Hamilton, the first Capitalist?

I am an English actor/writer living in Los Angeles, and perform my one-man plays. In 2010 I wrote To Begin the World Over Again: the Life of Thomas Paine and began performing it the following year. As I worked on this project I found many connections between us, not least that Paine came to America from England at age 37, I at age 35. On the other hand, Paine went on to change the world with his pen while I, with my keyboard, have not quite matched his impact, although I find audiences very responsive to his story, especially in these times of division and distrust.

In my research I came across Hamilton. He plays a small part in my play. Hamilton and Paine did not see eye to eye across a wide range of subjects, but I found two things about him striking. His life had an extraordinary arc, from poverty and illegitimacy in the Caribbean to becoming one of the most powerful and influential men in America. Hamilton is quoted as saying: “the rich and well born should have a distinct, permanent share in the government…to check the imprudence of democracy”. At first I found this surprising until I discovered that this opinion was not uncommon. How could uneducated farmers, indentured servants, and the rest of the riff-raff be allowed to have a say in government, something best left to, as John Adams said, “a few of the most wise and good, the rich, the wellborn and the able.” Paine said that all men should vote and be able to hold public office.

Then came the phenomena of Hamilton: the Musical. I have not seen it, although I watched the PBS documentary about the writing of it with fascination, friends who have seen it say it is amazing, and there is something deliciously ironic about having these white slave-owning Founding Fathers portrayed by a multi-racial cast with hip-hop and rap as the musical score. It is a long way from my play, in which I come out of the shadows and tell my story (I do sing three VERY SHORT songs!). But I wonder why, beyond the energy and performances and music, that Hamilton; the Musical has become a massive success. Thomas Paine detested slavery, saw war, apart from the American Revolution, as “the art of conquering at home” and, in 1797, wrote Agrarian Justice, the basis of Roosevelt’s New Deal in the 1930s. Check it out on the Social Security Administration’s website . Paine believed that human beings were essentially good and wrote the book Common Sense that was the spark that ignited the American Revolution, yet he is largely unknown.

Hamilton, on the other hand, organized bankers and businessmen to form the Federalist Party, promoted friendly relations with Britain and a lack of support for the French Revolution, created the government backed Bank of the United States (and we know how the banking system has treated Americans), tried to start a war against France and, again, wanted to “check the imprudence of democracy”. We are taught in America that “everyone can become a millionaire” although the Czech Republic has more millionaires per capita than America, and that if you are poor it can only be because you are stupid or lazy or both. Yet there is overwhelming evidence that poverty in America is a systematic process to keep that riff-raff down, economically and in terms of education, healthcare, life opportunities and the right to vote. Perhaps, as well as celebrating the theatrical magic of Hamilton: the Musical we should also consider whether Alexander Hamilton, one of the first successful capitalists in American history, is someone that we should be celebrating as a human being. Interestingly, when Lin Manuel Miranda was asked which book every American should read, he said Thomas Paine’s Common Sense!

Ian Ruskin will be performing To Begin the World Over Again: the Life of Thomas Paine on Saturday, October 7th at 7:30pm in Faneuil Hall, Boston, one of the birthplaces of the American Revolution.

October 7th Tickets are available here on Eventbrite .

Learn more about Ruskin’s work and about the film of the play here: the Life of Thomas Paine