This index to my writings on Alexander Hamilton was originally posted on my Substack account.

While watching the Hamilton musical in theaters last week, it occurred to me that I’ve written 5 books on Alexander Hamilton, and didn’t mention a single one of them in the Timeline 1700-1799 entries for the 1770s-1790s. This post belatedly makes up for that. (By the way, if you’re thinking you don’t want to see the musical Hamilton because rap’s not your thing, see this post on what changed my mind about it.)

Books

• Alexander Hamilton: A Brief Biography (92 pp., illus.). Includes extensive quotes from Hamilton, a timeline, and cross-references to my 2-vol. set Alexander Hamilton: A Friend to America, which has more details on most of the points covered in the Brief Biography.
• Alexander Hamilton: A Friend to America (2 vols., 416 + 312 pp., illus.). This is the print version, lightly edited, of a series of 70 or so posts related to the Hamilton musical that I wrote in 2016-2017. It includes extensive comments through 1797 (the Reynolds Affair pamphlet), with a selection of writings for 1798-1804. For more on the content and links to the original posts, see the heading below, “Posts that form the basis of Alexander Hamilton: A Friend to America.”
• Financial Programs of Alexander Hamilton (191 pp., illus., plus 200 more pp. with annotated versions of Hamilton’s reports). Hamilton’s financial programs of the 1790s, evaluated by looking at primary sources: Hamilton’s major reports to Congress, plus letters of Hamilton and his contemporaries.

• Alexander Hamilton and the Reynolds Affair (73 pp., illus.). Looks at the evidence in primary sources.

Assorted posts on Hamilton on DianneDuranteWriter.com

• Hamilton sculptures outdoors in New York City, including comments on how to evaluate a sculpture
• Hamilton sculpture by Benjamin Victor at the US Coast Guard Academy, dedicated 2018
• Did Alexander and Angelica have an affair? parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. An edited version of these posts appears as an appendix in Alexander Hamilton and the Reynolds Affair.

Posts that form the basis of Alexander Hamilton: A Friend to America

These are the topics covered in my 2-volume Alexander Hamilton: A Friend to America. The original (unedited) posts are still available on my website (links below). For the songs, the links are to Genius.com, which has annotated lyrics. Or go straight to the YouTube playlist of the soundtrack.

