Meet Me Inside

   This song is about the war, and a little piece of Hamilton's past in the war. The song "Meet Me Inside," when I first heard it, made me think of how people say meet me in the parking lot at 3:30 when they want to fight someone. This song is basically about Hamilton wanting to shine and become Washington's right hand man.

  Hamilton says, "Lee called you out. We called his bluff," by this he means he knew that Lee didn't have any guts to stick with what he said, and Hamilton was able to "break" him, and prove to everyone that Lee was weak. 

   You can tell that Hamilton just wants to help defend Washington's honor, but by trying to defend him he aggravates allies, and starts infights.

   Washington says, "This war is hard enough without infighting- you solve nothing, you aggravate our allies to the south."

   Hamilton replies with, "Charles Lee, Thomas Conway these men take your name and they rake it through the mud."

   You can see that all Hamilton wants is for Washington to hold his reputation as high as Hamilton does for him. I wonder if Hamilton hadn’t grow up the way he did, as an illegitimate orphan, would he act the same way and want the same things? I also wonder if Hamilton wasn’t so keen on making a name for himself, and being known as someone who had helped win the war, if he would put as much effort into keeping Washington’s reputation as he did?

Ten Duel Commandments

This song is about the steps that they believe should be taken during a battle. There are multiple singers in this song, which leads us to believe that this is everyone's view on how things should be handled.

1. Demand Satisfaction- This is really funny, because Alexander Hamilton is also singing this song, and he says that he's never satisfied, I wonder if this is alluding to Hamilton wanting to be remembered as someone important during the war?
2. Have Friends- This is also funny, because Hamilton really only has his family( Eliza and Angelica) backing him and Washington, other than that it doesn't really seem like he has many friends.
3. Meet face to face- Later on, we know that Hamilton does a lot of writing, whether its about the affair, or just in general, it doesn't seem like Hamilton really goes out of his way to have face to face conversations.
4. Reach a Peace- I think Hamilton agreed with this he really didn't like confrontation, only if he thought it was required to save face, and make a name for himself.
5. Prepare for Death- I feel like Hamilton would do anything to make a name for himself, even if that meant death, as long as people knew he was involved in something great.
6. Leave a Note- We know that Hamilton did a lot of writing, I think that this was one of the commandments that he liked, He wanted to help aid in making America free, and he'd do anything for that cause.
7. Confess your Sins- This far in the show Hamilton doesn't have a lot of other sins, other than knowing who the Schuyler sisters were and what they were worth, and marrying Eliza to better his status that he was so ashamed of.
8. Last Chance to Negotiate- I think Hamilton did a lot of negotiating, whether is was to get in as Washington's right hand man, or later on about his affair.
9. Look them in the Eye- I think that this also applies to Hamilton's life, even thought he was an unwanted orphan, he never gave up on trying to be someone and make history. Even though he was ashamed of where he came from he never backed down.
10. Fire- I think that Hamilton was a bit of a hot head, he was always pushing peoples buttons, and he knew what he wanted and he wasn't going to stop until he go it.

I think that the Ten Duel Commandments though they were meant to represent how they thought they should fight in a war, I think that you can also apply them to Hamilton's life and personality in a way as well.

Stay Alive

   From this song I pulled that the Americans were the underdogs, and were at a disadvantage and had the possibility of losing. I wonder why Washington chose Hamilton as his right hand man if he didn't want him to call any shots? I don't think that Washington realized that they had different approaches until after they got into the thick of it and didn't trust that Hamilton could help them win, so he promoted others instead of Hamilton. I think that Washington liked the drive he saw in Hamilton to succeed, but didn't trust him to put the nations fate in his hands. I wonder if Hamilton's upbringing had anything to do with how he saw it fit to fight?

   I think that Hamilton wanted to prove he was the right choice when Washington picked him, and wanted to prove that he was more than just an illegitimate orphan. I also wonder if Washington influenced Hamilton or if Hamilton influenced Washington? Washington says, "Alex, listen. There's only one way for us to win this Provoke outrage, outright," but before that Hamilton had been saying that Washington was despondent, and he was writing all of his correspondents. I think that the thought of failure on both of their parts influenced them both to step up and take charge. Washington started dishing out orders once he found out that the calvary wasn't coming, and Hamilton backed him up the whole way, until he promoted someone else over him.

