Icarusbetide - Aegis And The Lightning Rod - Tumblr Blog

Are you a history major?

hey anon, i am not a history major. i am merely a humble student who spends her free time reading about 18th century politics & medicine and volunteering at project gutenberg. it's weird. i don't know why i like it. i question my life choices every day.

hiya!! so i’ve got a couple books that might be useful for the amrev resource folder, but they’re most definitely secondary sources so i’m not sure they’re quite what you’re looking for, and on top of that they’re physical copies so i wouldn’t know how to get them into the folder haha

that said, i could hunt through their bibliographies for anything that’s a primary source, if that helps? this folder could be really useful for projects, research, or for simply browsing by people who are interested, and i’d love to help out if i can!!

hey anon!! thank you so much for wanting to contribute and also for bringing up a great point: am i looking for secondary sources?

the answer is yes. please. my dumbo thought that led to this whole thing was "i have a bunch of hamilton books and research papers but i bet there's a lot more out there. lol wouldn't it be cool if we could have everything in one place". secondary sources are absolutely appreciated and are probably going to be the majority of the folder.

as of now, i'm planning over-ambitiously and making folders for full books which includes biographies, historical fiction, etc. i even have a section for resources specific to amrev based media such as the hamilton the musical commentary book, demos, etc.

tldr: i'm hoping that this resource folder will have something for everyone so please do not hesitate to share anything related to amrev. it could be a comic strip. an interview with ian kahn about turn amc. whatever you have.

i do think that if they're physical copies it might be difficult to get into the folder unless you somehow scan every single page - but feel free to drop the title and basic description in the google form once it's open, so i can put it on my radar and look out for it anyways! i'm really really touched that you want to help out. please don't feel obligated but if you would like to browse the bibliographies and maybe send a list of things i should try to add? that would be amazing and helpful!

Was all excited about the prospect of spamming your eventual AmRev Resource Folder Google form with all the stuff I’ve collected for The American Icarus, and then I went and looked… between my folder of bookmarks in Chrome, my TAI volume chapter-by-chapter outlines, and a few things elsewhere, there’s about 200+ individual things (mostly specific letters) 😂

So… a giant Google Doc will be headed your way eventually because dear god.

These are moments I wonder why I took on this project… most of the above is just for volumes one and two. Of five.

All this to say, I can’t wait to see the final product of this resource folder. This is awesome—and making it a community effort is so fun!

I am very excited to receive this giant Google Doc and can only wince in excitement at the humongous task you've set upon yourself...

Thanks for being such an encouraging voice (enabler cough cough) although I do think I have the easier end of things as someone just collecting compiling and categorizing. Now writing five volumes...dear god.

Lmao I'd bust a nut to a pic of Hamilton but he definitely is not whatever the hell last anon describes him to be. 6/10 looks at best, and his personality... well, safe to say if I ever heard him uttering a sentence on his own accord in a 100 mile radius of myself I would be packing my bags to Australia faster than ron chernow finishes when he sees a pic of alex.

anon so much of what you said would've been more convincing if you took out the first ten words of this ask

aham is not "lowkey hot". he is magnificent. his orbs are violet-blue, his hair is smooth like silk, his body is effiminate in all the right places and his curves enchant even the straightest of men, when he talks angel saunter vaguely from the sky and start singing, his words are what keeps all of us from being doomed forever in the eyes of god. have some respect for the king of gingers...

suggestions for the amrev resource folder that nobody asked for?

i have the structure worked out and want to start adding resources in there: if anyone has any suggestions on edits to make beforehand, pls do so!

Shared Google folder with subfolders:

Events (Resources centered on "events"/"periods": aka Pre-War, Wartime Experience, Constitutional Convention, Federal Period, maybe even just "General")

Topics (Sexuality, Religion, Race, Fashion, etc.)

Figures (Hamilton, Burr, Jefferson, etc. with folders of their own separating their biographies, letters, primary sources, etc.)

Primary Sources (Inside: Newspapers, Letters, etc.)

