The Broadway smash hit and Disney+ film Hamilton depicts Alexander Hamilton (Lin-Manuel Miranda) having a flirtatious relationship with his sister-in-law Angelica Schuyler (Renée Elise Goldsberry), but did he have a crush on Angelica in real life? The extent of the historical figures' relationship was never really confirmed, but Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda ran with the safe assumption that he did have a crush on her.

Hamilton covers the political ascent of Alexander Hamilton. The hip-hop musical follows Hamilton as he rises out of poverty, fights in the Revolutionary War, and becomes the first Secretary of the Treasury. During the first act, which covers Alexander's early life, he meets the fierce and witty Angelica Schuyler, sister of his eventual wife Eliza (Phillipa Soo). The song "Helpless" covers Alexander's courtship with Eliza, and the next song, "Satisfied," begins at their wedding with Angelica giving a toast to the bride and groom, but it "rewinds" to tell the courtship from Angelica's point of view: she sings both of her initial attraction to Alexander and her realization that they could never be together.

Hamilton was born out of Miranda's study of biography Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow, and events in the musical were based on history with the occasional exaggeration for the sake of musical theater. While Hamilton's relationship with Angelica is exaggerated for the stage, historical evidence substantiates the Broadway musical's depiction of a flirtatious relationship between Hamilton and Angelica.


In reality, Hamilton and Angelica were both married by the time they met - Hamilton to Angelica's sister Eliza, and Angelica to a British man not seen in the musical named John Barker Church - though the musical depicts both as single when they meet. Angelica and Hamilton hit it off, and due to the fact that they were in-laws, they quickly reached a level of comfort with one another. That familiarity was on display in their letters, some of which were used as inspiration for the lyrics in the second act song "Take a Break." In a letter to Eliza, Angelica playfully suggests that she should share Hamilton with her, and Miranda used that suggestion for Angelica's line in "Helpless:" "I'm just saying if you really loved me, you would share him." Eliza replies with a derisive, "Ha!"

While a conclusive answer is impossible, a historical examination of their letters to each other suggests that the musical's depiction of Hamilton's relationship with Angelica is largely accurate: they were dear friends, who shared a close confidence and intellectually fruitful relationship that never actually crossed the line. The duo's relationship is one of the main factors that elevates the story of Hamilton from a stiff retelling of history to an energetic and engrossing musical theater experience.