Parties: A Necessary Evil

Act II of the Lin-Manuel Miranda rap-musical “Hamilton” begins with Thomas Jefferson’s return to the U.S. As the scene opens Jefferson, who had been serving as Ambassador to France, asks “ So what’d I miss ? I’ve been in Paris meeting lots of different ladies…I guess I basic’lly missed the late eighties” (Miranda 2015). He quickly learns that President Washington has appointed him to be the nation’s first Secretary of State. Instead of disembarking to his beloved Monticello, he is shepherded off to New York City, the capital of the nascent government.