Thursday, December 8, 2016

Hercules Mulligan


In the song "the Battle of Yorktown" a man named Hercules Mulligan is mentioned as being the spy that allowed them to trap the British in Yorktown. However, this is the only time we hear about him especially since this is Hamilton's story and he has a big impact on it. As I mentioned he was a spy, but he was also a tailor in New York who tailored for some high ranking British Officers and this is how he could get information from them as they trusted him. Through my research, I found that Hamilton stayed with the Mulligans while he was going to school and that he was pro-British. It was only through Mulligan's convincing that Hamilton saw the colonists cause as just. It is interesting that someone who was one of the primary reasons for Hamilton's joining of the colonists is so obscure in Miranda's play about him. I personally feel that Miranda didn’t include him because the play is more about Hamilton in the war and directly after instead of what happened before it. It is also interesting to wonder what would have happened if Hamilton remained pro-British, his financial plan would have never come to be as he would have been deported just like all the other loyalists or maybe the colonists would have lost the revolution (though this is highly unlikely). What do you think though? Why do you think Miranda left Mulligan out of the story except the little mention in the Battle of Yorktown? Also, what do you think would be the effects of Hamilton remaining pro-British and possibly even joining the British?  

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