My Shot

In this song, Alexander Hamilton is talking about not blowing his shot. Hamilton says that he's got a lot of brains but no polish. Does the no polish stem from his upbringing? I think what Hamilton is saying is, he's really smart but doesn't know how to act in social settings. He also says he's a diamond in the rough, which I think means that people don't recognize his potential, so he gets passed up for opportunities that he would excel at, like fighting and calling "shots" in the revolution. In this song he also talks about wanting to fight for the rights of the people, and how he would do anything for the revolution. I wonder if this also has something to do with his upbringing? I think he felt like he didn't have any rights as an orphan, or as a person coming from the Caribbean Islands, so he felt he would know the best way to help people attain those rights, since he didn’t have any. I think that Hamilton thought highly of himself, and wanted to prove himself to the people who wrote him off before they even knew what he could do. I also think that Hamilton wanted to compensate for not having anyone on his side as a child, and wanted to win everyone over with his smarts and his ability to be powerful in the revolution, but ended up coming across as arrogant or conceited. In the end Hamilton did prove that he knew a lot about helping people gain footing when they had none, and helping to set up society after the revolution, but the way he went about it made people not like him, and thus not listen to him until after he was dead. Then they realized the potential he really did have and all the strides he had made while he was alive.

Aaron Burr, Sir

In this song, Aaron Burr, Sir, Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton meet each other for the first time, Hamilton is sent to be at Burr's service. According to the lyrics in the song, Hamilton aspires to be like Burr. He wants to graduate early and join the revolution, and asks Burr for advice on how he got to where he was. As the song progresses, Burr and Hamilton go to a tavern to enjoy a drink. Burr gives Hamilton some advice, he says, "Wanna get ahead? Fools who run their mouths off wind up dead." I did some research to learn more about the two characters, and found that both were orphans, but they came from different situations, and they both wanted to prevail during the time of the revolution. I'm wondering if when Burr told Hamilton to talk less and smile more, if he revealed a weakness that he has with other people? Does he not have a tolerance for younger men who don't know when to stop talking? I personally think that he did reveal a character flaw, and that Hamilton took advantage of that. I think that Hamilton took that little piece of information and pushed Burr, because Hamilton wanted to be in the position that Burr was in. This eluded to the dual in the end that left Hamilton dead, which put an end to the feud between the two, and was basically an "I told you so" from Burr to Hamilton, and I suppose anyone else who wanted to get in Aaron Burrs way. I also wonder if the two men coming from the same sort of background made Burr more inclined to give Hamilton advice? I think Burr felt like Hamilton needed some help in understanding how he should climbed to the top, but I don't think their background influenced Burr giving Hamilton advice. I also wonder though, that if Hamilton had taken Burrs advice and talked less and smiled more, would he have made the impact that he had? I think that there could've been a common middle ground and they could've worked together, instead, Hamilton became a hero and a victim, and Burr became a villain at the end.