Inspired (Section for media based on amrev period: thinking Hamilton, 1776, George Washington: Founding of a Nation, Turn. For instance, someone shared their Hamilton musical commentary book, so that'll be a resource under this folder)

NA (resources that don't fit and/or are about things that are too sparse for a specific category quite yet)

Along with this, I have made:

Masterlist: Google Sheet with every single resource in the folder. I'm working on making it sortable by tag (for larger category, specific topics, people, etc.)

Wishlist: A Google Sheet where you can add resources you've like to see but have no access to. Once they've been added to the folder, they'll be crossed off.

Submission Form: Anonymous Google form for anyone to submit resources. File upload or long answer section where you can give me contact info/link to your own folder are both options.

Help & Advice Form: If something doesn't make sense or you think there's a better way to do things, submit here.

RateTheResource: Google doc where you can write out your review/thoughts on a specific resource you are familiar with. I thought it might be helpful to provide context, especially for biographies, on bias level, etc.

this is absolutely incredible and i cannot thank you enough! forget the folder, i've got enough reading material for the next year...

amrev resource folder?

i was wondering if anyone would be interested in collaborating with each other to make a shared folder with various amrev resources? i have quite a few documents and books on hamilton and a few relevant figures, and i thought it might be cool to toss out the idea and see if anyone else might like to contribute. i'm sure there's a lot out there that would be very hard to find organically.

have finished the setup! working on a google form for submission uploads! probably should not sound so optimistic so early but i know myself and that i need public accountability to get things done sooo...

amrev resource folder?

i was wondering if anyone would be interested in collaborating with each other to make a shared folder with various amrev resources? i have quite a few documents and books on hamilton and a few relevant figures, and i thought it might be cool to toss out the idea and see if anyone else might like to contribute. i'm sure there's a lot out there that would be very hard to find organically.

I can't do this anymore

A.Ham is here !

You mean this wasn’t what their administrations were like?

broke down and started making spreadsheets and folders like it's my job

amrev resource folder?

i was wondering if anyone would be interested in collaborating with each other to make a shared folder with various amrev resources? i have quite a few documents and books on hamilton and a few relevant figures, and i thought it might be cool to toss out the idea and see if anyone else might like to contribute. i'm sure there's a lot out there that would be very hard to find organically.

amrev resource folder?

i was wondering if anyone would be interested in collaborating with each other to make a shared folder with various amrev resources? i have quite a few documents and books on hamilton and a few relevant figures, and i thought it might be cool to toss out the idea and see if anyone else might like to contribute. i'm sure there's a lot out there that would be very hard to find organically.

*muttering to self at 4 am* hamilton got rejected from his first choice and did perfectly fine at king's college, perhaps did even better than he would've at princeton so obviously life has its ways and whatever happens happens, not that hamilton should be my role model or anything just that he got into a good college and i-

One of my favorite things is history of medicine because it reminds me that everything in the world is connected, if that makes sense? The medical practices and case studies of the time are going to reflect the science (duh), societal norms (especially having to do with race and gender), even political climate + economy.

Think of Philadelphia's yellow fever breakout in 1793: yes we get to see weird outdated techniques that probably did more harm than good, but there's so much more. There were the politicians reacting to it, officially as leaders and not. Jefferson thought disease might discourage urban life and promote agrarian culture. Hamilton got into beef (predictable) because he disapproved with Benjamin Rush (the leading doctor)'s treatment plan, who also happened to be politically opposed to him as a Dem-Republican. How the Contagionists aligned more with Federalists. It even sparked debate on the cause of the disease, on whether it was the French refugees who had brought it to America. Also the fact that black Philadelphians were vital to the response because it was thought that they were immune? The fascinating layers to that?

Anyways here's my daily reminder that if anyone says they don't like history, they probably haven't found their niche yet: and even in that niche, you're exposed to so much juicy information because nothing happens in a bubble, I love it.

watching college acceptance reaction videos

chat would alexander hamilton have rocked his common app essay or would he have rocked his common app essay

Dayum boi

i really hate those historical bastard orphans who are sons of whores

also flat colors cause it’s funny to laugh at side by side

On the topic of people with whom hamilton had.. interesting relationships with, do you think him and bobby troup had something going on in college

hey anon! i'm going to be a spoilsport and say that i don't think there's enough for me to suspect anything between them. but the flip side to "we don't know enough :(" is "we don't know enough ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)". they could've been going through the girls-kissing-for-fun-at-sleepover experience as roommates and we'd have no idea, would we?

