Writes in partial cypher to his son-in-law after his duel with Alexander Hamilton. In the text that is not in cypher, Burr states that the jury has adjourned until Monday, 23 July, and that the results will determine whether or not he flees. He indicates that there is sentiment against him by Governor DeWitt Clinton and his allies. Thanks him for an earlier letter of support. At the end of the text is Enclose to Ch. Biddle, Phila. Charles Biddle was a friend of Burr's. The second and third pages are in cypher. Date is from docket. The letter was written no earlier than 13 July 1804 and probably not later than 21 July 1804.
This annotated collection of original documents takes readers inside the historic rivalry that ended in America’s most famous duel. The subject of a critically acclaimed biography and a sensational Broadway musical, the conflict between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr has long fascinated historians. This closely annotated volume of primary source documents offers a riveting account of the disastrous duel between these two early American statesmen. From the summer of 1804, we have the fiery correspondence between Hamilton and Burr, notes and accounts from their seconds-in-command, and other documents that provide an immediate sense of the personalities and times. The introduction and conclusion provide a concise and informative perspective on the parallel lives of Hamilton and Burr and of the duel’s lasting impacts on American history.
Trinity: The Burrs versus Alexander Hamilton and the United States of America will be the first book to draw on unreported documents and genealogical information to reveal an unprecedented look into the relationships of Aaron Burr, Alexander Hamilton, Trinity Church Corporation and the Loyalists of Manhattan Island. Author Alan J. Clark shows in new perspective the battles and intrigues leading beyond the American Revolutionary War. With the melding of genealogy and timeline analysis Clark examines some of the intriguing ciphered letters of Aaron Burr to his daughter Theodosia, and looks again at Burr’s curious and complex war time exploits to determine where his Loyalist tendencies actually began. Clark further examines the land leases then traded prior, during, and after the war as speculation, or possibly as rewards from the English Crown for services performed in its favor in the colonies primarily through the Corporation of Trinity Church. The economics of early Manhattan and the Atlantic colonies were bolstered by the complex and secular behavior of the Corporation of Trinity Church acting as land bank for the Loyalists to the Throne of England. Clark appears to fill in the gaps in many recently published tomes by delving deeper into the actions of Burr and Hamilton, examining their extensive familial connections and behaviors to arrive at a complex web of intricacy bringing to life American History at its most personal level. This book does not reiterate the well worn paths of American History. Instead, it brings a crisp new approach that makes sense of seemingly insignificant, disjointed and inconsistent stories of the early history of our country.
Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr came from differing backgrounds, but rose to great stature in the years following the American Revolution. As Secretary to the Treasury, Hamilton tackled the fragile finances of the new nation. Burr became the third US vice president in 1800. Readers may wonder how two such prominent men wound up in a duel that ultimately took Hamilton's life and ended Burr's political career. This is the engrossing account of the incidents that led to that fateful morning in 1804. Background information of the era, a timeline, quotes, and historical paintings enhance readers' understanding of the post-revolutionary country.
In the early morning hours of July 11, 1804, two men stood facing each other on a New Jersey cliff side. One was the U.S. vice president, Aaron Burr, and the other was Alexander Hamilton, the secretary of the treasury. They were ready to fight to the death for honor. These Founding Fathers, once friends and colleagues, had become the bitterest of enemies. After years of escalating tension, Burr had finally challenged Hamilton to a duel. In the end, only one man survived, but their infamous rivalry lives on.
The story of Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton, whose politics put these Founding Founders in constant conflict which led to the most famous duel in American history.
In the early morning hours of July 11, 1804, two men stood facing each other on a New Jersey cliff side. One was the U.S. vice president, Aaron Burr, and the other was Alexander Hamilton, the secretary of the treasury. They were ready to fight to the death for honor. These Founding Fathers, once friends and colleagues, had become the bitterest of enemies. After years of escalating tension, Burr had finally challenged Hamilton to a duel. In the end, only one man survived, but their infamous rivalry lives on.
*Includes pictures of Burr, Hamilton, and important people and places. *Explains the origins of their duel and includes the correspondence between them leading up to the duel. *Includes accounts of the duel and explains the mysteries and controversies still surrounding what happened. *Includes a Bibliography for further reading. "General Hamilton and Judge Kent have declared in substance that they looked upon Mr. Burr to be a dangerous man, and one who ought not be trusted with the reins of government." The Founding Fathers have been revered by Americans for over 200 years, celebrated for creating a new nation founded upon the loftiest ideals of democracy and meritocracy. But if the American Dream has come to represent the ability to climb the social ladder with skill and hard work, no Founding Father represented the new America more than Alexander Hamilton. Unfortunately, one of the best known aspects of Hamilton's (1755-1804) life is the manner in which he died, shot and killed in a famous duel with Aaron Burr in 1804. But Hamilton started as an orphaned child in the West Indies before becoming one of the most instrumental Founding Fathers of the United States in that time, not only in helping draft and gain support for the U.S. Constitution but in also leading the Federalist party and building the institutions of the young federal government as Washington's Secretary of Treasury. Hamilton is also well remembered for his authorship, along with John Jay and James Madison, of the Federalist Papers. The Federalist Papers sought to rally support for the Constitution's approval when those three anonymously wrote them, but they demonstrate how men of vastly different political ideologies came to accept the same Constitution. Conversely, it is hard if not impossible to find a figure with a more controversial legacy than Aaron Burr, one of the most reviled yet mysterious characters of the last 200 years. Today Burr is remembered almost solely for participating in the duel with Hamilton, but it is often forgotten that Burr killed Hamilton while he was Thomas Jefferson's sitting Vice President. As if that wasn't incredible enough, Burr's path to the Vice Presidency sparked a Constitutional crisis after the Election of 1800, and in addition to leading to the establishment of the 12th Amendment, it was Hamilton's support of his principal political foe Jefferson over Burr that helped ignite the arguments that culminated with their duel. Burr was charged with murder for participating in the controversial and illegal duel, bringing his political career to an end, but he saved his most controversial act for last. After leaving politics, Burr headed west, where he engaged in a mysterious and convoluted scheme that eventually led to charges of treason for conspiring to create a new Western empire. Like the murder charges, he was never convicted of treason for the controversial and confusing conspiracy, but Burr had burned nearly every bridge by then. Having incurred massive debt, Burr took to practicing law and staying out of the public eye for the rest of his life. Alexander Hamilton & Aaron Burr: The Men Behind America's Most Famous Duel chronicles the lives and legacies of both men and their notorious duel, but it also humanizes them and provides contemporary accounts that offer conflicting opinions of them. Along with pictures and a bibliography, you will learn about Hamilton, Burr and their duel like you never have before.
