American Experience (TV Series) Alexander Hamilton (2007) User Reviews

Pursuit of Honor.

[rmax304823 · 7/10 · 5 July 2015]

What a beginning! Alexander Hamilton was born in 1755 on a tiny island in the Caribbean -- illegitimate at a time when being a bastard was taken seriously -- and his Scottish father promptly deserted his family. Since he was illegitimate, he couldn't attend a Christian school. Then his mother died. Then he was farmed out to live with an uncle who committed suicide. He was revolted by the slave trade. And these are known as "the formative years."

But he was ambitious and smart, such an admirable teen-aged clerk that in 1773 the community funded his education in the American colonies, a territory that was filled with unrest. He was swept up into it. He enrolled in King's College, now Columbia University. The head of the college was a Tory and when a mob stormed the campus, ready to tar and feather him, Hamilton stood on the doorstep and lectured them that this was not an honorable way to conduct a revolution. He may have been a rebel but he believed in order and discipline. The would-be victim escaped by climbing over a fence, as I had to when Columbia was shut down by a student takeover in 1968, only I was going the other way.

During the war, Washington saw the virtues in young Hamilton and made him aide de camp. In battle he was recklessly heroic. Colonel Hamilton was dashing and handsome and wowed the women. The one he chose to marry was from a wealthy old Dutch family but he evidently loved her and their offspring. After the war, he became a lawyer in six months instead of the usual three years. (He really was very smart.)

There was quibbling among the states. They considered themselves politically sovereign entities. They didn't use the same money; they didn't follow the same laws. Most of the founders were loyal to their states. Except Hamilton -- who had no state to be loyal to. It bent him towards a central government. The program doesn't say so but I'd bet that his having grown up in a staging area for the slave trade was another influence on his desire for clearly defined authority.

It would also be a good guess that he'd read the English philosopher Thomas Hobbes who had argued that man without society was a savage. It was a brutal view of human beings. According to Hobbes, people choose to enter a social contract, giving up some of their liberties in order to enjoy peace. The alternative is a "war of all against all." This thought experiment is a test for the legitimation of a state in fulfilling its role as "sovereign" to guarantee social order.

Hamilton was Washington's first Secretary of the Treasury when the new nation was deep in debt. Instead of reputing or defaulting, Hamilton not only arranged to pay back the debt incurred by the federal government but by all the states as well.

It sounds crazy. But, as we've learned, Hamilton was smart. Most of the state debts were owed to wealthy aristocrats and Hamilton wanted their support. There is no better way of gaining someone's support than to owe them money. They pray that you flourish, which is one of the reasons I doubt we'll be at war with China in the near future.

Part One ends with a description of how Hamilton was set up for blackmail after having been seduced by a pitiful but attractive young woman. By this time, his success, especially at such an early age, had generated a good deal of envy and spite among the many enemies he'd made. And this frame wasn't the last of their attempts to ruin his public character. Why do I feel this would have taken less time to ruin his character if there had been an internet in 1791?

Underrated.

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 6 February 2012]

Alexander Hamilton was one of the strangest of the founding fathers in America. In some ways, he's incredibly noble and brilliant. And, in other ways, he's a stupid potato-head! A truly contradictory and fascinating man in this excellent episode of "The American Experience".

Like all episodes of this excellent PBS series, it's exquisitely produced and very, very watchable. It confuses me, then, that the film has a very mediocre overall rating--perhaps due to the very small number of ratings (where a few low scores can skew the overall figure). I like how they made the film--not just with narration but actors playing the various characters who talk to the audience. And, to do that, they use the actual writings of the people--their diaries, letters and books from the period. This keeps the film honest and accurate--and fascinating.

As far as Hamilton goes, he was a brilliant guy who, according to the film, was THE ultimate Federalist. It was he who pushed the hardest for the Constitutional convention, solved the huge problem with the national debt and was incredibly idealistic. But, he also had a knack for alienating people, was a very unwise adulterer and got himself killed due to his arrogance and foolishness. All this--wrapped up into just one man! Overall, another exceptional film--perhaps more interesting than some other films on the early American leaders because Hamilton was such a knucklehead! Intriguing and wonderful from start to finish.

By the way, pay attention when the film begins. This portion with a friend of Hamilton's trying to write his eulogy was rather funny and really encapsulated the man very well. Also, John Adams' comment about 'puppyhood' is pretty funny as well.