Volume 1

• Ch. 2: Hamilton’s “hurricane letter”, one of his earliest writings (re “Hurricane”)
• Ch. 3, 4, 5, 6: Hamilton’s friends / acquaintances Burr, Laurens, Lafayette, and Mulligan (re “Aaron Burr, Sir“, “My Shot”, and “The Story of Tonight“)
• Ch. 7: places to visit in NYC related to Hamilton
• Ch. 8: Hamilton’s first published political writing (re “My Shot”)
• Ch. 9: Hamilton’s “death wish” (re “My Shot” and “The World Was Wide Enough”)
• Ch. 11: Thomas Paine’s Common Sense (re “The Schuyler Sisters”)
• Ch. 12: Angelica Schuyler (re “The Schuyler Sisters” and “Satisfied”)
• Ch. 13: New York, 1625-1783 (re “Alexander Hamilton” and “The Schuyler Sisters”)
• Ch. 14: Hamilton vs. Seabury (re “Farmer Refuted”)
• Ch. 15: Royal and Revolutionary Rhetoric, 1756-1776 (re “My Shot”, “Story of Tonight”, “Farmer Refuted”, “You’ll Be Back”)
• Ch. 16: Hamilton joins Washington’s staff (re “Right Hand Man”)
• Ch. 17: Battle of Long Island and the American retreat (re “Right Hand Man”)
• Ch. 18: Hamilton as bachelor and meeting Elizabeth Schuyler (re “A Winter’s Ball”, “Helpless”, “Satisfied”)
• Ch. 19: Alexander and Eliza’s engagement and wedding, 1780 (re “A Winter’s Ball”, “Helpless”, “Satisfied”)
• Ch. 20: Hamilton asks for a military command (re “Stay Alive”, “Meet Me Inside”)
• Ch. 21: Young Philip, 1782 (re “Dear Theodosia”)
• Ch. 22: General Charles Lee and Valley Forge (re “Stay Alive,” “Ten Duel Commandments”)
• Ch. 23: Battle of Monmouth (re “Stay Alive”)
• Ch. 24: Charles Lee on trial (re “Stay Alive”)
• Ch. 25: Modern portrait bust of Hamilton by Zenos Frudakis
• Ch. 26: Aaron Burr, 1778-1783 (re “Wait for It”, “Ten Duel Commandments”, “Dear Theodosia”)
• Chs. 27, 28, 29: Dueling codes and the Lee-Laurens duel (re “Ten Duel Commandments”)
• Ch. 30: Hamilton resigns from Washington’s staff (re “Meet Me Inside”, “That Would Be Enough”)
• Ch. 31: Hamilton tackles economics (re “My Shot”, “Non-stop”)
• Ch. 32: French Aid, 1775-1781 (re “Guns and Ships”)
• Chs. 33 & 35: Alexander and Eliza’s rings, handkerchiefs, and wedding cake (re “Helpless” and “Satisfied”)
• Chs. 34, 36, 37, 39B: Yorktown (re “Guns and Ships“, “History Has Its Eyes on You“, “Yorktown“)
• Ch. 38: Was “World Turned Upside Down” sung at Yorktown? (re “Yorktown”)
• Ch. 39: Hamilton back in New York (re “Non-stop”)
• Ch. 40: Hamilton studies law (re “Non-stop”)
• Ch. 41: State of the Union after Yorktown (re “What Comes Next?” and “Non-stop”)
• Ch. 42: Laurens dies (re “Tomorrow They’ll Be More of Us”, not on the original soundtrack)
• Ch. 43: How does history differ from art (re “Who Tells Your Story”)
• Ch. 44A: Newburgh Mutiny, Spring 1783 (re “What Comes Next?” and “Non-stop”)
• Ch. 44B: Hamilton & Co. at 48 Wall St. (re “Non-stop” and “Cabinet Battle No. 1”)
• Ch. 45: blurb for Alexander Hamilton: A Brief Biography
• Ch. 46: Pennsylvania Mutiny, Summer 1783 (re “What Comes Next?” and “Non-stop”)

Volume 2

• Ch. 47: Hamilton defends former Loyalists in New York (re “Non-stop”)
• Ch. 48: Hamilton the abolitionist (re “Story of Tonight”)
• Ch. 49: “The Christmas Holidays are near at hand” (re “Dear Theodosia”)
• Ch. 50: Hamilton’s resume, Jan. 1787
• Ch. 51: Annapolis Convention, 1786 (re “Non-stop”)
• Ch. 52: Hamilton at the Constitutional Convention (re “Non-stop”)
• Chs. 53, 54, 55, 56, 57: Excerpts from Hamilton’s essays in Federalist Papers (re “Non-stop”)
• Ch. 58: Hamilton defends the Constitution at New York’s Ratification Convention, Jun.-Jul. 1788 (re “Non-stop”)
• Ch. 59: Hamilton becomes secretary of the Treasury (re “Non-stop”)
• Ch. 60: Hamilton’s First Report on Public Credit (re “Cabinet Battle No. 1”)
• Ch. 61: Hamilton on a national bank and the mint (re “Cabinet Battle No. 1”)
• Ch. 62: Hamilton’s Report on Manufactures (re “Cabinet Battle No. 1”)
• Chs. 63A, 63B, 63C: Reynolds Affair: all the available letters and documents, printed out in chronological order, including an outline (with excerpts) of The Reynolds Pamphlet (re “Say No to This”, “We Know”, “Hurricane”, “Reynolds Pamphlet”, “Burn”).
• Ch. 64: Selection of Hamilton’s writings, 1798-1804 (re “Cabinet Battle No. 2”, “Election of 1800”)

More

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