Burr, Aaron

Burr, Aaron (1756–1836), political leader, vice president, conspirator.Best remembered for his duel with Alexander Hamilton and the failed attempt to create a separate empire in the western United States, Burr remains one of the more enigmatic figures in a generation of revolutionaries and nation‐builders. Born in Newark, New Jersey, the son and namesake of a prominent Presbyterian minister and grandson of Jonathan Edwards, Burr graduated from the College of New Jersey (Princeton) at the age of sixteen and began legal studies. In 1775, he joined the Continental Army, serving with distinction under Benedict Arnold and George Washington. After the Revolutionary War, he practiced law in New York and entered politics, holding office as the state's attorney general and a U.S. senator (1791–1797). His long‐term rivalry with Hamilton crystallized in the presidential election of 1800. When Burr tied Thomas Jefferson in the electoral college presidential vote, throwing the election into the House of Representatives, Hamilton influenced Federalist congressmen to vote for Jefferson, making Burr vice president. In 1804, during Burr's unsuccessful campaign for governor of New York, Hamilton portrayed him as “a dangerous man, and one who ought not be trusted with the reins of government.” This led to a duel at Weehawken, New Jersey, on 11 July 1804, in which Burr killed Hamilton.

In 1805–1806, Burr plotted with General James Wilkinson, Jonathan Dayton, and others to create an empire encompassing the Mississippi Valley, Mexico, and the American West. The nebulous scheme disintegrated, and Burr was indicted for treason. The 1807 trial, presided over by Chief Justice John Marshall in the U.S. Circuit Court in Richmond, Virginia, ended with Burr's acquittal on the grounds that he had not committed overt treasonable acts. Nevertheless, Burr's political influence faded and he lived in European exile for several years before resuming his New York law practice. His 1833 marriage to a younger widow, Eliza Jumel, soon ended in divorce. His beloved daughter, Theodosia, the child of an earlier marriage, had died in 1813.
See also Early Republic, Era of the; Federalist Party; Revolution and Constitution, Era of.

Bibliography

Thomas Perkins Abernathy , The Burr Conspiracy, 1954.
Milton Lomask , Aaron Burr: The Years from Princeton to Vice President, 1756–1805, 1979.

Nicholas Casner