Aaron Burr Essay Research Paper Burr Aaron

Aaron Burr Essay, Research Paper

Burr, Aaron Although Aaron Burr, b. Newark, N.J. , Feb. 6, 1756, fought in the American Revolution and became an of import political figure, functioning a term ( 1801-05 ) as vice-president of the United States, he is best remembered today for holding killed Alexander Hamilton in a affaire d’honneur. The boy of a president of the College of New Jersey ( now Princeton University ) and the grandson of another ( Jonathan Edwards ) , Burr could follow his lineage back to the earliest Puritans. He entered Princeton at the age of 13, graduated at 16, and went on to go a Revolutionary War hero, lifting to the rank of lieutenant colonel at the age of 21. In July 1782 he married Theodosia Bartow Prevost, the widow of a former British officer. They moved to New York City, where Burr built a repute as an first-class lawyer and made of import political connexions. He was & # 8220 ; the most rising immature adult male in the province, & # 8221 ; a modern-day celebrated. Political Career In 1789 Burr was appointed lawyer general of New York by Gov. George Clinton. Two old ages subsequently the province assembly, which was controlled by zealots of Clinton and Robert Livingston, elected Burr to the U.S. Senate. His calling in the Senate was non peculiarly memorable. Hamilton hated him, Clinton shortly learned to mistrust him, and George Washington refused his petition to be appointed curate to France. But in and out of Congress, Burr managed to steer so skilfully, and with so much personal appeal, that he won the support of many Federalists every bit good as Democratic Republicans. In 1796 and 1800, Burr ran for vice-president with Thomas Jefferson on the Democratic-Republican ticket. Whatever uncertainties Virginia Republicans had about Burr & # 8211 ; they had non voted for him in 1796 & # 8211 ; were put to rest when he carried New York City for his party in 1800. It was assumed that the result of the national election would follow that in New York, but under the baffled electoral system so in usage Jefferson and Burr received an equal figure of electoral ballots for the presidential term ( 73 each ) , throwing the election into the House of Representatives. There the Federalists refused to mind the advice of Hamilton and unsuccessfully tried, against the obvious wants of the populace, to elect Burr. Jefferson won the competition and Burr became vice-president. Jefferson doubted his trueness and shortly began to keep back backing from Burr and his followings. Although still a Republican, Burr began to cultivate Federalists ; his scheme was to unite dissenters against the Virginia party of Jefferson and James Madison. Frustrated by Jefferson & # 8217 ; s national popularity, and dropped from the Republican ticket for 1804, Burr entered the 1804 gubernatorial race in New York. Some northern Federalists who were plotting sezession called on Burr to back up them, but his response was masterfully puzzling. An old enemy, Alexander Hamilton, did everything he could to get the better of Burr. Some of Hamilton & # 8217 ; s derogative remarks, personal in nature, appeared in print, and Burr, who lost the election, demanded a abjuration, which Hamilton R

efused to make. The duel that followed at Weehawken, N.J., on July 11, 1804, resulted in Hamilton’s death. Charged with murder, Burr fled to Philadelphia to escape arrest. The Conspiracy In his final eight months as vice-president, Burr’s conduct was exemplary. He presided over the impeachment trial of Samuel Chase with dignity, ability, and impartiality, and delivered a farewell address that favorably impressed the Senate. But his insatiable dream of personal glory led him to undertake a western scheme that ended in his arrest and trial for treason. Precisely what Burr planned will probably never be known. Most likely he envisioned the creation of an empire stretching from the Ohio River to Mexico over which he would preside, and he intended to take whatever steps were necessary to achieve it. “The gods invite us to glory and fortune,” Burr wrote to his coconspirator, Gen. James Wilkinson; “it remains to be seen whether we deserve the boon.” While Burr and a handful of followers were on their way to New Orleans, however, Wilkinson informed Jefferson of the conspiracy. On Nov. 27, 1806 Jefferson issued a proclamation that led to the collapse of the plot and Burr’s arrest. The subsequent trial, held in Richmond, Va., was presided over by Chief Justice John Marshall. He defined the law of treason so narrowly that the jury took a mere 25 minutes to acquit Burr. Marked as a traitor and threatened by angry mobs in Baltimore, Burr gathered some money from friends and left for Europe. He traveled to England, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, and France, and did not return to the United States until May 1812. Soon thereafter he suffered the deaths of his grandson and his daughter. At the age of 76 he married a wealthy New York widow, Eliza Jumel; but his wife sued for divorce, which was granted on Sept. 14, 1836, the day Burr died. On leaving the government Hamilton resumed a busy and lucrative law practice. He continued to have a strong influence in the public councils, however. He supported a defiant posture toward France during the XYZ AFFAIR (1798), and as inspector general of the army (1798-1800) he took charge of organizing the nation’s defenses. Bitterly disappointed in President John ADAMS’s erratic leadership, Hamilton openly opposed Adams’s reelection in 1800. When it appeared, however, that Aaron Burr might win the presidency over Jefferson, Hamilton unhesitatingly threw his support to Jefferson, whose policies he scorned, rather than to Burr, whom he regarded as a man without principles. This and other opposition by Hamilton so frustrated and angered Burr that he challenged Hamilton to a duel. The two men fought at Weehawken, N.J., on July 11, 1804. Hamilton apparently fired into the air, but Burr took direct aim. Hamilton fell mortally wounded and died the next day in New York. He was buried in Trinity churchyard, New York City. He left his wife and seven children heavily in debt, but friends soon paid off the debts. Hamilton was mourned by his countrymen as one who had devoted his life to the nation’s growth in freedom and prosperity.