Video link: https://youtu.be/7MsbnwVV94E
Almost as if trying to hastily end Act 1 of the musical, Non-Stop contains many different topics jumbled into one song, so let's dive right in.
The first section features a murder trial, and while this murder trial itself isn't significant, there are many important ideas we can derive from this song. The first is that this is the first murder trial in American history, which is significant as a symbol of America actually being a country now. The second is how it displays Hamilton's personality, now in a workplace rather than the battlefield. During the war we learned that Hamilton desperately wants to rise to the top, and isn't even afraid to die for it. Now that the war is over, Hamilton still has the same dream, but he attempts to achieve it through politics and economics, pushing him to write day and night like he's running out of time.
The second section is the Constitutional Convention. Here's a little bit of background to understand: A strong central government is where power is concentrated in someone/something that governs the entire country. For example, Britain has an extremely strong central government because a lot of power is concentrated in one person: the king/queen. To avoid becoming like Britain, America established a new democratic government that has a weak central government, which meant power is more concentrated in each state, rather than the federal government. This government system was called the Articles of Confederation. While more democracy and power to the people might sound like a good idea, the Articles of Confederation were too weak to actually do anything. For example, there was a farmer's tax uprising in Massachusetts, and the government didn't even have the power to stop that. As a result, a new government system is proposed to focus a bit more power in the central government. The discussion to propose this idea was called the Constitutional Convention. After many debates and compromises, a new government system was born: the Constitution, which, although has a stronger central government, has that power divided between 3 branches: an executive branch (president), judicial branch (Supreme Court), and a legislative branch (Congress). These 3 branches keep each other in check to make sure the federal government doesn't become corrupt.
A diagram of how the 3 branches keep each other in check
The third section is the Federalist papers. At first, not everyone wanted a stronger central government because it could mean a corrupt government. To convince them otherwise, a series of essays was anonymously published to the public, which was written by John Jay, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton. Eventually for the Constitution to pass, the Bill of Rights was promised to the public to give them certain rights that protect them from the government.
Finally, the passing of the Constitution means there will now be a president. The people elected Washington, although he didn't necessarily want to be president. Alas, for the better of his country, he became president and created the presidential cabinet, which consisted of a Secretary of Treasury (manages the economy of America) and a Secretary of State (manages foreign affairs in America). Hamilton was invited to be the Secretary of Treasury and Jefferson became the Secretary of State.
And whew, we finally finished Act 1. While this seems like a conclusion to Act 1, it also sets up the premise for Act 2, which is even more politics!