Hamilton–Reynolds affair

Alexander Hamilton

The Hamilton-Reynolds affair was one of the first major sex scandals in American political history. It involved Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, who conducted an affair with Maria Reynolds from 1791 to 1792, during the presidency of George Washington. When he discovered the affair, Reynolds' husband, James Reynolds, subsequently blackmailed Hamilton over the affair, who paid him over $1,300; about a third of his annual income, to maintain the secrecy. In 1797, Hamilton publicly admitted to the affair after his political enemies attacked and accused him of financial corruption during his time as the Treasury Secretary.

Background[]

In the Summer of 1791, 23-year-old Maria Reynolds allegedly approached the married 34-year-old Alexander Hamilton in Philadelphia to request his help and monetary aid claiming her husband James had abandoned her. Hamilton did not have any money on his person, so he retrieved her address to deliver the funds in person. Once Hamilton arrived at the boarding house where Maria was lodging, she brought him upstairs and led him into her bedroom. He later recounted, "I took the bill out of my pocket and gave it to her. Some conversation ensued from which it was quickly apparent that other than pecuniary consolation would be acceptable."^[1] The two began an illicit affair that would last, with varying frequency, until approximately June of 1792.

Over the course of those months, while the affair took place, James Reynolds was well aware of his wife's unfaithfulness. He continually supported their relationship to regularly gain blackmail money from Hamilton. In the Reynolds Pamphlet, Hamilton goes as far as to argue that James Reynolds, along with his wife, conspired the scheme to, in Hamilton's own words, "extort money from me."^[2] The common practice in the day was for the wronged husband to seek retribution in a pistol duel, but Reynolds, realizing how much Hamilton had to lose if this activity came into public view, insisted on monetary compensation instead.^[3] In fact after Hamilton had shown unequivocal signs that he wanted to end the affair in the Autumn of 1791^[4] Hamilton received two letters on December 15, 1791, one each from Mrs. and Mr. Reynolds.^[5] The first letter, from Maria,^[6] warned of her husband's knowledge and of James' attempting to blackmail Hamilton. By this point Hamilton discontinued the affair and briefly ceased to visit, but both Reynoldses apparently were involved in the blackmailing scheme as both sent letters inviting Hamilton to continue his visits.^[5] After extorting $1000 in exchange for secrecy over Hamilton's adultery,^[7] James Reynolds rethought his request that Hamilton cease his relationship with Maria and wrote inviting him to renew his visits "as a friend",^[8] only to extort forced "loans" after each visit which the most likely colluding Maria solicited with her letters.^[1] By May 2, 1792, James Reynolds changed his mind again and requested that Hamilton no longer see his wife,^[9] but not before receiving additional payment; in the end the blackmail payments totaled over $1,300 including the initial extortion (equivalent to $20,000 in 2020).^[10] Hamilton at this point was possibly aware of both Reynoldses being involved in the blackmail^[11] and welcomed as well as strictly complied with Reynolds' request to end the affair.^[1] Historian Tilar J. Mazzeo has advanced a theory that the affair never happened. Outside of the Reynolds Pamphlet, there is no evidence that the affair actually occurred; others connected with the scandal, from James Monroe, who held the papers relating to James Reynolds, to Maria Reynolds herself, said that it was a cover-up for a financial scandal.^[12] Hamilton never produced the manuscript copies of Maria's letters, though the newspapers and Maria both suggested obtaining a handwriting sample. Hamilton said that they had been placed with a friend of his, who claimed that he had never seen them, suggesting that the letters could have been forged. The newspaper writers also pointed out that Maria's letters correctly spell long, complex words and yet sometimes misspelled simple words in a way that makes no phonetic sense; as Thomas Jefferson biographer Julian P. Boyd stated, the letters could resemble what an educated man believed an uneducated woman's love letters to look like. A Hamilton biographer also stated that the letters look like the letters between Alexander and his wife Eliza, which could explain why Eliza burned her letters.^[13]

Scandal[]

In November of 1792, after James Reynolds was jailed for participation in a scheme involving unpaid back wages intended for Revolutionary War veterans, he used his own knowledge about Hamilton's sex affair to bargain his way out of his own troubles. Reynolds knew Hamilton would have to choose between revealing his affair with Maria or falsely admitting complicity to the charges. James Monroe, Abraham Venable, and Frederick Muhlenberg were the first men to hear of this possible corruption within the nation's new government and on December 15, 1792, decided to personally confront Hamilton with the information they had received, supported by the notes of Hamilton's payments to Reynolds that Maria had given them to corroborate her husband's accusations. Denying any financial impropriety, Hamilton revealed the true nature of his relationship with Maria Reynolds and her husband in all its unsavory details. He even turned over the letters from both Maria and James Reynolds.^[14]

Observations on Certain Documents Contained in No. V & VI of "The History of the United States for the Year 1796," In which the Charge of Speculation Against Alexander Hamilton, Late Secretary of the Treasury, is Fully Refuted, commonly referred to as The Reynolds Pamphlet

Apparently convinced that Hamilton was not guilty of the charge of public misconduct, Monroe, Venable, and Muhlenberg agreed not to make public the information and documents on the Reynolds Affair. Monroe and his colleagues assured Hamilton that the matter was settled. However, Monroe did send the letters to his close personal friend, Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson and Hamilton were self-described nemeses, and five years after receiving the letters, Jefferson used the knowledge to start rumors about Hamilton's private life.

