Are portrayed in the musical were living people. They all had good sides and bad sides and pros and cons to their personality. The musical make it so that you understand who these people were. And i know theres a lot of conversation about, well, theres a latino man playing hamilton and an africanamerican playing George Washington. Okay. Thats just part of the conversation. And again, if that brings new audiences into the museums, like you all today, thats great. And i think thats what we should all think about when we think about the musical. Heres your sneak peek, too. So talking a little about the room where it happened. So this is George Washingtons office at the morrisjumel mansion. If youve been there before it was the dark green color. This is what it looks like now. This is our phase one of our reinterpretation plan. It is this gray wallpaper with little tiny flowers on it from 1770 and this very bright persimmon trim which is historically accurate. Were going through a big rebranding. Our new logo is on the left with the coining on the side of the mansion in that persimmon color. And just come back early and often. Come to see all the really exciting things. Our official unofficial tag line is theres always something new at manhattans oldest house. We really try to achieve that. Over 100 different Public Programs a year. Over 24,000 visitors and growing a year. 9,000 schoolkids. Were really viewing it as our job to keep history going for the next 250 years. And i cant end without a plug for our next Public Program. And you are the first group of people to see this. And this new logo. So our next major Public Program is a new version of alice in wonderland. An interactive version of the play where guests walk with alice throughout the mansion and throughout the grounds of the house. And this logo was especially created for us by an artist whose first name is lauren. Were really excited about it because it brings together the contemporary side and the historical side. The twist okay if i give it away . I have to ask his permission. The twist is alice is on a tour of the mansion with her brother. And wonderland is the American Revolution. So example, mad hatters George Washington. Chessercat is i see a couple of people like, oh, maybe i should buy tickets. All of this is on our website. There is a link to get tickets. Its for three weeks in september into october. Were really, really excited about it. Theres going to be some really fun programming around it. Were trying to get some hamilton cast members to come and do a symposium with us. And we have a launch event coming up on august 27th. So a week from tomorrow from 3 00 to 5 00 p. M. Its going to be a mad tea party. You get to chat with me and vinnie and talk about history together. So thank you so much. I hope to see you at the mansion soon. I hope was this interesting as it related to hamilton and burr. So thank you guys so much. [ applause ] and i actually ended on time, yes i think the plan is not to take questions up here but to head downstairs . Yep. So if you have any questions, ides be happy to answer them. Well mosey on downstairs. If you want to buy a book, buy a book and ill sign it for you. And thanks so much, guys. For more American History tv in primetime, join us tomorrow for our focus on the civil war and reconstruction. That starts wednesday at 8 00 p. M. Eastern right here on cspan3. After i came up with my idea of reproductive rights, i witness awent and researched. With information in our news, i knew i could find information on that. That would help me figure out what points i wanted to say about it and how to form my outline for my piece. I didnt really take a methodical approach to this process, but you could, if you wanted. But i think that really with a piece as dense as this, i would say, its really just a process of reworking and reworking. So as i was trying to coming up with what my actual point was, i was doing research and finding more ideas of what i could film. Id coming up with an idea. That would be a great shot. So idd think about that and tht would give me a new idea to focus on. Id do research about that. It was about building on other things and scratching what doesnt work. And you just keep going until you finally get what is the finished project. This years theme, your message to washington, d. C. Whats the most urgent issue for the new president and congress to address in 2017 . Its open to all middle school and High School Students grades 6 through 12 with 100,000 awarded in cash prizes. Students can work alone or in a group up to three to produce a documentary on the issue. Clood some cspan programming and explore opposing opinions. The 100,000 in cash prizes will be awarded and shared between 150 students and 53 teachers. And the grand prize 5,000 will go to the student or team with the best overall entry. This years deadline is january 20th, 2017. So mark your calendars and help us spread the word to student filmmakers. For more information go to our website, studentcam. Org. Next on American History tv, the significance of hamilton the musical in modern popular cult purp a panel looks at the relationship between academic history and entertainment. This hour and 45minute event was part of the society for historians of early American Republic annual conference. Its 2 00 p. M. , and we should probably get started because i have a feeling, like the subjects of this panel, a great deal of people here have a great deal to say. And we like to do what we can to make that happen. Welcome to the panel the second panel on hamilton. I am r. V. Bernstein. I teach at city college. And i will spare you the rest. I would like to introduce my colleagues. Ill introduce them in the order theyll be speaking. Well be going