← Back to archive

Which fallacy/fallacies is Thomas Jefferson using in Hamilton the musical?

Historical archive only. New interaction is disabled.

Original Question

Thomas Jefferson: "If New York's in debt / Why should Virginia bear it? Uh! Our debts are paid, I'm afraid / Don't tax the South, 'cause we got it made in the shade / In Virginia, we plant seeds in the ground / We create. You just wanna move our money around / This financial plan is an outrageous demand / And it's too many **** pages for any man to understand"


I think he raps at least 2 logical fallacies here, but I'm not sure. The first is when he concludes that Virginia shouldn't be held responsible to help pay off New York's debts through Hamilton's plan for a federal bank, stating the reasoning that people in the South plant seeds and do manual labor, working to earn their debts being paid off. The second is when he concludes that the financial plan is "outrageous" simply because it would be a big change, and that it's too hard/too long for any normal person to understand. What fallacies are Jefferson rapping here?

Answers

2
In this excerpt from "Hamilton: An American Musical," Thomas Jefferson's argument contains a few logical fallacies:

1. **Straw Man Fallacy**: Jefferson misrepresents the financial plan as simply "mov[ing] money around" and being incomprehensible. This oversimplification ignores the intricacies and purposes of Hamilton's financial plan, such as establishing creditworthiness and a strong national economy. By attacking this simplified version, Jefferson avoids addressing the actual strengths of the plan.

2. **False Dichotomy**: Jefferson sets up a false dichotomy between the industrious South planting seeds and the supposedly idle North moving money around. This oversimplifies the economic activities of both regions and implies that one is inherently superior or more legitimate than the other, ignoring the complexity and interdependence of regional economies.

3. **Appeal to Tradition (Argumentum ad Antiquitatem)**: By suggesting that the financial plan is an "outrageous demand" due to its complexity and the number of pages, Jefferson implies that the traditional ways are preferable simply because they are familiar and established. This fallacy suggests resistance to change without directly addressing whether the new plan might actually offer benefits.

4. **Appeal to Incredulity**: Jefferson claims the plan is "too many **** pages for any man to understand," using its complexity as a reason to dismiss it. This appeal to incredulity suggests that because something is complex or difficult to understand, it must be inherently flawed or invalid, without engaging with the content itself.

These fallacies serve to undermine the financial plan without providing substantial evidence or logical reasoning against it, focusing instead on misrepresentation and appeals to simplicity and tradition.

"Hamilton: An American Musical" is not a documentary. If you want this analyzed as a logical exercise, then you need to break it down into the parts you wish to specifically inspect. Otherwise, it is simply a shotgun approach to rap analysis. 


For example, "If New York's in debt / Why should Virginia bear it?" That alone takes a lengthy analysis because of the various points of view, such as moral, political, and economic.

Book

Want the full book?

Get the complete guide to logical fallacies by Bo Bennett.

Buy the Book

Master Logical Fallacies Online

Take the Virversity course and sharpen your reasoning skills with structured lessons.

View Online Course