{"id":110337,"date":"2020-11-11T20:46:54","date_gmt":"2020-11-11T17:46:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/research-sheds-light-on-alexander-hamilton-as-slave-owner\/"},"modified":"2020-11-11T20:46:54","modified_gmt":"2020-11-11T17:46:54","slug":"research-sheds-light-on-alexander-hamilton-as-slave-owner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/research-sheds-light-on-alexander-hamilton-as-slave-owner\/","title":{"rendered":"#Research sheds light on Alexander Hamilton as slave owner"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Research sheds light on Alexander Hamilton as slave owner<\/strong>”
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\n ALBANY, NY \u2014 A new research paper takes a swipe at the popular image of Alexander Hamilton as the abolitionist founding father, citing evidence he was a slave trader and owner himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot only did Alexander Hamilton enslave people, but his involvement in the institution of slavery was essential to his identity, both personally and professionally,\u201d Jessie Serfilippi, an interpreter at a New York state historic site, wrote in a paper published last month.<\/p>\n

Hamilton is almost universally depicted as an abolitionist in popular modern works, from Ron Chernow\u2019s 2004 biography, \u201cHamilton,\u201d to Lin-Manuel Miranda\u2019s Tony Award-winning show, \u201cHamilton: An American Musical.\u201d<\/p>\n

But after poring over ledgers and correspondence of Hamilton and his wife, Eliza Schuyler Hamilton, Serfilippi, who works at the Schuyler Mansion State Historic Site in Albany, concluded that image falls short.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is vital that the myth of Hamilton as \u2018the Abolitionist Founding Father\u2019 end,\u201d Serfilippi writes in the paper, entitled, \u201c\u2018As Odious and Immoral a Thing\u2019: Alexander Hamilton\u2019s Hidden History as an Enslaver.\u201d<\/a> Her research was published on the New York state park system website.<\/p>\n

The paper adds to a concern voiced by many academics<\/a> that the fictitious Hamilton of the musical, who attacks slavery in a rap battle with Thomas Jefferson, is just that: fictitious.<\/p>\n

\u201cFascinating article,\u201d tweeted Harvard Law professor and historian Annette Gordon-Reed, who has criticized the Broadway show in the past. \u201cReminds of the ubiquitous nature of slavery in the colonial period and the early American republic. Alexander Hamilton as an enslaver broadens the discussion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chernow called the paper a \u201cterrific research job that broadens our sense of Hamilton\u2019s involvement in slavery in a number of ways.\u201d But he questioned her claim that slavery was \u201cessential to his identity,\u201d and said Serfilippi omitted information that would contradict her conclusions.<\/p>\n

For example, Chernow noted Hamilton\u2019s work with the Manumission Society to abolish slavery in New York and defend free Blacks when slave masters from out of state tried to snatch them off New York streets.<\/p>\n

\u201cHad she tried to reconcile these important new findings with a full and fair statement of Hamilton\u2019s anti-slavery activities, we would have gotten a large and complex view of the man and her paper would have been far more persuasive,\u201d Chernow said via email.<\/p>\n

Miranda declined to comment through his publicist. In past interviews, he\u2019s said he welcomes discussion of both Hamilton\u2019s role in slavery and criticism of his show\u2019s handling of that part of his life.<\/p>\n

When Hamilton married into the powerful Schuyler family in 1780, slavery was common among New York state\u2019s elite. More than 40 people were enslaved at the Schuyler family\u2019s Albany mansion and another estate over the years. The historic site has done extensive research into the family\u2019s so-called \u201cservants\u201d and incorporates it into its tours.<\/p>\n

Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan ordered the removal of the Maj. Gen. Philip Schuyler statue earlier this year in part because he was \u201creportedly the largest owner of enslaved people in Albany during his time,\u201d according to the mayor\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

Serfilippi challenges the often repeated claim that Hamilton\u2019s exposure to the brutalities of slavery during his childhood on St. Croix instilled a hatred of slavery. She said \u201cno primary sources have been found to corroborate\u201d that.<\/p>\n

Biographers have noted that Hamilton helped legal clients and family members buy and sell slaves, but they\u2019ve been less clear on whether he enslaved people himself. Serfilippi said notations in his cash books and in family letters clearly show he did.<\/p>\n

For example, Hamilton\u2019s cash books record a payment of $250 to Philip Schuyler in 1796 for \u201c2 Negro servants purchased by him for me.\u201d Another entry records receiving $100 for lending a \u201cNegro boy\u201d to another person. And Serfilippi notes an inventory made of Hamilton\u2019s property to settle his affairs after his death in the duel with Aaron Burr in 1804 includes \u201cservants\u201d valued at 400 pounds.<\/p>\n

Joanne Freeman, Yale history professor and editor of the Library of America edition of Hamilton\u2019s writings, said via email that, \u201cIt\u2019s fitting that we are reckoning with Hamilton\u2019s status as an enslaver at a time that is driving home how vital it is for white Americans to reckon \u2014 seriously reckon \u2014 with the structural legacies of slavery in America.\u201d<\/p>\n

Serfilippi said her research interest goes beyond debunking myths about Hamilton.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe truth revealed in Hamilton\u2019s cash books and letters must be acknowledged in order to honor the people he enslaved,\u201d she writes. \u201cThrough understanding and accepting Hamilton\u2019s status as an enslaver, the stories of the people he enslaved can finally take their rightful place in history.\u201d\n <\/p><\/div>\n

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Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“#Research sheds light on Alexander Hamilton as slave owner” ALBANY, NY \u2014 A new research paper takes a swipe at the popular image of Alexander Hamilton as the abolitionist founding father, citing evidence he was a slave trader and owner himself. \u201cNot only did Alexander Hamilton enslave people, but his involvement in the institution of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":110338,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/11\/AP_20315726208307-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[79537,79661,25540,5378,61514,21170],"class_list":["post-110337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-11-11-20","tag-alexander-hamilton","tag-hamilton","tag-history","tag-research","tag-slavery"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110337"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110337\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}