down the row alphabetically. Benjamin carp is the professor of American History and Brooklyn College. He is author of defiance of the patriots, the Boston Tea Party and the making of america. The Boston Tea Party. And cities in the making of the American Revolution. Nancy eisenberg is the author of white trash, the 400year untold story of class in america. Which is just reviewed by the New York Times book review and the new yorker. Shes also the author of the life of aaron burr. A and her first book sex and citizenship was awarded the best book prize in she is the t. Harry williams professor of American History at lsu and writes for salon tom. Heather is points higher fessor and share of the department and drama and dance. She is author of early American Theater from there and 1787 and 1861 and this is the best title of the three. Hid warehouse characters and beautiful pagans. Performing jewish identity on the antibell let me american stage. Im looking forward to that one. Also the author of many book chapters Journal Articles and edited volumes. Andrew is professor of history and American Culture studies and is the author of fighting over the founders. How we remember the American Revolution which hi the pleasure to review for american political thought and founding Corporate Power in Early National philadelphia. Hell lead us off. Its the friend of a banker prized in lying eyes, a 10 man of action, head of faction i have a whole version that is entirely verse but i knew when i started rhyming i was going to get myself into a lot of trouble. We all confess how often we have seen the show. I have never listened to the sound track because three times was a lot and the songs remains impressed upon my memory and i also should confess that go care that much about the socalled Founding Fathers. While i admire all the great work thats drawn conclusions from them theyre featured actors in a broader ensemble so in other words i stand for nothing but i want to explain why i fell for the show just as some of its priethest critics did what we need to know is howell and in what way does it engage with the broader history of the revolution. It takes us through the revolutionary war the constitution and washington and adams administrations and hamiltons death in 1804 and howell does the show perform as history . Some would say pretty well. He used a well researched source and consulted primary sources directly and even uses them on stage. Broadened out sometimes and consulted other historical work to get a sense of broader context while mixing in references to hip hop and musical theater et cetera, et cetera. Others would say it is poor and miranda relied too heavily on him who exaggerated the antislavery credentials and sympathy with debtors. But there was little criticism when it came out in 2004 which left they poorly equipped to engage over the debate of the quality of history now. There was a debate over the hamilton exhibit that was there from 2004 to 2005 so we have been here before but i have seen few recent references to that debate either. Secondly he told a story that focused on elite characters missing opportunities to show how the revolution and its conflicts effected and was effected by a broader swath of the population and broader and social political movements and ideological differences. And as we know you need a robust narrative through line and that demand is the gravity that keeps sucking popular narrators toward the founders and hamilton is not much of an exception in this regard. This frustrates academics that find this too simplistic for understanding history. Finally he told a story with some very Fierce Female characters that dont in general have a lot of agency and mostly respond to what the men are doing although even here he is asking for womens equality and sequel to the declaration of independence. Anyway he once said the patriot is to history as godzilla is to biology. He said that in the times. So whatever criticisms we have it is not this generations patriots. It is better than that in its treatment of history and its treatment of race. Sir were not slaves. We work the land as free men. I saw that movie in london by the way. They liked the french officer. So what does this say about the revolution . We won the war. What was it for . It was about glory seeking immigrants never mind material advantages. Challenging a distant tyrant t. Show is designed to make the audience feel good about the righteousness of the american cause and promise of the new nation never mind the fate of the enslaved and the constitution was about getting the country on stable and financial and military footing never mind the rebellion in the Public Theater edition of the show. Overall the show serves up pretty vanilla stuff as far as this group is concerned but before the audience can look at this deeply youre swept up in the personal. Its who you would rather grab a beer with rather than policy interesting hamilton could have been more if he only lived specifically to abollish slavely but spends more time on the idea that it shapes his legacy. He had already driven himself into irrelevance and fuels my skepticism about critics that claim the show is teeting hamilton as a hero. Protagonist maybe hero not as much but we could debate that later. They are completely valid and it more of them. Im not trying to argue its just a show and beneath our highbrow criticism or that we shouldnt sully ourselves by engaging with it because Popular Culture does matter to our audiences and our students nor would i argue on the other hand that miranda somehow puts us to shame by presenting revolutionary history to a wider audience than we could because that gives him too much credit. He arrives at his achievements on our shoulders whether