Teaching History With Hamilton Lesson: The Science Behind Natural Disasters and How Hamilton “Wrote His Way Out”

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The recent hurricanes, such as Hurricane Irma, Hurricane Harvey, and Hurricane Katrina, have devastated regions Cape Verde and The United States, for example. There is a strong likelihood that your students have either experienced a natural disaster or know someone that has. This interdisciplinary lesson aims to connect Science, Writing, and Social Studies, by using the story of Alexander Hamilton’s 1772 letter in the Royal Danish American Gazette together with the science behind hurricanes.  The lesson will begin with an exploration of the science behind hurricanes. Students will then read Hamilton’s descriptive letter about the St. Croix hurricane. From this, students will be prompted to write a letter describing an eyewitness experience to a natural disaster or a weather event

This interdisciplinary lesson combines science, writing, and history. Explore the science behind natural disasters by starting with Alexander Hamilton’s letter to his father after the hurricane that hit St. Croix in 1772.  Students will then be given the opportunity to write their own letter depicting a natural disaster.

Grade Levels: 9-12

Teaching History With Hamilton Lesson:  Slavery- The Caribbean & The Atlantic Slave Trade

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This lesson explores the perspective of an enslaved, West Indian woman. By examining an account about Mary Prince and by listening to Hamilton’s “Cabinet Battle #3”, students will cite historical and textual evidence to create an original verse from the viewpoint of an enslaved, West Indian woman; Mary Prince.

Grade Levels: 9-12

Teaching History With Hamilton Lesson: Satisfying Expectations in Colonial Marriage

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This lesson connects William Blackston’s Commentaries on the Laws of England to the Hamilton song, “Satisfied”, in order to help students understand the history of coverture and how it affected the aspirations and satisfactions of colonial women. By identifying the specific areas in which the primary and secondary sources discuss similar topics, the students are able to demonstrate a level of synthesis across different types of texts. Students will then be given the opportunity, at the end of the lesson, to write from Angelica Schuyler Church’s perspective on why she is not “satisfied”.

Grade Levels: 9-12

Teaching Tolerance Lesson: Indentured Servitude and Immigration

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The lesson focuses on issues of immigration and on the problems and difficulties faced by immigrants as they wrestle with the dilemma of leaving their country due to economic conditions and other hardships.  The lesson lets students experience how immigrants examine their current situation and deal with making the decision to immigrate to the United States.

Grade Levels: 9th-12th

Monticello Digital Classroom Lesson: Understanding the Conflicts of Jefferson and Hamilton through Hamilton: An American Musical

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Grade Levels: 9th-12th

Monticello Digital Classroom Lesson: A Deplorable Entanglement: Picturing Race and Gender at Monticello

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Grade Levels: 9th-12th

Monticello Digital Classroom Lesson: Explore the Daily Life of a Slave at Monticello

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Grade Levels: 9th-12th

Monticello Digital Classroom Lesson: The Election of 1800: Revolutionary Stability

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Grade Levels: 9th-12th

Monticello Digital Classroom Lesson: The Debate Over the Assumption Plan and the Bank of the United States: Why did Jefferson disagree with Hamilton?

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Grade Levels: 9-12th

PBS Lesson: Hamilton’s America | An Immigrant’s Story

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Learn about Alexander Hamilton’s upbringing, his journey as an immigrant from the Caribbean to North America, and observe how it is portrayed in the musical Hamilton in this clip from GREAT PERFORMANCES: “Hamilton’s America.”Students will be able to compare and contrast stories of immigration and explore how Hamilton “wrote his way out of his circumstances.”

Grade Levels: 4th-12th

PBS Lesson: Hamilton’s America| Alexander Hamilton: The First Secretary of the Treasury

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Learn how Alexander Hamilton shaped the financial system of the United States in this video from GREAT PERFORMANCES: “Hamilton’s America.” As the first Secretary of the Treasury, Hamilton created all the policies for how the federal government deals with money.

Grade Levels: 9th-12th

PBS Lesson: Hamilton’s America | Lin-Manuel Miranda, Shakespeare, and Hip Hop

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Explore the inspiration behind Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hit musical Hamilton, Miranda’s connection to Shakespeare, and the influence of hip hop in Miranda’s storytelling in this media galley from GREAT PERFORMANCES: “Hamilton’s America.”

