Hamilton VS Burr The duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr is undeniably one of the most famous duels in American history. But what were the events in Hamilton and Burr’s deadly rivalry that led to something as extreme as a duel? A combination of differing beliefs, personal hurt, and failing political careers led to the famous duel. Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr were both orphans, but had widely different upbringings. Hamilton was born on the British West Indies island of Nevis. His parents never got married, and his father abandoned the family soon after Hamilton was born. His father left the family impoverished by leaving, and his mother died before he could become a teenager. Hamilton worked at a local import-export business and impressed his bosses, who gathered funds to send him to the American colonies to pursue his education, which at the time was largely self-educated. Hamilton, who was denied enrollment at the College of New Jersey, enrolled at Columbia University. Burr, on the other hand, was the child of an important colonial family. His grandfather was a famous preacher and theologian, and his father was a minister and educator who founded the College of New Jersey. Unfortunately, both of Burr’s parents died before he was even two years old. He was raised by wealthy relatives. When he was just thirteen, he enrolled at the College of New Jersey and graduated in just three years. Both Hamilton and Burr had eagerly fought in the Revolutionary War between the American colonies and the British Empire. However, after the war, both pursued political careers, becoming lawyers. Hamilton served as a delegate of the Constitutional Convention and was a co-author of the Federalist Papers. In 1789, Hamilton was chosen as America’s first Secretary of the Treasury. He founded the Federalist party. Meanwhile, Burr served in the New York State Assembly and as state attorney general. An election in 1791 fueled the flames of their rivalry like gasoline. Burr, as a candidate for the Democratic-Republican party, used his influence to win an appointment as a U.S. senator against Philip Schuyler, Hamilton’s father-in-law. Hamilton was quite close to his father-in-law, and was outraged. Burr tried running for president in 1796, then again in 1800 against Jefferson. And while Hamilton hated Jefferson, he disliked Burr even more. Hamilton supported Jefferson, who won the vote and became president. Both of the men’s political careers were failing at this point. Hamilton had left the government, feuded with fellow Federalist John Adams, and been involved in a s3x scandal, which was widely publicized and known as the Reynolds Affair. Burr lost many elections and was facing a deeply wounded public opinion from Hamilton’s scathing remarks about him. Burr, hoping that a duel would revive his political career, challenged Hamilton to a duel to defend his honor. Why did Hamilton accept Burr’s duel? Duels were common in those times and didn’t often result in death. Most often, people only considered dueling as being willing to die for one’s honor, and most duelists would purposely miss or shoot their opponent in non-lethal places. Hamilton, with a failing political career, had no choice to accept. Despite dueling being against his moral and religious beliefs, and his eldest son dying to a duel, he had to accept. Declining would paint him as dishonorable. And the other option would be apologizing for all of his insults against Burr, which was the alternative Burr proposed, which would also make him dishonorable. He accepted. On July 11, 1804, they faced off at the dueling grounds of Weehawken. Hamilton fired his shot into the air, while Burr’s shot hit Hamilton in the hip, fatally wounding him. Burr, after the duel, was seen as a fiendish killer who had killed his political opponent. Burr fled to South Carolina. He was faced with murder charges in New York and New Jersey, but his allies squashed them out. Burr returned to Washington D.C. to continue his career as vice president. But his political career was over. He was later tried for treason and fled to Europe, where he would remain for the rest of his life. To conclude, the Burr-Hamilton duel was a famous duel that was brought up by wounded pride and declining political careers and left both men with their lives ruined in two different ways. References Gilder Lehrman / Understanding Burr-Hamilton Duel https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-resources/essays/understanding-burr-hamilton-duel Arkansas PBS / Hamilton and Burr’s Duel https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/duel-alexander-hamilton-and-aaron-burrs-duel/ Biography / Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr’s Deadly Rivalry https://www.biography.com/political-figures/alexander-hamilton-aaron-burr-relationship-rivalry-duel
