat,

we're moving our men back,"

it's like --

that's, like, miles.

That's like crossing state lines

without a car

or horse and carriage.

Those are soldiers

that are, like, foot soldiers.

The scope of it was just so

much bigger and far more real.

-Y'all be having

reenactments out there?

-Yeah, we do it

every now and then.

We'll do cannon firing

and that kind of thing.

-Will they let us fire a cannon?

-We'll get you on a musket.

How's that?

-You know?

-There. See?

-Hell, that's --

that's nothing --

that's good.

-Yeah.

-I'll fire the...

out of a musket.

[ Laughter ]

-Hamilton, by all accounts,

was girl-crazy.

And so throughout

the Revolutionary War,

he's not only searching

for military glory,

but he's searching

for the woman of his dreams.

-Where are you taking me?

-I'm about

to change your life.

-Then by all means,

lead the way.

-Elizabeth Schuyler.

It's a pleasure to meet you.

-Schuyler?

-My sister.

-Thank you for all your service.

-If it takes fighting a war

for us to meet,

it will have been worth it.

-I'll leave you to it.

-Eliza and Alexander

essentially met during a war.

Hamilton was camped

a couple miles away

from the house

that Eliza was staying in.

-This is the house

where Elizabeth Schuyler

came to visit

with her uncle and aunt.

Her aunt realized

that, you know,

it's hard to find a boy

during wartime.

They've all gone to the front.

-Go visit Auntie

and meet some men.

[ Laughter ]

-And she met the guy

who was staying next door --

Alexander Hamilton.

- Helpless

- I am so into you

- Look into your eyes

- I am so into you

- And the sky's the limit

- I'm helpless

- I know I'm

- Down for the count

And I'm

- Drownin' in 'em

-Everyone immediately noticed

that Hamilton

and his future sister-in-law,

Angelica, were very

enamored of each other.

-Hamilton met Angelica first,

and, oh, their connection

is actually really strong

and intense

and is intellectual.

-Lin actually credits Angelica

with being the smartest

person in the show.

What she could do with her pen,

what she could probably do

with a look [Chuckles]

was very, very potent

and probably had to be.

- I've been reading

"Common Sense" by Thomas Paine

So men say that I'm intense

or I'm insane

You want a revolution?

I want a revelation

So listen to my declaration

We hold these truths

to be self-evident

That all men

are created equal

And when I meet

Thomas Jefferson

- Oh

- I'm-a compel him

To include women

in the sequel

-Work!

-In this period,

women were still

very much assumed

to have a certain role,

but that said,

it's also important to note

that the Revolution

politicized women.

It politicized enslaved people.

It politicized people

who were there at the time,

living the Revolution.

It's important to remember

that it's not just men

who assumed that.

-The wives of the

founding fathers

also really had

a place in history.

They worked as hard

as the men did.

And Abigail Adams

asked her husband

not to forget the ladies.

- Look around, look around

At how lucky we are

to be alive right now

- History is happening

in Manhattan

And we just happen to be

In the greatest city

in the world

In the greatest city

in the world

- Work, work

- Angelica

- Work, work

- Eliza

- And Peggy

- Work, work

- The Schuyler sisters

- Work, work

- We're looking

for a mind at work

- Work

- Hey

- Work, work

- Hey, whoa-ah

- Work

- In the greatest city

- In the greatest city

- In the wo-o-o-rld

- In the greatest city

in the world

-I'm gonna fix myself

a gin and tonic

because the only thing

in my fridge

is tonic water and some ketchup.

There are three major projects

happening right now.

It was our first day

of rehearsal.

There's my infant child,

who turned two weeks old today.

And then there's the apartment,

which is finally ready,

but now doesn't have people

to help unpack it.

We worked really hard

all weekend,

[Laughing] and this is

as far as we got.

We start staging next week,

so we have the week

to learn all the music,

52 songs,

not including the ones

I haven't written yet.

Today, the second song

we taught was "Yorktown,"

and Hamilton's line,

"Then again, my Eliza's

expecting me,

not to mention

my Eliza's expecting,

so, you know, we got to go,

got to get the job done,

got to start a new nation,

got to meet my son!"

Like, Hamilton

in that moment

is actually where

I'm at in my life.

It's like he's got

one more battle to fight

before the war is over,

but he's also got

a kid on the way,

and his status depends

on how he does.

[ Laughing ] I'm

in exactly the same place,

which is nuts.

But I'm -- Yeah, I'm basically

near the end of act one.

[ Piano plays soft music ]

-[ Rapping ]

The battle of Yorktown

1781

- Monsieur Hamilton

- Monsieur Lafayette

- In command

where you belong

- How you say, no sweat

We're finally

on the field

We've had quite a run

- Immigrants

- We get the job done

[ Light laughter ]

-Hamilton

keeps badgering Washington

until Washington gives him

his first field command

at Yorktown,

and Hamilton does not

waste the opportunity.

He led a bayonet charge.

Hamilton's men rose

out of the trench,

under the glare of shells

exploding in the sky above them.

They charged to the parapet

of this fortification,

and within 10 minutes,

he had taken

this fortification.

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