Musical “Hamilton” Receives Backlash, Accused Of Romanticizing Alexander Hamilton & Downplaying Him Trading Slaves + Sparks #CancelHamilton 

Musical “Hamilton” Receives Backlash, Accused Of Romanticizing Alexander Hamilton & Downplaying Him Trading Slaves + Sparks #CancelHamilton 

Recently Disney Plus added the hit Broadway Musical ‘Hamilton’ to its streaming platform. ‘Hamilton’ is a musical by American playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda that tells the story of American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton. The musical is famous for having a music score that draws heavily from hip-hop and R&B. It’s also known for casting non-white men as the Founding Fathers. Since its premiere in 2015, ‘Hamilton’ has received critical acclaim and won over 10 awards at the 2016 Tony Awards.

Following ‘Hamilton’s’ Disney Plus Debut the musical has received backlash online, with many people accusing the musical of romanticizing who Alexander Hamilton was as a person. Also, for downplaying the role of slaves during the American Revolution. 

Prior to ‘Hamilton’s’ streaming service premiere,  Lin-Manuel Miranda did an interview with NPR and addressed that the musical doesn’t currently deal with the issue of slavery.

“Although [Alexander Hamilton] voiced anti-slavery beliefs he remained complicit in the system. And other than calling out Jefferson on his hypocrisy with regards to slavery in Act 2, [the show] doesn’t really say much else over the course of Act 2. And I think that’s actually pretty honest. He didn’t really do much about it. None of them did. None of them did enough. And we say that, too, in the final moments. So that hits differently now because we’re having a conversation, we’re having a real reckoning of ‘How do you uproot an original sin?’”  

This past May Lin-Manuel Miranda also issued an apology for not speaking up for the Black Lives Matter movement sooner. 

We stand on the side of justice. Black Lives Matter. Take action now in the links below. #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/Y6T1tDNABF

— Hamilton (@HamiltonMusical) May 31, 2020

What are your thoughts on Hamilton? Let us know in the comments.