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?
No comments:
Post a Comment