Bitch Slapping Thomas Jefferson
- I say stick it to him. Jefferson's phony "dream" of an agrarian democracy of small farmers and slavery died the moment he left office.
- The Federalists under Hamilton correctly saw the future of a powerful and industrial United States.
- "The proudest empire in Europe is but a bubble compared to what America will be, must be, in the course of two centuries, perhaps of one." - - - - Gouverneur Morris, Federalist (Author of the Constitution of the United States)
(Lexington Herald Leader) - Alexander Hamilton never visited the home of archrival Thomas Jefferson. But the nation's first Treasury secretary – and namesake of the hit musical – rules the house during the new Hamilton Tour Takeover at Monticello.
The after-hour visits are part history class and part civics lesson – with chances to rap and sing.
"Jefferson is definitely a villain of the musical, but this is not in any way a response," says Steve Light, Monticello's tour manager. "We want people to engage in the history."
The leaders' complicated and contradictory relationship becomes clear the moment you enter the mansion. Light points to busts of Hamilton and Jefferson, which the third president installed so they could remain "opposed in death as in life."
The guide distributes stick puppets of the Founding Fathers, and the nature of their conflict emerges as visitors read excerpts from source documents and lyrics from the musical. Hamilton, an "immigrant, orphan, bastard," believed in the leadership of aristocrats, while Jefferson, an aristocrat, trusted in the people, Light says.
"Who does he mean by the people?" asks Astrid Crookshank, visiting from Maryland with her college-age son. "Women? Slaves? Or white landowners?"
Light answers by quoting "The Hamilton Mixtape" about the nature of history: "The reality is messier and richer, kids."
As the tour approaches the dining room, a visitor begins to sing "The Room Where It Happens," a showstopper from the play.
Light explains the famed meeting actually occurred in New York, where Hamilton, Jefferson and James Madison agreed the nation would assume states' debts in return for placing the capital in Washington, D.C. As the song says, Jefferson likely "arranged the menu, the venue and the setting" – with the help of his slave, Paris-trained chef James Hemings.
Read More . . . . "Mommy, Mommy can I visit the room where Jefferson raped his slaves?" kk Jefferson raped and impregnated his 14 year old slave Sally Hemings who was the half-sister of his dead wife Martha Wayles Skelton. Jefferson was one sick bastard. kk See More: Thomas Jefferson and political attack ads |
Descendants of Thomas Jefferson and slave Sally Hemings pose for a group photograph at Monticello in 1999. |
1 comment:
How funny some things are .
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