but what i do know is that they had a life-long, deep relationship that survived a war and all the interpersonal hurdles that comes along with their new york circle being 10 people in a trenchcoat. undergrad roommates at king's college, similar orphan-background. they formed a debating club together, and troup probably saw hamilton's political thoughts on the british-american conflict mature firsthand. later, he had thoughts on philip, on hamilton's financial situation, on how much hamilton charged his clients - he was very intimate and close with the hamilton family at large.

there is recent speculation on whether or not troup "losing" hamilton's youthful poetry that he had been gifted might suggest that the poetry had suggestive material, à la laurens letters. but i don't know why troup would have even brought it up if he had destroyed or tampered the poetry. it seems more likely that he genuinely lost track of the papers and regretted losing them.

i do find it superbly interesting that troup was close to burr as well as hamilton, although i've heard conflicting things on the period and overlap of the friendships, and how troup felt about burr after the duel. there is a very dramatic theory that troup might have been involved with both hamilton and burr.

two of my favorite anecdotes are about them fussing over each other.

troup giving ham updates to rufus king in his 1802 letter, where he goes "Hamilton is closely pursuing the law, and I have at length succeeded in making him somewhat mercenary. I have known him latterly to dun his clients for money, and in settling an account with me the other day, he reminded me that I had received a fee for him in settling a question referred to him and me jointly. These indications of regard to property give me hopes that we shall not be obliged to raise a subscription to pay for his funeral expenses."

i love it because it's so very clearly a close friend fond and amused, you know? "he reminded me that i owe him his fee! the progress!"

2. the fact that troup was the last visit ham made before the duel, and it was him being a mom friend again? troup himself was very sick, and he later recounted that ham showed up and basically gave health advice with such cheerfulness that troup had no idea what was about to happen the next day. it's so very tragic.

"But the whole tenor of the General’s deportment, during the visit, manifested such composure, and cheerfulness of mind, as to leave me without an suspicion of the rencontre that was descending."

tldr: at the very least, a decades long friendship between two people that seemed to have complimentary personalities - the calm to hamilton's storm, in some ways. one of ham's steadfast friends who contributed greatly to the subscription for hamilton's funeral and support for his family. was there more? youthful experimentation, perhaps? let's bring them back and ask.

original random internet user robert troup

1795 to Hamilton:

I sincerely hope that we shall both save our heads and that you may by some fortunate & unexpected event acquire the means of perfect independence in spite of all your efforts to be poor. I have an interest in an event of this nature which perhaps you have forgotten. I have often said that your friends would be obliged to bury you at their own expence. 

1802 to Rufus King:

Hamilton is closely pursuing the law, and I have at length succeeded in making him somewhat mercenary. I have known him latterly to dun his clients for money, and in settling an account with me the other day, he reminded me that I had received a fee for him in settling a question referred to him and me jointly. These indications of regard to property give me hopes that we shall not be obliged to raise a subscription to pay for his funeral expenses.

i'm currently getting jostled on the train but i wanted to try answering to the best of my ability, and i'm sure others can add on/clarify.

tldr: i wouldn't trust tiktok for accurate information. i think i know what kind of post you're referring to, the "alexander hamilton rizzler he pulled all these people" edits have gone around before. they're often made in a joking way to point out hamilton's charm, but for most of these people, i think it's fair to say that the objective evidence says close relationship or at least interesting relationship, and it's too far to suggest an affair. like so much, most of the *evidence* would be anecdotes and letters.

Meade: probably one of hamilton's closest intimates during the war as another aide. it's been speculated that he knew about ham's relationship with laurens, and he was specifically pointed out by ham in this famous letter to laurens in 1780:

"I hate Congress - I hate the army - I hate the world - I hate myself. The whole is a mass of fools and knaves; I could almost except you and Meade."

meade is also the aide who went into the chimney to read hamilton's letters privately, as said by mchenry to hamilton:

"Meade writes you all that is interesting, and conducts the most weighty matters with a great deal of cunning sagacity. He thrust himself up the chimney this morning, while we were dressing round the fire, in order to be more at liberty as I supposed to read your letter, or hide any thing it might contain, from profane eyes"

so yes, i would say an incredibly close friend, but not much to go for romantic entanglement.

