Alexander Hamilton Research Paper

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

The chapters are titled "The Generation", "The Duel", "The Dinner", "The Silence", "The Farewell", "The Collaborators" and "The Friendship". In "The Duel", the story of the legendary duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr is related in its entirety. It was by far the most prominent deadly standoff between two men in history. Ellis relates the background and brief biographies of the two men involved in the duel. He also reveals the context for the duel, a culmination of political and personal jabs at Burrs character by Hamilton. In fact these jabs held a good deal of truth, and finally resulted in Burr challenging Hamilton. Both Hamilton and Burr went to the plains in Weehawken to conduct the duel in defense of their honor and characters. Historically, Hamilton is seen as a martyr in the duel and Burr seen as a treacherous murderer. This Hamiltonian viewpoint is dominant among historians because it is widely believed that Hamilton went into the duel not intending to fire a shot and that Burr fired the first shot. Ellis believes this version of the story to be wrong. He believes that Hamilton honored his bargain of not firing on Burr, wasting his first shot by firing it into the trees. Burr, thinking that Hamilton fired at him, shot and killed Hamilton with his shot.

They were part of the Commander-in-Chief’s staff under George Washington. Burr often supported Generals Lee and Gates protesting Washington’s proposals. Hamilton, regardless of his difference of opinions with Washington, often attacked Generals Lee and Gates. The duel between Hamilton and Burr on July 11, 1804 is still remembered today as being very symbolic in the political life of the country. Hamilton and Burr met in Weehawken and they each loaded their pistols in one another’s presence. They calculated the distance, and had someone else give the command. Hamilton and Burr both fired at the same time, and Hamilton was killed with a shot to the abdomen. The backlash that Burr was a traitor had spread throughout the political universe and it showed how Hamilton’s death caused political rifts that under any other circumstance might not have happened considering Burr was the Vice President of the United States. The purpose of this paper is to show if Burr’s killing of Hamilton was justified. Hamilton formerly said that he had by no means a dispute with Burr, other than they had opposing political views. (Hamilton vs.

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

In many U.S. history classes all over the country, the Alexander Hamilton Vs. Aaron Burr duel is taught with little detail. Hamilton is a founding father, Burr is the Vice President, they challenge each other to a duel and Hamilton dies. However there is much more to the story as Hamilton consciously made the decision to throw away his shot and give Burr all of the power. This may not be the kind of decision that most people would make in this situation, but for Hamilton it was necessary. Alexander Hamilton had been through a great deal of hardships in his life. In the beginning his childhood was dark and filled with death, he tainted his love life and career with an affair, he gave his son fatal advice, and by speaking what he thought to be true he landed himself a spot in the duel against Burr. Within all of these aspects, Hamilton found himself helpless and no matter what he tried, he could not seem to fix the situation. Perhaps Hamilton decided to lay his fate in the hands of someone else for once because he never truly felt in control.

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

Washington resented it, and punished Burr for the rest of his life” (Aaron Burr Association). The 1791 US Senate race brought up a growing enemy for Burr, Alexander Hamilton. When Aaron Burr won the Senate seat from Federalist Philip Schuyler, who happened to be Hamilton’s father-in-law, Hamilton began resenting Aaron Burr for taking the seat. Hamilton started hating Burr for selfish reasons. Burr attempted writing a book on the Revolutionary War, but Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State denied him access of the library. In the presidential election of 1800, Burr tied with Thomas Jefferson who both received 73 electoral votes. Alexander Hamilton repeatedly tried convincing the House of Representatives to elect Jefferson over Burr, on account of Aaron Burr beating Hamilton’s father–in-law for a seat in the Senate (Senate). Hamilton’s scheme works and Burr is elected Vice President, and this is Aaron Burr’s stressor or breaking point. Thomas Jefferson once said, “I never, indeed thought him an honest, frank-dealing man, but considered him as a crooked gun, or other perverted machine, whose aim or stroke you could never be sure of”(Senate). When Burr was Jefferson’s Vice President he could tell that Aaron Burr’s mind was not all there, and Thomas Jefferson knew that Burr could go off at anytime yet no one knew when.

Alexander Hamilton was most likely born on January 11, 1757, although the exact year of his birth is unknown. Hamilton was born on the Caribbean island of Nevis or St. Kitts to Rachel Fawcett and James Hamilton, but he spent the majority of his youth on the island of St. Croix. His formal education as a child was minimal. When his mother died in 1768, Hamilton took his

Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton were two men who worked closely under George Washington under his presidency, two of Washington’s best yet they could not stand each other. Despite how close the two worked together they had far more differences than similarities. Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson were the ones to start the first political parties in the western world. Hamilton was the creator and leader of the Federalists and Jefferson led the republicans or also known as democratic republicans. Both Hamilton and Jefferson had been involved in the founding of the nation yet made almost no contact until appointed under Washington.

