Happy Sunday! Here's another "That Time..." post! This one is about Alexander Hamilton and the Reynolds Pamphlet.
Disclaimer: I did not read the entire pamphlet because boy is it long and I have the attentions span of a squirrel. If you'd like to check out the version of the Reynolds Pamphlet I found and used for this post, you can find it here.
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| Photo from Missouri Historical Society |
Alexander Hamilton is considered one of the "Founding Fathers". That term puts a bad taste in my mouth so let's talk about the other things he's known for. He was a Major General in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He served as the United States' first secretary of the treasury. Hamilton also founded the US Coast guard. He was also known for his writing. Having founded the New York Post, writing a fraction of the Federalist Papers and a little thing called the Reynolds Pamphlet. He achieved more, but if I wrote everything he ever did, this would be a completely different post. Alexander Hamilton was killed in 1804 in a duel.
Hamilton is immortalized in the Lin-Manuel Miranda musical, Hamilton. I am a musical theater fan and a history nerd. I was obsessed with the musical. I watched the proshoot as soon as it came out on Disney+. I enjoy Hamilton the musical very much. I mention the musical because it's the reason I ever got the idea for this post.
As mentioned above, Hamilton wrote the Reynolds Pamphlet. Why did he wrote this and why am I writing about it today? If you're unfamiliar with the musical, this quote from the pamphlet should explain:
The charge against me is a connection with one James Reynolds for purposes of improper pecuniary speculation. My real crime is an amorous connection with his wife, for a considerable time with his privity and connivance, if not originally brought on by a combination between the husband and wife with the design to extort money from me.
I know that for some, including myself, that is a lot to take in. Many words. Some words that aren't used in everyday language. As stated, Hamilton was a writer. To paraphrase what that snippet says is, Hamilton was accused by his peers of stealing money from the US Government with James Reynolds. So he wrote the pamphlet to defend himself. His "real crime" was that he had a sexual affair with Reynolds wife.
To make a long story short, Alexander Hamilton had an affair with Maria Reynolds from 1791-1792. It is believed that her husband, James Reynolds was behind his wife seducing Hamilton. Reynolds blackmailed Hamilton for about a third of his annual income.
| Alexander Hamilton portrait painted by John Trumbull (1806) |
According to the pamphlet, he was accused "being the defaulter of millions". The "millions" could mean money or people. In the Hamilton musical, there is an entire song dedicated to the Reynolds Pamphlet. The musical portrays Aaron Burr, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison who sing "Never gonna be president now". There also a "you ever see somebody ruin their own life?"
Hamilton goes on to write in the pamphlet:
The public too I will trust excuse the confession. The necessity of it to my defense against a more heinous charge could alone have extorted from me so painful in indecorum.
He believed that he had to expose the affair himself not only to clear his name of the accusation of defaulting. His public admittance also was because he worried that his adversaries would try to expose the affair themselves and hold it against him. He believed that by him humbly coming forward, himself, he may get some pity and forgiveness from the public, but it doesn't look like that happened.
According to many sources, the pamphlet was anywhere from 95 to 100 pages long, which in my opinion isn't a pamphlet. That is a book. I included a link to the version I found and used in this blog above, but if you don't feel like scrolling up, here is the link again.
At some point I'd like to read the whole thing, but I have a hard time reading nowadays and it is so long.
I chose to write about the Reynolds Pamphlet, because it just intrigued me. A man really exposed one of his own scandals to put a cap on another scandal. To be fair the "other scandal" was a wrongful accusation. But it's still interesting. I can't see someone doing something like that today.
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