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The most famous duel fought on American soil was undoubtedly that between sitting Vice President Aaron Burr and Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton. It was a duel that very likely changed the course of American history.
Aaron Burr was a hero of the American Revolution, a brilliant man and an astute politician, with many friends in high places. Whether or not he carried the 1800 election, it is likely he'd have had a great deal more influence in the course of American affairs, if not for that fateful duel.
Alexander Hamilton was co-author of The Federalist Papers and one of the founding fathers of the new republic on the American continent. A senior aide to General Washington during the fighting, he commanded three battalions at Yorktown. He served in the Continental Congress, was the new country's first Secretary of the Treasury and a signer of the Constitution. He quickly became one of its foremost authorities on constitutional interpretation, possibly the first American constitutional lawyer.
Who can say what contributions these two brilliant and capable men might have made to the new republic, and what path its history might have taken, if not for the fateful duel that ended in the death of one and the disgrace of the other?
The quarrel between the two men began during the bitterly contested election of 1800. After a tied election in which Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr each received 73 electoral votes, it became the task of the House of Representatives to finally decide--after the casting of thirty-six separate ballots--that Thomas Jefferson would be president, and Aaron Burr Vice President.
It was rumored at the time that Hamilton had more than a little to do with Burr's being denied the Presidency, working behind the scenes to ensure his defeat. But it wasn't until 1804--when Burr was defeated in his bid to become governor of New York--that he challenged Hamilton to a duel, supposedly over insulting statements Hamilton had made at a dinner party they both attended. Various accounts have called Hamilton "suicidal" for agreeing to the duel, and Burr "homicidal" for issuing the challenge. Still other scholars are of the opinion that both these statements were true.
In any case, the pair apparently went to great lengths to avoid the appearance of illegality. Since duelling had been outlawed in New York, the Burr and Hamilton parties rowed across the Hudson River in separate boats to a site known as the Heights of Weehawken, a river landing beneath the New Jersey Palisades which had become a popular duelling site of the day. The pistols were transported inside a traveling case, and the oarsmen instructed stand with their backs to the duelers, so that any called to testify would be able to swear, under oath, that they had seen no pistols. However these precautions were probably for naught, given the outcome, and the prominence of the duellers.
The duel was fought with a pair of pistols made by London gunsmiths Wogden and Barton. The pistols had been used in several previous duels, including another involving Aaron Burr, and one in which Hamilton's son, Phillip, was killed in 1801--which may have been a factor in Hamilton's fatally odd behavior during his duel with Burr.
Hamilton's shot went high in the air--whether from deliberate "throwing" of his shot, an accidental discharge caused by the weapon's "hair trigger", or bad marksmanship, no one knows. Burr, however, took deadly aim and fatally wounded Hamilton. He was charged with murder in New York, where he lived, and in New Jersey where the duel took place, but neither charge was ever brought to trial. Burr completed his term as vice president, but his reputation never recovered. His political career in ruins, he migrated west. Scandal continued to follow him until his death in 1836.
The pistols used in the duel still survive today. They changed hands several times before being purchased by the Chase Manhattan Bank in 1930, and today remain on display in a Manhattan branch of J.P. Morgan Chase and Company.
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