Using the musical 'Hamilton' as a starting point and a foil, this course examines Alexander Hamilton's life, work, and impact in the context of his rapidly changing world. The course addresses some of the central issues tied to Hamilton's life and career in both the Caribbean and the English colonies of North America: class and social mobility, the origins and character of the American Revolution, gender relations and ideas in the new republic, plantation slavery and controversies about it, the problems of unity and nation-building, the development of a US economy and financial system, party competition and democratic mobilization, the United States' relationship to world powers.
History