Variety: Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator and star of the Broadway hit “Hamilton,” visited Washington this week, generating viral buzz as he performed a freestyle rap with President Obama and garnering publicity for Puerto Rico debt relief when he appeared at a Capital Hill press conference with lawmakers.
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I think Hamilton did help the desire for keeping Alexander Hamilton on the $10 bill. Before the musical became popular I do not think it was a big issue to take Alexander Hamilton off of the $10 bill. Many people were very happy that they were going to put an influential woman from history on the $10 bill instead because all of the people on paper money are men. Having a woman on the $10 bill would be a great thing because it will give recognition to the great women in our countries history that helped build it just as much as the men did. I think there should still be a woman on a form of paper money, but maybe not on the $10 bill because there is so much attention on Alexander Hamilton now and interest in his life. It is amazing that a musical was able to possibly influence a huge decision made by the government.
So this article tells us a couple things about the current society we live in and culture that we take in. A new work of art can change currency. Our representatives can be swayed by culture. We will put new found information above old standards. None of these things are good or bad, however as contributors to our society, we should be thinking about them. Regardless of any bias or preference, it is incredible that a new musical was able to swing the thoughts of high ranking government official. It’s up to us as individuals to reflect upon that. I think it is good and bad. It shows that our officials are willing to listen to the artistic community, but it also slows progress in changed the portrait to a woman to show what our society is today. We are changing, and shouldn’t our currency be changing with us?
I think this is really quite reflective of the effect that Hamilton has had on me and so many others. My father and I both have a pretty solid history buff side and so we’ve traded lots of novels on the revolutionary war era and the funny thing is before I listened to Hamilton, I probably would have recognized his name if I was having a good day. My father had a very similar level of knowledge. Listening to the Hamilton soundtrack completely changed my perspective on this utterly crucial but seemingly forgotten founding father. It showcases the magnificent power of a story well told to educate us about the people who came before us and to inspire us to try to be kind of person that we want our story to be told about. All in all I think Hamilton is going to to an incredible amount of good on so many levels and I hope to god Lin-Manuel is never going to be satisfied so I can see what comes next.
I hope that in all of this, people remember that as important as keeping Hamilton on the $10 is, getting a woman on the $20 is just as important, especially if you don’t plan to put on on the $10. That’s where this whole issue started, when we wanted to take one of the fathers of our currency off the $10 for a woman, leaving the more important $20 with a president many are ashamed of, and who was distinctly opposed to the national bank. Am I the only one who thinks this issue has been blown to a ridiculous non-discussion on what the whole symbolic gesture is all about? Months after it was announced by the treasury, nothing has been done, and everyone outside the theatre world is now focused on a completely different (and frankly, more important) issue, the 2016 election. So as much as I think it’s cool that Broadway and art can sway the hearts of a few people in Washington, they (sadly) have a long way to come before they become extremely relevant in modern politics if you ask me.
Very interesting, partially because we only know part of the story here (I guess we had to be in the room where it happened…). I am intrigued to find out what comes of this because I was really disappointed when I found out the US Treasury was going to put a woman on the $10 bill instead of the $20. Like, what? Women aren’t good enough for the $20 bill? It’s 2016 and the US looks like a bunch of idiots over here with only a bunch of dead white dudes on our paper money, and the first chance the Treasury has to fix that AND remove Andrew Jackson (read: historic a**-hole) they’re like “Nah, let’s just take Hamilton off the $10 instead.” As Lin has illustrated for us with his musical, Hamilton was both a respectable figure and quintessentially human: someone willing to work for their own dreams and their beliefs, while also demonstrating that even those at the top make mistakes. His story is definitely an educational one, and there’s no good reason to take him off the 10 when Jackson is still on the 20 (it’s also just major shady to put a woman on the 10 INSTEAD of the 20…) It’s frustrating because the US has had SO MANY notable women far more worthy to be on our bills than some of the faces currently on there. I hope Lin calls the Treasury on this one and advocates for the Treasury to re-consider putting an woman on the $20 bill.
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