directly or indirectly. We can and should be able to have it both ways. Take credit for what he gets right and criticizes him for what he gets wrong. But is it good history is the wrong question. Were seeing people break into song and theres all of these references that we love. We are asked to suspend belief and, indeed, in interesting ways, right . And this is vital i think to understanding the show and since not all consider some critics havent seen it so they dont get whats there in the lyrics or there in the songs is interacting with what the actors are doing on stage or what the visual representations are doing to enhance your multilevel understanding of whats going on in the show so what is the right question and in the same way that American Jews asked of world events but is it good for the jews, right, our tribe must ask but is it good for historians and i would say yes. He was trying to earn our respect and he does deserve it and for two reasons one having to to with race and the revolution. Miranda was paying attention while they were putting the finishing touches on the show. He says were screaming rise up and people are peeling that way. While some people are horrified theres no characters of color and instead nonwhite cast the fact that the cast members are people of color allows miranda to construct the 18th century revolution to current movements against police brutality, et cetera. An end to, to quote the show, the cycle of vengeance and death with no defendants possibly referring to the nonindictment of Police Officers that cause fatalities. The show has no nonwhite characters so does the color conscious casting solve this problem or deflect from it. It reconfigures the past to imagine a better future. Miranda can still craft a work of art that argues for Racial Injustice and is that real provocative or just 18th century culture. Its about class or immigration and status et cetera. Its about about time honored and he quoted the show how lucky we are to be alive right now which by itself was pretty innocuous but had important connections to the Lgbt Community at the end of the weekend when the massacre at the Pulse Night Club in orlando had taken place. Great theater heightens our emotional responses. And that can be good for leading audiences to an empathic of the past. It uses imaginative interventions to fill gaps in the historical record just like we do so id argue the show actually enhances the publics understanding of the revolution. At the very least hamilton encourages audiences to explore historical inquiries further. During the past Academic Year i initiated this Speaker Series at Brooklyn College interviewing historical fiction authors to see how they use fictional treatments no illuminate deeper truths about the revolution while reaching audiences beyond your typical History Book Club subscriber. So the astonishing life of octavian nothing these have black and female characters at their center telling a version of the revolution we would not have access too. By contrast its subjects are wellknown figures but the show benefits us as we study and open up questions about how we analyze and interrupt the past. The company is saying over and over, well never really know what got discussed. Im erasing myself from the narrative. Let future historians wonder. You have no control who lives, who dies, who tells your story in two different songs. The history obliterates in every picture it paints. Were constantly trying to tell our students that history isnt just a recitation of settled facts but a lively conversation full of missing pieces, retraction and competing stories and manipulation by legacy obsessed chroniclers. Its heaardly the only way to tl the story. It better fit what is was described as organasist. Hamilton may well be an entree for some to the revolutionary era but the show strongly argues that it shouldnt be the last stop on the viewers journey. The audience should keep reading, keep learning and keep looking for inspiration for how the story might influence their world and their lives. Its up to us to carve out the spotlight and write our way out but hamilton made the worldwider for us and thats worthy of our respect. [ applause ] thank you. Well, i feel like this is saturday night live so this is going to be the opposite view in a lot of ways about what he said even though in certain points i think we do agree. My take is whether professional historians agree or not hamilton is widely praised for its historical value. Jodi rosen of the New York Times asserted without qualification that the musical was a rigorously factual period drama. The Washington Post credited historical hamilton for invisioning the United States as the federal industrial democracy we have today as opposed to jeffersons utopianism. They ignore that the not so hip constituent sy the 1 were wealthy speculators. Theater lovers defend the production as a article of history. Carly rose when he interviewed him for cbs insisted it was not only history but something that could and should replace all traditional historical interpretation. Miranda demured but that didnt stop rhodes. Publicity for the Musical Centers on the biography of hamilton. The same strategy was used for john adams a Television Mini series that claimed to be based on the biography. It really wasnt. Yet as demonstrated in articles for History News Network the Television Production was riddled with errors. I dont remember anyone having a problem with the survey of the factual errors. Thats a decree teak that you get for pointing out what i think are more serious problems. I see the musical as far less different than others claim it is. He is used by political enemies and fiction writers. The plot device is extremely simple. His behavior is