Aaron Burr Jr. Was An American Politician

Chapter One: The Duel was a well-known duel in American history. Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton. July 11, 1804 is the exact date when the duel took place. It was presumed to have taken place in Weehawken, New Jersey; when in actuality, the duel really took place on a ledge above the water near Weehawken. This isolated spot was foolproof for illegal acts like this. Hamilton ends up dying because of Burr. Burr shot him from a distance. The bullet hit a rib and then ricocheted off into his spine mortally wounding Hamilton. Hamilton was the one that chose the position and the weapons for the duel, but the public thought that Burr killed him in cold blood. The public also started to call Burr the new Benedict Arnold. (Benedict Arnold was considered a traitor.) Burr was never harmed in the whole incident. Because everyone thought Burr was the initiator, he had to leave the city and this was the decline of his political power. Both of these men’s reputations were failing by 1804. Hamilton was appointed the first Secretary of Treasury under George Washington after the Revolutionary War. The Federalist Party was in decline and Hamilton did not hold office for approximately ten years. Burr lost the support

1. “Revolution” of 1800 (pp. 211–215) The election of 1800 was the first between organized political parties and the first of several to be decided on the basis of quirks in the Constitution. Why did Jefferson consider his victory in 1800 over the Federalist John Adams and his own vice-presidential running mate Aaron Burr to be “revolutionary”? What other “revolutionary” aspect of this election is added by the authors on p. 215?

Ellis claims that in order to understand the true significance of the duel, one must first consider the characters of the assailants, and the argument that brought them there. The Founding Fathers feared that if the federal government collapsed then it would result in war. Hamilton and Burr’s confrontation is a manifestation of this fear of collapse.

In the battle between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton was one of the most famous duels in the early 19th century. Both men were very significant political leaders of the United States. The men had clashes throughout the 1790’s which lead to a duel between the two and Alexander Hamilton lost his life.

Over the centuries there has arisen many undisputed geniuses such as Leonardo da Vinci, William Shakespeare, and Albert Einstein. With the rise of geniuses such as these there are two questions raised. What is genius? Is genius born or can it be learned? Scholars have gone back and forth and there is plenty of evidence and countless examples supporting either side. However, there appears to be a compromise between the two sides in how a genius comes about.

This informative book that the author, Joanne Freeman, focuses on a constructive journey of providing a comprehensive re-examination of the political culture that was exhibited in the historical orientation of American. The text has revealed an overwhelming unstable and a strange political world that is founded on the values of a code of honor and this has been achieved by exploring different materials that had focused on both the private and public figures. Relevant information explored are from key figures found in the history of America, including Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, and Aaron Burr, which Freeman has utilized in building a strong argument on the subject of the book (Freeman, 2002).

Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton had quite a difficult relationship. There were many instances where the two were greatly opposing each other. Due to these instances and others in which Burr had felt completely insulted by Hamilton, Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel in Weehawken, New Jersey. At the Duel, Burr shot Hamilton in the stomach. Hamilton died the next day. Burr was never charged for the murder of Hamilton, but some still consider Burr completely unjust in his actions of challenging and killing Hamilton.

Bill O’Reilly’s and Martin Dugard’s book Killing Lincoln delves into the events leading up to the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln and the repercussions upon the people involved, as well as a detailed analysis of the ongoing war efforts and the affects one has upon the other. While unraveling the conspiracy and its members, the reader is given compelling evidence and speculative reasoning that leads the reader to believe that the plot to assassinate Lincoln involves additional people, and could in fact be a conspiracy that reaches into the regions of power far above what is historically proven.

On July 11, 1804, a bullet from Aaron Burr’s pistol put an end to the life of Alexander Hamilton. However, it did not put an end to Hamilton’s vision for America. In 1806, a twenty-nine year old Kentuckian entered the U.S Senate and breathed life into Hamilton’s vision. His name was Henry Clay. For the next forty years, the man whom Abraham Lincoln called “My beau-ideal of a statesman” to natiously strove to implement a federal economic policy that closely followed

During the times after the creation the United States Constitution the Founding Fathers, or Founding Brothers as this book calls them, explored many different challenges. “Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation” talks about this challenges and events in different sections that focus on seven historical figures at the time: George Washington, John and Abigail Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin, and Adam Burr. Joseph J. Ellis talked about six events, in six chapters, from the time in American history that shaped the ideas that created the United States government that is known today. The chapters are called as followed The Duel, The Dinner, The Silence, The Farewell, The Collaborators, and The Friendship. After a brief introductory chapter called The Generation , in which the reader is introduced to the setting and characters, the story begins.

The events surrounding the “Burr Conspiracy” were among the first tests of the effectiveness of the United States democracy.

In Joseph Ellis’ Founding Brothers, the novel surrounds the major political leaders during the 1790s. The acts and intentions of these few leaders were responsible for the shaping of this national institution. Ellis explores this revolutionary generation full of honorable men who argued just as much as any other generation, but acted for posterity and themselves. Throughout the book, the theme of truth is expressed in the accounts of the political leaders and Ellis’ writing. The theme can be found through the accounts of Hamilton and Burr, Washington, and Adams and Jefferson.

Aaron Burr was in great debt when he was forced into retirement from politics (U.S Senate). Burr had taken great adventures throughout his career and he had always given to a friend or family member in need, both of which would always carry him farther into debt (U.S Senate). “Burr had now entangled himself in a grandiose scheme to carve out a section of the Louisiana Purchase and/or Mexico and create a personal empire. Burr spent his time in the west raising a private army, seeking allies, and procuring supplies. Eventually, word of what he was doing made its way to Washington D.C. Thomas Jefferson exploded into rage and demanded that Burr be hung for treason. Burr always maintained that letters had been taken out of context, that enemies

Aaron Burr had been Vice President during the first administration of Thomas Jefferson. In the summer of 1804, Burr killed his rival Alexander Hamilton in a duel, an event that effectively ended Burr’s career in national politics. Three years later, he was on trial, charged with the capital crime of treason by the government headed by Jefferson, his former partner in political office. Presiding over the trial was John Marshall, Chief Justice of the United States. Finally, there was James Wilkinson, general of the army, once Burr’s associate and at trial his chief accuser. With these principal players, the trial in the U.S. Circuit Court at Richmond was as much high political and personal drama as it was a judicial proceeding