The most famous duel in American history.
Imagine if the current vice president killed a former secretary of the treasury and war hero. Well, the 1804 version happened after Vice President Aaron Burr shot and killed Alexander Hamilton during a duel.
Alexander Hamilton was one of the most important figures in the shaping of our country’s early years. Some of his accomplishments include acting as a trusted aid to General George Washington during the Revolutionary War, representing New York as a delegate at the Constitution Convention, being one of the three authors of The Federalist Papers that advocated for the Constitution’s ratification, and being by far the greatest influence over the state of New York’s vote in favor of the Constitution’s ratification.
Hamilton is probably best known for his role during the George Washington administration as likely the most influential member of Washington’s cabinet and the nation’s first secretary of the treasury. He crafted a strong federal monetary policy that, among other features, assumed the debt of the states that helped spare the country from financial collapse. He can currently be viewed on the ten-dollar bill.
On the other side of the duel was the sitting Vice President Aaron Burr. In one of American history’s pivotal moments, Burr came within a few votes in the House of Representatives from winning the presidential election of 1800 over Thomas Jefferson. He had a troubled relationship with Jefferson, and in 1804, after being left off of Jefferson’s re-election campaign for president, Burr chose to run and was ultimately defeated in the gubernatorial election of New York.
The reasons the two men met in the early hours of July 11, 1804, at the Heights of Weehawken in New Jersey go back to several events. Their dislike initially stemmed from an old fashion political rivalry. Hamilton and Burr were members of the two different political parties at the time, the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans. Burr published a writing of Hamilton’s that was critical of President John Adams, something Hamilton never wanted to be made public. This disclosure damaged Hamilton’s reputation.
Hamilton opposed Burr throughout both of their political careers, including Burr’s unsuccessful run for governor of New York. Hamilton also worked to elect Thomas Jefferson over Burr when the election of 1800 went to the House of Representatives.
In the end, it was personal honor that seemed to set the two men on their tragic course. At a dinner party, Hamilton criticized Burr in front of other guests, including calling him “a dangerous man.” According to Dr. Charles Cooper, who was at the party, Hamilton also expressed a “more despicable opinion” of Burr. Burr demanded an apology from Hamilton but one was never given. Finally, Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel. Despite losing his nineteen-year-old son Philip to a duel less than three years before, Alexander Hamilton accepted Burr’s challenge at the same spot in New Jersey where his oldest son died.
A plaque marks the place in Weehawken, New Jersey, where Alexander Hamilton was shot.
The exact sequence of events that occurred on July 11 is still at issue. The end result is not. Hamilton was shot and killed by Burr. The most common version of events claims Hamilton never fired toward Burr but instead into the air, a common occurrence at the time. Another eyewitness stated that Hamilton fired at Burr but missed. After Hamilton was shot in the abdomen by Burr’s first pull of the trigger, he was brought back across the Hudson River to New York City, where he died the next day.
The public at the time was outraged over Hamilton’s death. Aaron Burr would be charged with murder in both New York and New Jersey as dueling was illegal, but he still served out his term as vice president in Washington, D.C. After disappearing down South, it was alleged that Aaron Burr, almost president of the United States in 1800, concocted a plan to seize the Louisiana Territory (which would become the land for the Louisiana Purchase) as well as the Spanish Territory so he could install himself as leader of a new empire in North America. There remains a dispute over Burr’s true intentions. Burr eventually stood trial for treason.
Some fortune followed Burr as he was acquitted of treason and never stood trial for the murder charges against Hamilton, thanks to the help of his political connections. However, Burr died in 1836, forever disgraced and always tied to the infamous duel.