   Hamilton follows Washington's orders and does exactly as he says, and expects to be promoted, but instead Charles Lee is promoted. Which turns out to be the wrong decision, because Lee is a big scaredy cat and won't step up and take charge and go for it. When Lee fails, he begins to trash talk Washington, and Hamilton isn't very happy about that but Washington says, "Don't do a thing. History will prove him wrong. We have a war to fight, let's move along." I think that Washington knew that Hamilton only wanted the best for him, but knew that if he went after Lee, that he would blow his shot so he dismissed the bad talk and moved himself, Hamilton and the war right along in order to accomplish the ultimate goal and win.

work cited:

https://youtu.be/YX6-9OnHRCc?list=PLUSRfoOcUe4avCXPg6tPgdZzu--hBXUYx 

Satisfied

    In this song, Hamilton and Eliza get married, and Angelica gives a speech. Though she gives a speech and wishes them happiness and success, she later says, "I remember that night, I might just regret that night for the rest of my days." So why did Angelica continue to sit on the side lines and wish them well if she wasn't happy herself? Throughout the musical, you can tell that Angelica loves her sister Eliza, and only wants the best for her. She even puts her sisters wants and needs above her own happiness, which makes her seem like the ideal person, but in some ways she isn't.

   Throughout the musical, we see Angelica wishing Hamilton and Eliza well, but behind her sisters back we see her flirting with Hamilton, but during the affair she's definitely on her sister’s side, so it's hard to get a real read on Angelica. Is she really happy for her sister, or does she want to wiggle her way into her life so she can be around Hamilton? During this song there is back and forth between Hamilton and Angelica, where they both talk about how neither are ever satisfied, and later we find out that the only reason she didn't take Hamilton for herself, was because she wanted to make her dad proud and marry rich.

    As the song continues though, we learn more about Angelica's thoughts on Hamilton. She knew he was a social climber, but she was still attracted to him. Why didn't she take Hamilton, and leave her sisters to make her father proud, and finally become satisfied? Angelica is the oldest so she sees it as her duty to make her father proud, and lets her sisters be happy. She'll never be satisfied, because she doesn't have the man that she truly wants, but she knows that her sister is happy and that makes her happy. So she will settle in the end and wish them well and watch from the side lines as their life together progresses. 

work cited

https://youtu.be/f0EqxnWxlvY?list=PLUSRfoOcUe4avCXPg6tPgdZzu--hBXUYx

Helpless

   This song is about the love triangle between Hamilton, Eliza and Angelica. Eliza and Angelica are two of the Schuyler sisters and are both at a ball and see Hamilton for the first time. Eliza calls dibs and Angelica goes to Hamilton and introduces him to her sister. I wonder how hard it was for Angelica to let Eliza and Hamilton date? I understand that it's her sister and she loves her, but I think I would have a hard time letting my sibling date and eventually marry the man that I liked too. I personally don't think Angelica fought very hard. I think that if she wanted Hamilton she could've easily taken him, which shows how mature and in control she really is. I think this shows through the rest of the musical as other events progress.
   As the years go on though, Hamilton eventually messes up and has an affair, and Eliza eventually takes him back, and through it all Angelica has stuck by Eliza's side backing her the whole way. The real question here, is how did Eliza not notice all of the sexual tension that was between her sister and her husband? I'm not sure if she's just blindly in love with Hamilton and doesn't see anything beyond perfection when it comes to him, or if she knew it was there but knew her sister wouldn't act up on it. Throughout the musical you see Angelica support her sister and you also see her supporting Hamilton, and even though Angelica has always liked him, she has always been able to put her sister first and push her own happiness to the side so that her sister would be happy.

Right Hand Man

     In this song, Hamilton talks about wanting to be a right hand man. I wonder if wanting to make a name for himself made him seem stuck up? He didn't want to work under anyone, he wanted to be someone’s equal or better than them. He didn't settle for a job, so when George Washington asked him to be his right hand man, Hamilton was more than happy to step up and call some shots. I also think that the feud between Burr and Hamilton was fueled by this in some aspects. Burr wanted to be Washington's right hand man, but Hamilton was selected over him, and made great strides and progress. I think that this was just one of the many things that Lin Manuel Miranda made prominent on the list of things that Burr had when he reached his tipping point and killed Hamilton. 

    I wonder if Hamilton realized that he was getting on people’s bad sides and making the wrong kind of mark on the world? He wouldn't take a job that was offered to him unless it met his standards. I think that by Hamilton wanting to make his mark on the world, he may have come across as ungrateful, but I also think that he redeemed himself by helping win the revolutionary war at Washington's side. I believe that Washington was part of the reason for Hamilton's great success after the revolutionary war. He gave him the encouragement he needed to continue to make strides after the war was won.