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Act 1: Aaron Burr, Sir
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Hamilton, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Collaboration, Disagreement, and Democracy
Stories vs. History
Ambition and Mortality
Immigration and Diversity of Influence
Honor
Summary
Analysis
While Hamilton gets a degree from King’s College, the American colonists are getting angrier and angrier. British taxation is too high, and a revolution is brewing. Hamilton sees the revolution as a chance to make a name for himself: “hey yo, I’m just like my country / I’m young, scrappy, and hungry / and I’m not throwing away my shot.”
Lafayette, who is French, expresses his hope that the American Revolution will inspire the French people to fight for their own independence. Laurens wants to end slavery. Mulligan, a tailor’s apprentice, just wants to “socially advance, instead of sewin’ some pants.”
Like Hamilton, Lafayette is an immigrant, and like Hamilton, he will prove essential to America’s very existence. The boisterous Mulligan also highlights that, unlike Burr (and later Jefferson and Madison), Hamilton’s group of friends is anything but elite.
Themes
