What Comes Next?

"What Comes Next?" is the second of three songs sung by King George III in the musical "Hamilton" by Lin-Manuel Miranda. At this point in the musical, the colonies have just won their independence and King George III laments his defeat and gives a final warning to his former subjects.

Lyrics:
[King George:]
They say
The price of my war's not a price that they're willing to pay
Insane
You cheat with the French, now I'm fighting with France and with Spain
I'm so blue
I thought that we'd made an arrangement
When you went away
You were mine to subdue
Well, even despite our estrangement, I've got
A small query for you:

What comes next?
You've been freed
Do you know how hard it is to lead?

You're on your own
Awesome. Wow
Do you have a clue what happens now?

Oceans rise
Empires fall
It's much harder when it's all your call

All alone, across the sea
When your people say they hate you
Don't come crawling back to me

You're on your own…

Questions:

1. Vocabulary to Define: estrangement, subdue,
2. What problems is King George experiencing?
3. What warnings does King George give the newly independent colonists?
4. How does the music contribute to the mood of this song?
5. Characterize King George. Give at least three characteristics with quotes from this song to support these characteristics.
6. Make a prediction. Based on this song and your knowledge of Social Studies, what problems might the newly formed American government face? How might the former colonists deal with these problems?

Extra:

If you've finished both videos, you might enjoy looking at the third song that King George sings in "Hamilton". We'll get to briefly look at this song when we talk about John Adam's Presidency in Social Studies Class.