Tag: John Laurens

there are lot of theories surrounding alex and john’s letters to each other and the level of affection especially how john was always more distant etc. the main is that the societies they grew up in affected how comfortable they were w their queerness. so alex was more willing to be romantic vs john struggled with it. other big one is that john was in fact as or MORE affectionate than alex, just his letters were burned. 1st makes more sense but my heart leans towards 2nd. what do you think?

john-laurens:

ciceroprofacto:

I’ve actually thought about this a lot and my leaning is toward the second.

John was characteristically more blunt about things when he was sure of what he was saying. His actions on the battlefield, his statements during Lee’s court-martial, his behavior as a minister in France and his persistence on the black battalion- pretty much everything he does during the revolution is very straightforward, especially when his feelings or his resolve are called into question.
John also wrote considerably less in quantity than Alex did- which Alexander complained about (though he did that with everyone). But, Alex never implied that John’s letters failed to convey his feelings, and besides feeling neglected in quantity, Alex- characteristically a guarded person who did not trust (much less love) easily, was satisfied with the message John got across.

Alex was comparatively self-preserving. Even when he extended vulnerability as he did with Kitty Livingston, he was logical about the timing and his objectives. In accounts from his friends, describing him before he met Laurens, he never comes across as vain-glorious or belligerent (wouldn’t help him to be). Laurens comes across as the louder personality in that regard, and could afford to be. Hamilton was, by necessity, more diplomatic.
Alex was also very talented with conveying meaning with innuendo. It’s one thing to use words well, but another to use them in a way that specific people will understand. This was part of his usefulness to Washington.

So, I don’t think it would make sense for John’s letters not to be just as- if not more- overtly affectionate. John wouldn’t have liked to write without feeling, and Alex would have felt worried or insecure if John’s writings came across cold. Even if John wasn’t as talented with words, I’m sure he was using his own bawdy innuendo to get across his own feelings- probably in a characteristically blunt way.
And, keep in mind we’re missing many of their letters- I think it’s telling which ones remain. I think Alex definitely destroyed most of John’s letters and I think John gave him very good reason to.

tldr; between the two of them- as far as recklessness goes- Alex might’ve dared to write the April ‘79 letter, but John dared to keep it. 
He would probably do a lot worse himself.

I also have a post here that discusses some of the problems with directly comparing the volume of letters written by Hamilton or Laurens or comparing the language contained within those surviving letters.  We don’t have all the letters that existed between those two, so we shouldn’t assume that lack of evidence is evidence of a lack (of affection, of love, of commitment, etc.).  @ciceroprofacto raises a good point in stating that we don’t have many of the letters that Laurens sent to Hamilton – and it certainly seems possible (if not likely) that those lost letters contained some of Laurens’s more sexual or bawdy writings.

Hey! I love all these history facts so much, and I was hoping you could give us historical Lams facts as well?

undiscoveredstory:

Ahh thank you!!! I would be happy to tell you about historical Lams (Alexander Hamilton & John Laurens, for those of you who don’t know)! Keep in mind that all we know about them comes exclusively through letters, so there is a lot missing. I’m going to focus on one major letter in this post. If you want me to write about other letters just send me another ask! <333

(Read Eliza Schuyler Facts Part One) (Read Eliza Schuyler Facts Part Two)

(Read Peggy Schuyler Facts)

(Read Lafayette Facts Part One) (Read Lafayette Facts Part Two) (Read Lafayette Facts Part Three)

