“Say No To This” by Lin-Manuel Miranda

Sung by many Broadway stars such as Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jasmine Cephas Jones in the musical “Hamilton”, “Say No to This” portrays the unfolding of Alexander Hamilton when he’s caught in an extra-marital affair with a Ms Maria Reynolds. Hamilton was the Founding Father of United States.

Hamilton (who was away from his wife Eliza, in New York City to work on the construction of a national bank) was faced with sleepless nights and missing his wife – and another woman named Angelica.

Angelica was the sister of Eliza. Prior to the musical, it had been rumored that Hamilton and Angelica had an affair. To note, that rumor has not been proven to date, but it is featured in the musical itself as part of Hamilton’s life.

With all this happening in one’s life, it’s noteworthy how much stress it can bring. And apparently, amidst all of this, Maria walks into Hamilton’s life.

Knowing who Hamilton is, Maria tells him a sob story about her abusive husband to earn his trust. She then proceeds to seduce him. And this is the start of an affair that lasts over a year.

Just then, another character comes into picture – Maria’s husband, Mr James Reynolds. In his letters to Hamilton, he eventually asks for more money to keep silent about their affair and that Hamilton “can keep seeing (his) whore wife”.

Hamilton eventually pays James to keep silent about his affair.

Was the affair silent for long?

No. Apparently, James had informed investigators James Monroe and Frederick Muhlenberg that the money used to pay for him keeping silent was government funds.

At the end of the day, Hamilton was able to prove that he had used his personal funds in this matter and also admitted to the affair. The investigators then agreed not to expose Hamilton.

However, this agreement didn’t last long as the affair was later exposed in the Reynolds-Hamilton letters in James Callender’s publications. Hamilton’s following action to this, in order to save his political reputation, was to publish his own pamphlet admitting to his affair. Unfortunately, it did not save his political reputation.

Facts about “Say No to This”

Lin-Manuel Miranda is an American actor, singer, songwriter, playwright, director and producer.  He wrote “Say No to This” for the musical “Hamilton” based on the life of the politician – the late Alexander Hamilton who was an influential interpreter and promoter of the US constitution.

The song belongs to three genres:

• R&B
• Soul
• Show Tune

“Say No to This” was premiered on Broadway in 2015 for “Hamilton”. It featured as the fourth song from Act 2 of the musical.

“Hamilton” was the name of the album in which the song was listed.

More about The Alexander Hamilton Affair that Inspired “Say No to This”

Alexander Hamilton was one of the founding fathers of the United States of America. He was one of the promoters of the U.S Constitution and a very prominent member of President George Washington’s government.

He was also popular for being embroiled in one of the major sex scandals in the history of American politics.

The affair was exposed by Alexander himself in 1791 in a letter he wrote after being threatened by Maria’s husband, James Reynold. Alexander met Maria in his house in Philadelphia. She claimed to have been having marital problems and needed help returning to her family in New York.

Alexander delivered an amount of $30 dollars personally to Maria in her home where they both indulged in sexual relations. The affair began there and lasted for a full year.

During the period of this affair, his wife Elizabeth Hamilton and her children were visiting relatives in Albany. Maria’s husband was fully aware of the affair and when he approached Alexander was wooed with a bribe of $1,300.

James Reynold used the information he had about Alexander’s affair with his wife as a ticket to get him to do his biddings.

After constant blackmail, Alexander refused to consent to the demands of Reynolds and, he threatened to implicate him. This forced Alexander Hamilton to expose the affair and publicly apologize for his infidelity.