“In 1800 Burr obtained and had published "The Public Conduct and Character of John Adams, Esq., President of the United States," a document highly critical of Adams, a Federalist. Hamilton, its author, had intended it for private circulation. Its publication proved highly embarrassing to Hamilton and helped widen rifts in the Federalist Party. That same year, when Republicans Aaron Burr and Thomas Jefferson tied in balloting for the presidency, Hamilton lobbied Congress to decide the election in Jefferson's favor. Hamilton's campaign had little effect, but in the end, Jefferson emerged the winner.”

Aaron Burr is a person whose influence in American History is rivalled only by our founding fathers of the time. He had a working relationship with many of the people who helped to forge the United States of America and he left his own lasting legacy in many places that can still be seen today. He was revolutionary war hero as well as a leader in the politics of New York City and Colonial United States. His ambition and motivation to succeed would be legendary, but it was his methods that would cast doubt and a shadow on his character for history to remember him by. Aaron Burr’s life, successes, and failures are so great that many books have to been written to try to encompass them in the pages of history. This paper serves to document a few small elements of his life that displayed his extraordinary leadership and some of this successes and failures that resulted.

When Burr ran for the vice presidency Hamilton did all in his power to discredit him. Jefferson chose Burr as his running mate in 1800, this created a rift in the Federalists aided Jefferson and Burr to win the election. Under the election rules the runner up would become president so that left thing btw bur and Jefferson, it was a tie but Hamilton helped break the deadlock and aid Jefferson win, who Hamilton decided was better than burr. Burr became vice president, but lost trust in him, and he did not support Burr’s renomination to a second term in 1804. During campaign, Burr’s reputation was damaged by Hamilton, burr decided to restore his reputation by challenging Hamilton to a

To summarize, in Ellis’ first chapter called “The Duel,” illustrates the feud between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr. The famous duel which was illegal at the time, had taken place on July 11.1804 in Weehawken, New Jersey. To add, the two men did not like each other because of the fact that Burr was a prideful and ignorant man who went against his Democratic-Republican party. To explain, the reason for the Burr not liking Hamilton was that he had told other members in the House that Jefferson was the better candidate for President. Burr, who could not get over the fact that Hamilton did such a thing, called Hamilton out. Hamilton could not turn down the duel because he did not want to be perceived differently. Ellis mentioned the duel was under the system of “code duello” where ten paces were taken and then shots were fired. It was known that these two were polar opposites in their ideals and characteristics. Furthermore, Hamilton was the leader of the Federalist party and served under Washington as his Secretary of Treasury. On the other hand, Burr at the time of the duel was the Vice President of the United

One of the most detrimental events in Aaron Burr’s career was “The Duel” with Alexander Hamilton. Not only was dueling illegal in 1804 in New Jersey, which is where the duel occurred, but Aaron Burr was the current Vice President of the United States of America taking part in an event that led to the death of Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton himself was one of the most powerful figures in the Federalist Party and was so well known within the party that his advocates believed that he emulated the political energy of George Washington, so the death of Hamilton was a shock to the party and to the nation. Now before this duel occurred, Hamilton and Burr both had their reasons why they detested each other. Hamilton, over a period of about fifteen years, completely disparaged Burr as a person and as a politician which frustrated Burr. Hamilton believed that Burr was doing what was politically expedient which Hamilton thought indicated that Burr had no principles. Moreover, Hamilton 's constant political attacks on Burr eventually led to the proclamation of a duel and the fulfillment of the duel which resulted in the death of Alexander Hamilton and the end of Burr’s political career. In regard to the duel, the conclusion of the duel signified how much they detested each other and how their hatefulness for each other changed history even before the duel occurred. For example, in the presidential election of 1800, Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr had the

The agrarian society is the way to make this nation thrive. Many nations have used this method in order to help their nation. Our focus should be on agriculture as it benefits us and others as well. We should depend on ourselves as us, the common men should be the center, not the rich as Hamilton says. If we focus on agriculture our nation will rise to the top. Hamilton’s ways of manufacturing items is useless, not only is it ineffective but it will be expensive for us and will not benefit us as much as my method. - Jefferson