Historical Alexander Hamilton & John Laurens 

  • These two met when they were both serving as aides-de-camp to George Washington
  • This was in 1777 
  • We don’t know as much about the times they were physically together because what we know comes from letters they wrote to each other while separated 
  • The first surviving letter between them is penned by Laurens from Philadelphia on December 5, 1778
  • It sticks to business (he writes about the Charles Lee fiasco) 
  • The next letter, penned by Hamilton in April 1779, gives us much more
  • It’s the famous “Cold in my professions, warm in my friendships, I wish, my Dear Laurens, it was in my power, by action rather than words, to convince you that I love you”
  • That is one HECK OF AN OPENING even for the 18th century 
  • 18th century gentlemen were allowed to have close relationships and express their affection to each other in more explicit language than we’re accustomed to today
  • But Hamilton and Laurens’ letters go beyond that, and this one is a perfect example
  • Hamilton chides Laurens for “steal(ing) into my affections without my consent,” which tells us Hamilton values Laurens unlike any of his other military friends (Lafayette, Tilghman, McHenry, etc.)
  • The opening of this letter is super loving tbh
  • But it’s what comes later on that always gets me
  • He talks military stuff as if everything is normal, then mentions that a letter is enclosed from Laurens’ wife
  • This seems to be the first Hamilton ever hears of Laurens having a wife, because he also says that the person who gave him the letter spoke of a daughter (of Laurens’)
  • The way he words it implies he didn’t know this previously… odd for such close “friends”
  • The theory is that Laurens kept the marriage from Hamilton
  • Why???
  • I’ll let you come to your own conclusions
  • After Hamilton mentions this, he commands Laurens to find him a wife, and goes into great detail on what he’s looking for
  • After a huge paragraph of description for his future wife, Hamilton says upon rereading it, he has no idea why he said it
  • Yet he doesn’t rewrite the letter……
  • He kept it in on purpose, likely to spite Laurens for not mentioning his wife and child at all
  • Hamilton is being a jealous lover, basically, and it’s amazing
  • But the best part??? 
  • Hamilton tells Laurens to give any potential future wives “an account of the lover—his size, make, quality of mind and body,” (emphasis original to letter)
  • This implies Laurens is familiar with Hamilton’s body
  • Hamilton then tells Laurens to describe the length of his “nose”
  • This is an innuendo for…….. something else……….
  • Then, the famous scratched out words
  • The line after the “nose” part was scratched out by Hamilton’s son much later on
  • It is thought to say “I never spared you any pictures”
  • Pretty much cementing that they shared something more than friendship
  • Based on how Hamilton writes to Laurens in his letters, I would venture to say it was romantic as well as sexual 
  • Many people point to the fact that we tend to have only one surviving side of the Ham/Laurens letters, that side being Hamilton’s
  • One theory is that Laurens’ letters were destroyed upon his death because of their potentially revealing nature
  • Let me, a historian, say this: most historians agree John Laurens was gay
  • The questions then becomes “what did Hamilton feel?” 
  • I think his letters make that pretty clear……

As I said before, I’m happy to talk about more letters in another post! I just didn’t want this one to get too long. 

Of all the youthful soldiers of the revolution, there is not one upon whose story the recollections of his contemporaries have more fondly dwelt. His distinguished place in the affections of Washington, and the repeated public honours proffered to him by congress, his numerous and varied services, his address in negotiation, his gallantry in battle, his exalted zeal, and his lofty spirit, elevated him so far above his fellow-soldiers, that at his name every youthful aspiration of ambition was kindled.
 
But Laurens was not alone a gallant soldier, a distinguished patriot, a skilful diplomatist. To these he added all the endearing and social affections, all the attractions of a noble nature, all the graces of a refined and cultivated intellect, and an address which possessed an irresistable, an endless charm. 
 
Qualities which in other men might have offended by their contrast, in him only served to give richness of character, and create variety of interest. His intrepid spirit was coupled with a self-distrust, a confiding weakness of temper, which awakened in his friends surprise and love. While to others his heart was all kindness and benevolence, he was unjust only to himself; and while the world saw him graced with every virtue, he was still aspiring to some higher excellence, — an ideal perfection, which is denied to our nature, and exists only in the warm conceptions of a mind deeply tinged with romance.

John Church Hamilton, The life of Alexander Hamilton Vol.1 p391 (via thelittlelionofvalleyforge)
Source: thelittlelionofvalleyforge