Lin-Manuel Miranda Responds to Criticism of 'Hamilton' Glorifying Slave Owners

With the massive success of the Hamilton movie this weekend, there has also been a renewed conversation about the show and how it portrays history.

Some people on social media have accused Lin-Manuel Miranda of glorifying slave owners. Even though Alexander Hamilton despised slavery, he has been accused of being complicit as he had several friends who owned slaves, including George Washington.

Lin took to Twitter on Monday (July 6) and responded to a thread that debated the critiques the show is facing.

Tracy Clayton tweeted, “hamilton is a flawed play about flawed people written by an imperfect person that gave my flawed and imperfect little life a big boost when i needed it most, so again i know im biased, but i do appreciate the change this illustrates & will be following the convo’s evolution.”

Lin responded and said that “all the criticisms are valid” and explained why he didn’t include slavery in the show.

“Appreciate you so much, @brokeymcpoverty. All the criticisms are valid. The sheer tonnage of complexities & failings of these people I couldn’t get. Or wrestled with but cut. I took 6 years and fit as much as I could in a 2.5 hour musical. Did my best. It’s all fair game,” he said.

Here is what Lin had to say about what inspired him to write a musical about Hamilton.