Burr: oh hamburr my beloved. he and hamilton obviously shared one of the most fascinating political and personal relationships of the time. there are striking moments, like the time when hamilton might've prevented burr's suicide by helping him with his money troubles, especially compared to hamilton's combative, almost obsessive political attitude towards him. and of course, the famous "and there was the poetry" anecdote about burr after ham's death, where he stroked a bust of hamilton while sighing or something like that. i do want to note that burr often took on a cavalier, almost showy attitude towards hamilton after the duel, and much of that "there was the poetry" moment was probably him playing it up, rather than a sincere, tender moment if that makes sense.

again, in good conscience, cannot say there's much evidence for romantic feelings. don't get me wrong, they could've had hate-you-but-also-so-intrigued-by-you sex at some point during their intertwined careers but we just don't know.

Lafayette: probably the relationship most objectively reasonable to debate over. he, laurens, and hamilton were all very close to each other, but lafayette seemed especially fond of hamilton and struck an strong connection with him very early on, as "a man whom I love very much and about whom I have occasionally spoken to you [his wife]".

"Hamilton was to me, my dear Sir, more than friend, he was a brother. We were both very young, when associated with our common father; our friendship, formed in days of peril and glory, suffered no diminution from time: with Tilghman and with Laurens, I was upon terms most affectionate; but with Hamilton, my relations were brotherly."

so much love!! maybe romantic? but then he says "brotherly"!

their letters are very cute and a lot of it is lafayette whining about hamilton ghosting him.

“What is the matter with my dear Hamilton and by what chance do I live in fruitless expectation of some lines from him? Does it begin to be the play in your, or rather in our Country, to take European airs, and forget friends as soon as they have turned their heels?

there's the ambiguity of Romantic florid language vs actual romantic feelings and the very demonstrative nature of friendships at that time. but i wouldn't be surprised if lafayette did have a small crush on hamilton, or at least a huge amount of affection.

Andre: the one where hamilton had the crush! he writes about andre to laurens, bemoaning his circumstances, at length. like at length. here's a short excerpt:

There was something singularly interesting in the character and fortunes of André. To an excellent understanding well improved by education and travel, he united a peculiar elegance of mind and manners, and the advantage of a pleasing person. ’Tis said he possessed a pretty taste for the fine arts, and had himself attained some proficiency in poe⟨try,⟩ music and painting. His knowlege appeared without ostentation, and embellished by a diffidence, that rarely accompanies so many talents and accomplishments, which left you to suppose more than appeared. His sentiments were elevated and inspired esteem. they had a softness that conciliated affection. His elocution was handsome; his address easy, polite and insinuating. By his merit he had acquired the unlimited confidence of his general and was making a rapid progress in military rank and reputation. But in the height of his career, flushed with new hope from the execution of a project the most beneficial to his party, that could be devised, he was at once precipitated from the summit of prosperity and saw all the expectations of his ambition blasted and himself ruined.

he also famously protested andre's execution and manner of execution (hanging) to washington, to no avail. once again, he wrote to laurens, "Never perhaps did any man suffer death with more justice, or deserve it less", "Among the extra ordinary circumstances that attended him, in the midst of his enemies, he died universally esteemed and universally regretted". that probably did some damage to hamilton's strained relationship with washington as well.

i think he was going "i don't know if i want to be him or be with him" to some level lmao. but not sure if there's any anecdotes about how andre felt about him? probably grateful and pleased to have someone in his corner in that unfamiliar, intense situation.

Tallmadge: not sure why he was included at all, actually. i haven't seen a huge amount of letters or even personal letters between the two, although i might have missed something. there is a lot of potential for interesting scenarios in their respective positions during the war for sure, but i just don't know enough lol.

YALL PLEASE HELP ME AND TELL ME IF THIS IS WRONG.. someone on TikTok was saying Alexander had an affair/romantic thing with Meade, Burr, Lafayette, Andre and Tallmadge (separate times obvs) but like HUH WHEN WHAT WHY