Comparing The American Dream In 'Alexander Hamilton And My Shot'

Encompassing an individual’s goals of economic prosperity and upward social mobility regardless of race, class, or any other predetermined factor, the American Dream represents the telos of United States citizenship. Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway musical, Hamilton, perpetuates the notion that hard work allows the ambitious to beat the odds and better themselves along with their country. With a cast comprised of people of color, Manuel reimagines the romanticized American Revolution to inspire a diverse audience to attain the American Dream. However, this pinnacle of success traditionally discriminates against people of minority status. Explained in reference to the songs “Alexander Hamilton” and “My Shot”, the messages of the American Revolution

“Alexander Hamilton” shows the necessity of slave labor and the founders’ lack of desire to alter the economic system: “And every day while slaves were being slaughtered and carted/Away across the waves, he struggled and kept his guard up.” Alluding to America’s deep-rooted discrimination, manipulation, and suppression of Black people, the song confirms James Baldwin’s argument in a debate titled, “Has the American Dream been Achieved at the Expense of the American Negro?” Baldwin identified with the African American slaves who built the foundation for America’s economic prosperity, spent lifetimes working under the hand of white masters, and struggled to forge a life for themselves, even with the necessary legal infrastructure to ensure freedom. He declared, “It comes as a great shock around the age of 5, or 6, or 7, to discover that the flag to which you have pledged allegiance, along with everybody else, has not pledged allegiance to you.” Invoking nationalist sentiments, Baldwin’s use of the flag as a prejudicial national symbol railed against the establishment that oppressed people of color within the United States. Facing a broken criminal justice system, wealth and income inequality, microaggressions and blatant racism, the African American population of Baldwin’s time and today inherited a nation that sought to systemically disadvantage them. From the first colonists, who brought African slaves into the New World in order to achieve the American Dream, to modern institutions that perpetuate discriminatory and oppressive policies, the American Dream seems out of reach for many people of