"The Surprising Truth About American History..."

Today is Alexander Hamilton's birthday...

He was born on this date in 1755.

Hamilton's place in American history is assured by his role as a founding father of the nation and the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury. He is prominently featured on the U.S. Ten Dollar Bill. He famously died in duel with another founding father, Aaron Burr in 1804.

Despite his prominent role in American history, a couple of centuries ago quite a ruckus was caused by Alexander Hamilton and George Washington, the American patriots who became the first secretary of the treasury and president, respectively. George Washington, whom everyone knows had no children of his own, surrounded himself with a circle of young male revolutionaries who he called his “family.” Among his favorites were John Laurens, who once fought a duel to defend George’s honor sullied by some cad now lost to history; and Alexander Hamilton, who was known to be something of a prick-tease. George was thought by his enemies to be a bit soft on the boys and was suspected over being overly fond of young Hamilton in particular.

John Laurens

Between 1779 and 1782, Hamilton and Laurens exchanged a series of love letters, reprinted in Jonathan Katz’s Gay American History, in which “Laurens addressed Hamilton as “’My Dear’ and offered flowery protestations of undying affection, to which Hamilton responded with the touching declaration: “’I love you’.” To this day the letters are explained away by heteronormative historians on the grounds that 18th century men “were classical scholars whose thoughts and actions were colored by the grandeur of antiquity.”

Hamilton was also at the center of America's first political sex scandal when it was revealed that he was being blackmailed by the husband of a woman he was said to conducting an illicit affair with.

Whatever the case was with Hamilton's (and indeed, Washington's) sexuality, it seems clear that the founding fathers were not the puritanical holy joes that the religious right of today would like to cast them as. Although the world may never really know the truth of American history, be assured "we were always there..."

Source: White Crane Institute / Gaywisdom.org

"Fear Eats the Soul"