Hamilton One Shots

Miss Liberty

Requested by: Chief813
OC: Murphy

Why are men the ones who get the pleasure of practicing law and mathematics? It was a question often on the minds of many few women, but never a question spoken aloud to anyone. However, someone came along and challenged the standard that women had always been placed in.

Murphy devoted her time to finding whatever she could about politics and all the wonderful mysteries that lead to parties forming and how it was all still happening. She received startled looks by the books carried with her at all times, and often disproving nods.

It wasn't something she could just ignore, because it was clear that this path wouldn't be a simple one.

The nagging feeling she got every time she arrived home made her heart sink further into her stomach. "Father, this is my passion, don't you understand? I-I want to be in Congress, and it's all-" She never got to finish that line.

"You want to be the first woman in that place, yes, we've heard this hundreds of times before, but you don't understand what it takes to get you there. We cannot pull money out of our pockets like other families to send you off to get an education!" And just like that, her dreams were crushed every time.

Despite her requests being pushed away, her parents still loved her dearly. Murphy knew they supported her, but she also knew there was no way she'd ever get away from the reminders of her dreadful childhood.

In order to move forward, education and a new start was needed, but that would never come with the family she had. Not with the gender she lived in either. Though she had a charming lifestyle and array of traits, her dream would never be fulfilled for so many reasons.

Something wasn't correct about the whole idea of her rights being diminished into nothing but whispers. Murphy knew she deserved better than anyone told her, and the woman was determined to climb to the top. She wouldn't dare take no for an answer.

Among people of vast differences, one would imagine that a girl with such dreams as she stood out as an individual. But living in the greatest city of the world at the time gave her no boost in the matter. Some thought she dreamed too much, but to her, it was enough.

Men roamed around the city as if they were invincible creatures who felt no shame nor fear to the world around them. Dreams were defeats for them in a way, and they were hopeless aspirations for her. Gone in a whirlwind of dashing looks and books, men snatched every chance she had to step out into the light, and it left her feeling unwanted.

She had the capability to be powerful with her words, and she would chuckle at the thought of men cowering around at the sight of a true independent woman. Times were difficult, but it didn't mean she was just their stereotype of what a woman had to be.

"These folks make me miserable with their nonsense and standards for what path should be ahead of me," Murphy groaned one evening, as she laid stretched across a sofa. She had ripped her skirts off and let her body breathe.

There was a snort from the corner of the room, followed by, "Men aren't the most flattering once you get to know them, now are they, dear?" Done up an elegant nightdress, Angelica beamed at her from a distance. The misogyny was almost like a familiar drug to her by now, as she was numb to its effect on her.

Women were a rather familiar interest and love for the passionate Angelica as well. Half of her life she spent being told what to do and who not to love, yet here she was, breaking all those rules that her parents forced upon her. Murphy laid across the sofa, piles of novels surrounding her, the scent of hope and pages, oh it was all a vivid dream come alive.

"I want to be better than this," Murphy declared, raising herself up, but then facing the couch again as she felt a hand push her down.

"You are everything already," Angelica hissed in reply, handing her glass of wine. "Yes, we have to work in this world. None of our dreams are written in stone, but our efforts will be, my dear. People will only remember you, us, if you carry this burden all the way to Congress."

The words flowed down her throat with the gulp of wine she had taken. Do something. As if she hadn't been doing that already. Murphy tapped her fingers against the glass, and then murmured, "I don't know where to go."

Pouring another glass of wine for herself, the woman before her raised an eyebrow. She perched herself on one end of the sofa and gave a moment for the air in the room to settle.

"Remember the fire you have, and don't let it go. You have to break the limits! You're carving the path for women in the future, just think about the glorious doors this will open."

Murphy let out a laugh. "I have tried time and time again, yet they won't accept the idea of it. I would have to start my own revolution in order to even get them to stop looking at my bosom," she finished with a roll of her eyes.

Angelica didn't respond this time, and she only held her glass in her hands timidly. She knew her optimistic views on the future for them both wouldn't change the state of men's minds, but it was a start. Her eyes gazed over at Murphy's heaving body, with every breath she took, and there came another sigh.

"Our chances are faint, but," she muttered, much to Murphy's agreement, "we must face the issue with the same attitude they present to us. Men drool over what they want us to do for them, so why not give them a taste of a trap?"

"I promise you," she finished, seeing the gaping smile of Murphy beside her, "that we will fight, even if they declare us unworthy of recognition and life." Swishing her nightdress back and forth, she imagined herself marching down a street with women in gowns alongside her.

Rebellion, more so a fight for what's equal, seemed necessary. The two women both spent that night drinking and laughing with their hopes for tomorrow, not knowing that it would take decades for any such matter to be spoken about. They would fail, but they wouldn't ever get to see the bliss of the freedom and success it had for other women. Their idea would carry on, and so would the passion that Murphy had.

Women's rights weren't anything less than men's, and though the thought of billowing skirts and a spoken mind sitting in Congress made men uneasy; it wouldn't be long until some of their minds shifted as they watched from up above what progress their country had for those they diminished years before.

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A/N: Thank you Chief813 for the long awaited request! I do hope you enjoy it! It turned into a very hopeful, but from the heart piece, as women's rights and independence are something I take seriously. Women never get enough credit, and even though centuries have passed, we still have some of the same difficulties as these historic women did. The title just kind of came to me also. I really put emotion and the request of the storyline as best as I could into this, so thank you for reading everyone!