"Stay Alive" and Guerrilla Warfare

"Stay Alive" and Guerrilla Warfare

This beginning of this song how rough the Americans had it during the Revolutionary War and I respect that Miranda does not sugar coat the truth. The song tells us that the army had to resort to eating horses and because of low funding they could not get supplies. America was at a desperate time and needed an, at the time, odd approach to military.

Washington gives Hamilton the advice to not engage, strike at night, and to hit'em quick and get out fast. These tactics are known as Guerrilla warfare today and are used by small forces to win against the impossible. Interestingly this is where the title comes in. Staying alive is how won the war. Hamilton hit on this point during Washington's advice when he says, "Make it impossible to justify the cost of the fight." Just like the Viet Cong did to American forces in the Vietnam War, we did to the British. We didn't beat them per say, but we did cause enough damages in key areas to cause the war to turn into an economic drain.

Guerrilla warfare takes a certain type of person to lead it. Lee was too passive and afraid to lead this kind of army. From the start, Hamilton should have been the obvious choice. His ambitious attitude and quick thinking in a pinch is what guerrilla tactics thrive on. I believe this song works to further emphasize Hamilton's characteristics by showing it through warfare. Guerrilla is a very good parallel to Hamilton's character.