History and Time

Something that I found interesting about the play Hamilton was how much of the issues that were discussed back then in the time of the founding fathers are still discussed today. History repeats itself. One example of this is on page 193, during the second Cabinet Battle, where Washington, Hamilton, and Jefferson are discussing whether to help the French in their revolutionary war. Hamilton says, “If we try to fight in every revolution in the world, we never stop. Where do we draw the line?” As an imperialist country, this quote still stands true today. The United States is known for unnecessarily getting involved in other countries. I like Miranda’s little side note at the end of this sentence because he says that there’s usually a “wild-card reaction,” to these lines; either people are silent, there’s applause, or there’s a dawning realization that the country is still like this. Almost 250 years later, this idea is still prominent in the United States.

Another example of this is on page 199, in the passage titled “Washington On Your Side.” Here, Madison, Jefferson, and Burr are worried about Hamilton, because he’s making the government bigger and therefore, he’s allowing the government to have more power over the people. As Madison questions, “Wasn’t the trouble with much our previous government size?” This reminded me of a modern debate between what is now called Republicans and Democrats. Nowadays, Republicans tend to want less government control, while the Democrats are more pro-government. To add on to this, Washington even warns Hamilton about “partisan fighting,” when he decides to retire (209). Something we still see today as well.

The concept of time and history is also seen on page 273 when Hamilton is shot and dies during the duel with Burr. Before being shot, time freezes, and Hamilton wonders, “Legacy. What is a Legacy? It’s planting seeds in a garden you’ll never get to see.” This statement still rings true today, as many of the laws and foundations which our founding fathers started and worked on are still very much alive today, even if they are not.

There is nothing new going on in my tutoring lessons lately, except that my student is still very much eager to learn, and still likes taking up every minute of the lesson. I still really enjoy the lessons as well and feel like they go by extremely fast. We could easily spend a whole 60 minutes just talking about simple things like numbers, or vocabulary.