Could have been better

[Strabius · 5/10 · 24 June 2018]

I honestly feel like I learned more about Hamilton through outside sources. The most interesting part about this documentary was about his early career on the island of Nevis. Other than that, all other information presented in this documentary was very run-of-the-mill textbook information, they even got one bit wrong: Martha Washington didn't really name a feral tomcat after Hamilton, that was a rumor made up by British loyalists to defame him. It felt very underwhelming, and even lazy, to have the actors sitting down requoting letters and rarely recreating the events described. I was also taken back by the actor playing Hamilton doing a vague British accent, the guy was from the Caribbean, his father was Scottish and his mother was of French-British descent, I seriously doubt he would have had a British accent.

There are a lot of things that this documentary does not address, some really cool facts that I honestly believe is worth mentioning when discussing the life of Alexander Hamilton. Such as:

They could have mentioned the hurricane that destroyed Hamilton's hometown, and it was his recording of the devastation that blew people away by his sheer brilliance at writing that convinced them to help him get on a boat to America for a proper education.

They could have mentioned how Hamilton stayed with Hercules Mulligan, an Irish immigrant and tailor, who helped Hamilton get into college upon arriving in New York. Mulligan's brother was affiliated with Crugers, whom Hamilton worked for on Nevis, so it's likely that Hamilton made plans ahead of time to stay with Mulligan through those connections. It was through Mulligan, as well, that Hamilton came to understand the American desire for revolution.

They could have also mentioned that Hamilton suffered from reoccurring Malaria; and from the winter of 1777 and almost all of January 1778, Hamilton suffered a near deadly fever that he thankfully overcame.

They could have mentioned the powerful friendship he shared with the Marquis de Lafayette (who Washington had introduced to Hamilton since he was fluent in French and Lafayette was still not very good at English)

They could have mentioned his relationship with John Laurens. Poor dear rash Laurens.

They could have mentioned how, at one point, Hamilton was so incredibly smitten after his time spent with Elizabeth Schuyler's that he forgot the password to get back into camp (I'm not kidding he wrote about this in a letter).

They could have mentioned how the letter describing his preference in women, as well as the letter where he writes "I hate congress... I hate myself" were both his letters to John Laurens, and that last letter also basically said "I hate everything but I could never hate you." Why didn't they mention Laurens?

They could have mentioned how upon returning home from the war, he immediately fell ill, possibly a combination of physical fatigue and also trauma from the war.

They could have mentioned how devastated he was when he received the letter of John Laurens' unexpected death in 1982. Why didn't they mention Laurens?

They could have mentioned how Hamilton never had a close relationship with anyone after losing Laurens. They seriously should have mentioned Laurens, why didn't they mention Laurens???

They could have mentioned his friendship with James Madison in the 1780s before Madison started to leave Hamilton due to differing politics, and was totally against Hamilton by the 1790s.

They could have mentioned the Yellow Fever epidemic in Philedelphia of 1793 when both Alexander and his wife Elizabeth contracted the sickness but overcame it.

They could have gone more in depth about the history of Aaron Burr and Hamilton's rivalry. They bring it up only when they talk about the Election of 1800, but their history goes back further than that.

They could have mentioned how Duels were outlawed everywhere, including New Jersey, except the punishment for it was less severe there (it warrants the death penalty everywhere else).

They could have mentioned how much of a good loving father he was to all of his 8 children, even becoming nurse-like whenever one of them was sick.

They could have gone more in depth into how Philip Hamilton's death affected the family. Their second oldest child, Angelica, was traumatized by the loss and mentally reverted back to being a child who still believed Philip was alive. When Eliza gave birth to their 8th and last child, they named him after their deceased son.

They could have mentioned his relationship with the Schuyler's: Philip, Angelica, and Peggy.

They could have mentioned his dying words to his wife "Remember you are a Christian".

They could have mentioned how in his final hours of life, Eliza gathered all of his children into the room and let him look upon them one last time.

They could have mention some of the little silly things Hamilton did in his life, like dare Goveneur Morris to pat President Washington on the back to greet him, which the poor man did and was given a cold stare that he described made him want to sink into the floor. Or how he had a neighbor who owned a pet monkey that Hamilton and Madison liked to visit and feed grapes. Or the time President Washington invited both him and Jefferson to accompany him on a fishing trip and it probably sucked ass.

There was so much more to this man that this documentary did not cover. It's really wasted opportunity. It mostly really really bothers me that they passed off John Laurens as "a fellow soldier", when the letters exchanged between the two men implies so much more between them. At the end of the day, this documentary really wasn't that bad, but was very standard and uninspiring, which is not Hamilton at all the guy was absolutely fascinating.