He’s the Scots-American who made America great the first time and we’re celebrating his very special birthday today.
Yes, Alexander Hamilton, whose Caledonian roots we are famously reminded of in the opening lines of the titular musical.
‘How does a bastard, orphan, son of a whore and a Scotsman, dropped in the middle of a forgotten spot in the Caribbean by Providence, impoverished, in squalor, grow up to be a hero and a scholar?’
Or become the centrepiece of a rap Broadway production?
There is, of course, another Scots-American sheriff, and New Yorker to boot, in town now who will be front and centre of the 250th anniversary celebrations.
Hamilton’s New York
Whether this year is also the 270th anniversary of Hamilton is difficult to say.
Records for bastard, orphan sons of a whore and a Scotsman weren’t too reliable back in the mid-18th century.
And historians argue about whether he came mewling into the world on January 11, 1775 or 1777, which means it could have been 1776 too.
Which is what we’re hanging on to for the purposes of our lesson today.
Now Hamilton, of course, bestrides Broadway and has done since Lin Manuel Miranda’s show opened in 2015.
On a pedestal
But few will, in truth, venture further afield in NY to see the places that define him or his granite statue in Central Park.
Unless, of course, you are a Scots Anglophile history buff, fresh up from Washington DC.
With an unusual request of a Kimpton Hotel receptionist to point out on a Subway map where I could walk in Hamilton’s footsteps.
Now New York had much to thank this Scots-American for.
As did the nation for his financial acumen in saving the new country from certain bankruptcy.
The world’s debt to Scots-Americans
Hamilton raised the New York Provincial Company of Artillery of 60 men in 1776, and was then appointed captain.
The company took part in the campaign of 1776 in and around New York City.
As rearguard of the Continental Army’s retreat up Manhattan.
And served at the Battle of Harlem Heights shortly after, and at the Battle of White Plains a month later.
Just a little to think on what the world owes to Scots-Americans.
