Since “Hamilton” is trending and it’s July 4th, reminder that Alexander Hamilton was born in the Caribbean island of Nevis and fled to the North American mainland to escape impending slave rebellions and capitalize off slavery. He’s no hero. From historian Gerald Horne: (thread)

In the middle of the 18th century, London considered the Caribbean to be more valuable than the North American mainland. The problem was that Africans outnumbered Europeans sometimes at a rate of 20:1 and there were constant slave rebellions.

Many Europeans like Alexander Hamilton engaged in a case of white flight, fleeing to North American mainland where he married into one of the most affluent families in NYC. A slave owning family, which makes rather curious the portrayal of Hamilton as some kind of ‘abolitionist.’

Probably to his dying days he was attended to by enslaved Africans. It’s also fair to say that Hamilton could justifiably be called the captain of the 1 percent. He was a leader of finance capital. He was the early Secretary of Treasury of the nation United States of America.”