Are You Normal Or Did You Feel Melancholy When You Realized That The Historical Figures You Think Of

are you normal or did you feel melancholy when you realized that the historical figures you think of as the "young generation" due to the time period you engage with, were one day the old ones? because i saw art of lafayette and washington's aides de camp right above art on henry clay's generation and it hit me like a sucker punch.

yes they are all dead white men from over a century ago but damn. alexa, play the times they are a-changin.

hamilton dies in schuylkill river au (but also role reversal: laurens)

are you normal or did you feel melancholy when you realized that the historical figures you think of as the "young generation" due to the time period you engage with, were one day the old ones? because i saw art of lafayette and washington's aides de camp right above art on henry clay's generation and it hit me like a sucker punch.

yes they are all dead white men from over a century ago but damn. alexa, play the times they are a-changin.

back on my bullshit y'all. implausible historical scenario: southern alexander hamilton (pt 1: lavien & laurens version)

Part 2: Washington's son dramatic-ass version

my favorite hobby is shoving historical figures into impossible scenarios so i can get them to do what i want. once again made up some convoluted series of events just to create a hamilton wildly out of character- god forbid, a southerner who might even get along with thomas jefferson. here's the first implausible scenario that make it possible.

Alexander goes to live with his half brother Peter Lavien.

Peter Lavien was the legitimate child of Rachel Hamilton’s first marriage. He moved to Beaufort, South Carolina in 1764 at eighteen and became a prominent merchant and member of the church. However, he returned to St. Croix in 1769 to settle his mother’s estate, aka get everything that she had wanted to go to James Jr. and Alexander. In 1769, the two boys were taken in by their cousin Peter Lytton (who died), and then Lytton’s father, who also died a month later. Probable that this happened after Lavien had once again left St. Croix, but let’s just imagine that he for some reason takes pity on the boys - and takes them with him. Nothing makes sense here, roll with it.

It would be even sadder and morbidly funny if he only took Alexander. I say this because in his 1778 last Will and Testament Lavien left “Alexander Hamilton and his brother Robert Hamilton” a fairly substantial amount of money. One brother must’ve left a greater impression on him and maybe poor James Jr. hears this half brother who took his inheritance say “Alex and Robert can come with me” and goes “Who tf is Robert, fuck this” and peaces out. 

Now, politically: Extrapolating since I’m not sure how prominent “prominent merchant” is, but maybe this means that Alex has the chance to meet prominent southerners early on, who like many others, are charmed by his energy and precocity. Does this mean he has more affection and allegiance for South Carolina than he did in real life for St. Croix? Does his politics and economic experience change? Assuming that like Washington, wartime experience is enough to make him a nationalist and he still had some experience at Cruger’s (and maybe helping Lavien) and thus does not have differing economic beliefs, his enemies would lose out on a major attack: perceived bias to the North. His connection to the Schuyler family would still serve, but maybe without as much weight, since he has those southern connections. 

I love the idea of a South Carolinian Alexander Hamilton who grows up in a fairly secure American home with a steady guardian. The personal implications! The family drama of being forced to rely on a half brother who resents you for taking his mom, and who you resent back for taking your inheritance! Does this give him more issues, less issues? No idea! Even worse, Lavien was apparently a Tory, so there’s that. Two brothers who perhaps got closer over the years, split apart again by political differences. “I take pity on a bastard brat and you repay me with this?” type shit. Lavien moved out to Georgia in 1777, and apparently died in 1780 or 1781 which means Hamilton would’ve been a prominent aide de camp to the commander in chief, and potentially married into a great New York family when it happens. How would he react to that?

And I can’t give up the idea of Colonel Alexander Hamilton of South Carolina meeting John Laurens of South Carolina. Maybe I push it further and say they meet early on and become childhood friends, even.

This is really stretching it but idc, they get to be childhood friends and Hamilton gains the favor of Henry Laurens. Maybe they even go to Europe together, wreak havoc on everything, and then disobey both Laurens' worried father and Alexander's Tory brother to join the army as aide de camps.

Maybe in this universe, Hamilton is chosen to go to South Carolina instead of John Laurens and their fates are switched. Maybe Henry Laurens who still wants to keep his kid out of danger asks Hamilton to go in his stead and pushes Washington about it, and Hamilton, wanting a command, readily agrees. Maybe that continues on after Yorktown, when Hamilton returns to South Carolina. Maybe Laurens has to learn that Hamilton died in a skirmish through a letter from his father and vows to continue on their shared dreams and Hamilton's plans, becoming the influential but even more abrasive leader of the federalist party. i want to see the switch, where it's the more idealistic laurens who isn't a good politician either (the two of them are a disaster) enters the public arena to be slandered and corrupted - laurens who is isolated from his fellow southerners and who seems to be mourning someone constantly and washington knowing exactly who it is. a laurens who looks back and yearns for a promising, brilliant young man who could've done so much more if he only had the chance WAIT WHO SAID THAT-

the mcu is just the front for american military propaganda promoted to hide the true powerhouse which is turn's sexy george washington.

Every time I rewatch Turn I end up forgetting that for some unholy reason they cast a hot Washington and his introduction gives me fucking whiplash

no because this moment right here? earth 👏 shattering 👏 television👏

i'm sorry i can't relate 😭 i'm a sucker for hamliza so their kids have always felt like...kids? and i'll never escape that mindset?

but hey i know that a few of them lived crazy lives and poor john church got stuck reading his dad's private letters, so there's probably a lot of rich detail to dig into lmao! embrace the hamilton family's hotness, soldier!

are you normal or did you feel melancholy when you realized that the historical figures you think of as the "young generation" due to the time period you engage with, were one day the old ones? because i saw art of lafayette and washington's aides de camp right above art on henry clay's generation and it hit me like a sucker punch.

yes they are all dead white men from over a century ago but damn. alexa, play the times they are a-changin.

that's hilarious! both hamiltons coexist in my brain because i spent 50% on the actual war era and then 50% on the 1780s-1790s, probably because i've read a lot on the development of hamilton and washington's partnership. but i'm also not too interested in the hamilton kids so when i learned that some of the boys ended up being jacksonians? i was like...shut up you are a baby and your father is writing letters to your mother going "if i do not see you and the kids in the next five minutes i will physically implode" and you will STAY that way.

are you normal or did you feel melancholy when you realized that the historical figures you think of as the "young generation" due to the time period you engage with, were one day the old ones? because i saw art of lafayette and washington's aides de camp right above art on henry clay's generation and it hit me like a sucker punch.

yes they are all dead white men from over a century ago but damn. alexa, play the times they are a-changin.