Lin Manuel-Miranda: A Progressive Voice for History

History is frequently the bane of many students’ academic careers. To some, history is arid, nothing more than the tedious repetition of events long passed. The somniferous lectures and dense readings found in the history classroom further serve to perpetuate the myopic perception of history as stale and purposeless. Through the medium of the stage, Lin-Manuel Miranda challenges this attitude with an impeccable tone of drama, introspection, and spontaneity, breathing new life into the carcass of historical narratives by grounding Hamilton’s story in the universal aspirations and struggles of mankind. Lin weaves together his boundless excitement for telling Hamilton’s story with …show more content…
A progressive voice must challenge the status quo and reinterpret what currently stands in a new way. Lin ties profanity into the story of Alexander Hamilton, a decision that would be shocking in the classroom of the old ways. In the classroom of Lin’s mind, however, he’s “on stage with the fucking roots”, performing a song about Hamilton and those “Southern Motherfucking Democratic Republicans” Lin’s refusal to follow formal rules of language shows us that he’s truly interested in pushing artistic boundaries and revising conventional storytelling. Lin’s art shows a pattern of taking the old and modeling it in modern terms. Lin sees Alexander Hamilton’s story as a “hip-hop” tale, comparing him to Biggie Smalls rather than any of his historical contemporaries, while also describing Thomas Jefferson as the “Bugs Bunny” of his time. Some historical diehards might balk at seeing Alexander Hamilton portrayed in a vulgar, common light, but according to historian Ron Chernow, Lin’s decision to tell Hamilton’s story through the common tongue is actually a rather Shakespearean method of storytelling. Lin may have sacrificed formality, but he gained more than enough in relevance. In one scene, attendants to Lin’s performance at the White House admit that Hamilton resonated with them even though they’ve felt disinterested in history for their entire lives. This confirms that Lin accomplished his overarching goal of turning Hamilton’s story into a relevant and modern creature through a progressive re-interpretation of