Delete comment from: Boston 1775
I just saw the first two parts of John Adams and I must say “Bravo.” The whole historical accent issue is fascinating, I come to this question of historical accents thinking about Alexander Hamilton. He was a new immigrant to America – an orphan of a French mother and Scottish father he was born and raised on various islands in the Caribbean.
So what on earth was his Hamilton's accent? It must have been strange – did anyone comment on such matters in letters, etc.?
Did Hamilton’s accent or his immigrant status influence people’s opinion of him? Any help answering this question would be greatly appreciated!
Even if it were on Saturday Night Live - I would just love to see Alexander Hamilton played with a Jamaican Rosta accent and a dreadlock wig! “Hey Mon- we need the National Bank!”
But seriously what are the implications for how we see American history if our “founding fathers” had non-English accents. The German, Dutch (NY) and Swedish (Delaware) populations were establish here, were they represented in the centers of power – were the elite “founding fathers” all English or Scottish? That is clearly the impression from TV.
This also goes to the question of social class – the English class system uses accent as the critical mark of class and station, had that diminished over in The Colonies over time or with the mixing of immigrants. Were people of lower birth like John Adams or Alexander Hamilton or Ben Franklin really accepted into elite society? Or did they assume the accents of the elite though education or guile? And if they could do that then wouldn’t the same thing happen to those of non-British heritage? Did you have to sound right for the job? If that is the case, maybe they all did have the same accents in Congress?
Our image of the past is just that and image – and we know portrait artists would just add in the faces – so how much true diversity of clothing, and hair style is lost. These guys all look the same, but were they the same. Accent is a far more careful indicator of social group.
So on a larger scale what will be the impact of recorded sound on how history is understood? Would we remember Winston Churchill differently if we didn’t have the sound of his voice in our ears? Or Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.?
By the way, does anyone know about the legislative history of the “Act for the Relief of Sick and Disabled Seamen” (Marine Hospital Service) which Adams signed on July 16, 1798? It established a mandatory federal hospital insurance for sailors and resulted in the federal government running hospitals in port cities – Boston had the first. Yes at least some of the founding fathers supported a form of mandatory health insurance.
Jul 18, 2008, 5:11:00 PM
Posted to Accents in John Adams