Grade Levels: 8th-12th

PBS Lesson: Hamilton’s America | Understanding the Burr-Hamilton Duel

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Follow the events that led to the famous duel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton in 1804 in this video from GREAT PERFORMANCES: “Hamilton’s America.” While dueling was made illegal in America in the 18^th century, these “affairs of honor” still occurred occasionally. The support materials below the video include a close reading of the essay “Understanding the Burr-Hamilton Duel” By Joanne Freeman.

Grade Levels: 9th-12th

PBS Lesson: Hamilton’s America | The Dinner Party Compromise of 1790

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Learn how Alexander Hamilton resolved conflict and convinced the Cabinet to accept his debt plan at a dinner party (known as the Dinner Party Compromise or Dinner Table Bargain) in this clip from GREAT PERFORMANCES: “Hamilton’s America.”

Students will also get an inside look at how Lin-Manuel Miranda transformed the portrayal of this important but intricate historical moment by telling it from the perspective of an outsider—Aaron Burr.

Grade Levels: 9th-12th

PBS Lesson: Hamilton’s America| The Federalist Papers

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In this resource from GREAT PERFORMANCES: “Hamilton’s America,” learn how founding father Alexander Hamilton, along with his compatriots James Madison and John Jay, helped shape a new path for the struggling American republic with their political treatise, known today as The Federalist Papers.

Grade Levels: 9th-12th

PBS Lesson: Hamilton’s America | Hamilton and the Election of 1800

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Explore how the American presidential election of 1800 became a heated contest between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr and how Alexander Hamilton influenced the election in this video from GREAT PERFORMANCES: “Hamilton’s America.”Read a letter from Alexander Hamilton to Harrison Gray Otis expressing his opinion, “Jefferson is in every view less dangerous than Burr,” in an attempt to sway his vote. Built upon years of conflict, Hamilton’s relationship with Burr hits a low point during the election and never recovers, eventually leading to their infamous duel.

Grade Levels: 8th-12th

PBS Lesson: Hamilton’s America | Reconciling History: The Founding Fathers

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Explore the legacy of the Founding Fathers George Washington and Thomas Jefferson in this clip from GREAT PERFORMANCES: “Hamilton’s America.” In weighing their contributions and flaws – especially given that both men were slave holders – how should their place in history be evaluated? This resource also features the song “One Last Time” from the musical Hamilton about Washington’s legacy of a peaceful transition of power.

Grade Levels: 5th-12th

PBS Lesson: Hamilton’s America| Washington’s Right-Hand Man: Alexander Hamilton and American Independence

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Learn how George Washington and Alexander Hamilton’s relationship became key to the American victory in the Revolutionary War in this media gallery from GREAT PERFORMANCES: “Hamilton’s America.” See how the real-life events of the war inspired the characters and story of the Broadway hit musical, Hamilton, and learn more about the men beyond the history books.

Grade Levels: 7th-12th

Edsitement Lesson: The Road to the Constitutional Convention

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This lesson will focus on the various problems under the Articles of Confederation between 1783 and 1786 that led to the call for the 1787 Convention. By examining documents of Congress, the state governments, and prominent American founders—both public and private—students will better understand why many Americans agreed that the Articles should be revised and amended. Students will also see why some prominent American founders, more than others, believed that the United States faced a serious crisis, and that drastic changes, rather than minor amendments, to the Articles were necessary.

Grade Levels: 9th-12th

Edsitement Lesson Plan Collection

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EDSITEment, an online humanities resource, offers a wide array of Humanities lesson plans and student resources. Explore their large array of lesson plans for the Revolution & the New Nation.

Grade Levels: EDSITEment offers lesson plans for all grades, ranging from K-12.

RISE UP!: An American Curriculum

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RISE UP!: An American Curriculum inspired by Hamilton: An American Musical offers curriculums, workshops, and resources for educators that focus on the themes of identity, power, embodiment, and narrative. Intended for high school or higher education settings, these lessons work to redefine what it means to be “American” by creating new narratives.