In that same year, 1797, when Hamilton no longer held the post of Secretary of the Treasury, the details of his relationship with Maria and James Reynolds came to light in a series of pamphlets authored by journalist James Thomson Callender. Included were copies of the documents Hamilton had furnished to the Monroe commission in December of 1792. Hamilton confronted Monroe over the leakage of the supposedly confidential documents. Monroe denied any responsibility. Hamilton came very close to calling Monroe a liar, and Monroe retorted that Hamilton was a scoundrel and challenged him to a duel. The duel was averted by the intercession of none other than Aaron Burr, who years later would challenge and kill Hamilton in a duel.^[15][16] After writing a first draft in July of 1797,^[4] on August 25, 1797, Hamilton responded to Callender's revelations by printing his own 95-page pamphlet called Observations on Certain Documents, later known as the "Reynolds Pamphlet",^[17] in which he denied all charges of corruption. However, he did not deny his relationship with Maria Reynolds; instead, he openly admitted it and apologized for it. While his candor was admired, the affair severely damaged his reputation. While Hamilton's admitted affair served to confirm rival Thomas Jefferson's conviction that he was untrustworthy, it did nothing to change Washington's opinion of him, who still held him in "very high esteem" and who still viewed Hamilton as the dominant force in establishing federal law and government.^[18]

In Popular Culture[]

This early sex scandal in American history has received multiple fictional portrayals.

Theater and Film[]

• A stage play, Hamilton, ran on Broadway in 1917, was co-written by George Arliss, who also played the title role. Jeanne Eagels portrayed Maria Reynolds and Pell Trenton played James Reynolds.
• The biographical film Alexander Hamilton, based upon the 1917 play, was released in 1931, with George Arliss reprising his role. June Collyer portrayed Maria Reynolds and Ralf Harolde portrayed James Reynolds.
• In the 2015 musical Hamilton, written by Lin-Manuel Miranda (who also debuted the title role), the Reynolds affair is a key moment in the Second Act. It figures into the following songs:
  • "Say No to This", in which the affair begins.
  • "We Know", in which Hamilton is confronted by Burr, Jefferson, and James Madison.
  • "Hurricane", in which Hamilton decides to write the Reynolds Pamphlet.
  • "The Reynolds Pamphlet".
  • "Burn", which depicts Hamilton's wife, Eliza, burning all of her letters to him in response to the Pamphlet's publication, the events the Pamphlet describes and then suggesting that Hamilton himself "burn."
• On July 3rd, 2020, Disney+ released the film Hamilton, an authorized film of the Broadway stage production, with Miranda playing Hamilton, Jasmine Cephas Jones playing Maria Reynolds, and Sydney-James Harcourt playing James Reynolds. All three actors were part of the Original Broadway Cast.
• Drunk History "Alexander Hamilton’s Salacious Sex Scandal" (feat. Lin-Manuel Miranda) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yi0FNwOYiI.

Literature[]

• Scandalmonger (2000), by William Safire.
• The Whiskey Rebels (2008), by David Liss.
• The Hamilton Affair (2016), by Elizabeth Cobbs.
• I, Eliza Hamilton (2017), by Susan Holloway Scott.
• My Dear Hamilton (2018), by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie.
• Eliza Hamilton: The Extraordinary Life and Times of the Wife of Alexander Hamilton (2018), by Tilar J. Mazzeo.

Television[]

• George Washington II: The Forging of a Nation, a 1986 television miniseries, includes the events of the affair. Richard Bekins portrayed Hamilton, with Lise Hilboldt portraying Maria Reynolds.

References[]

Sources[]

• Ferling, John (2013). Jefferson and Hamilton: the rivalry that forged a nation. Bloomsbury Press. ISBN 978-1608195428.
• Freeman, Joanne B. (2002). Affairs of Honor: National Politics in the New Republic. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0300097559.
• Isenberg, Nancy (2007). Fallen Founder: The Life of Aaron Burr. New York: Penguin.
• Mazzeo, Tilar (2018). Eliza Hamilton. New York: Simon and Schuster.
• Wheelan, Joseph (2005). Jefferson's Vendetta. New York: Carroll & Graf. ISBN 9780786714377.

Further reading[]

• Cerniglia, Keith A. "An Indelicate Amor: Alexander Hamilton and the First American Political Sex Scandal," Master's Thesis, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, 2002.
• Chernow, Ron (April 26, 2004). Alexander Hamilton. Penguin Press. ISBN 1-59420-009-2.
• Cogan, Jacob Katz. "The Reynolds Affair and the Politics of Character." Journal of the Early Republic 16, no. 3 (1996): 389–417, doi:10.2307/3124057

External links[]

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Reynolds Pamphlet

• Letters of James Monroe regarding the Reynolds affair in 1792 and other related archives
• Original Draft of The Reynolds Pamphlet
• Printed Version of the “Reynolds Pamphlet”, 1797