So Hamilton fans, I haven’t seen any posts on

[dragonlady7]

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So Hamilton fans, I haven’t seen any posts on this yet but has anybody else looked up Hercules Mulligan? Cuz I was like, OK, I am a big history nerd but I don’t know who tf this guy is.
The character in the play is clearly a combination of the historical Hercules Mulligan, an Irish immigrant and popular NYC tailor who was an invaluable spy for the Sons of Liberty, and his African-descended slave Cato, who did a lot of the dangerous work of running messages. (Partly because, as a black slave, he was below the notice of the British, who repeatedly let him through barricades and such because they assumed he couldn’t possibly be a spy.)
Both Hercules and Cato risked their lives and were tortured and imprisoned for it, and were viewed with suspicion by both sides. Until the end of the war when Washington, who had foiled several assassination plans because of their information, made a point of dining with Mulligan promptly upon his entry into the city.

Anyway it’s fascinating, and the play’s decision to combine the characters into one and have an African-descended actor play the part is an interesting touch.
And as a history nerd: I don’t ever remember learning about Mulligan, but I remembered Cato. I think because even before, I was aware how often POC get erased from stuff like this, and thought it was cool we even still knew the guy’s name.

(I’m sure someone has posted about this! I just hadn’t seen it. So I figured I would.)

Comments

[kkatowll.livejournal.com]

Wait. Washington made a point of dining with Mulligan but NOT with Cato???

[(Anonymous)]

(It me, not logged in on phone) Cato was a member of mulligan's household and thus would have also gone along in the general exoneration implied by Washington havong made such a poibt of dining there-- but no, it is unlikely that the commander in chief would have sought out a slave as a dining companion in particular, regardless of his personal gratitude toward the man, as the "all men are created equal" sentiment of the day generally seems to have had a lot of caveats.
Mulligan himself, however, joined a manumissionist society after the war, which was the less-radical early slavery-abolition movement of the era.