Aaron Burr (6 February 1756 – 14 September 1836) was Vice-President of the United States from 4 March 1801 to 4 March 1805 under Thomas Jefferson, succeeding Jefferson and preceding George Clinton. He formerly served as a US Senator from New York (DR) from 4 March 1791 to 3 March 1797, interrupting Philip Schuyler's terms. Burr was responsible for killing his former friend and political rival Alexander Hamilton in an 1804 duel in New Jersey after Hamilton helped Jefferson in beating Burr in the 1800 elections, and Burr was vilified due to his murder of Hamilton. An American Revolutionary War hero from an esteemed family and of great note himself, Burr would be arrested in 1807 for treason for attempting to take over the American Southwest as a new nation, and he lived in Europe until 1812, dying on Staten Island at the age of 80 in 1836.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Aaron Burr was born on 6 February 1756 in Newark, New Jersey. His father, Aaron Burr Sr., was a respected reverend and his mother Esther, the daughter of Jonathan Edwards, a Calvinist theologian, and his family was wealthy and respected. He was orphaned while young, and he was raised by William Shippen's family in Philadelphia, and in 1759 he moved to Elizabeth with his uncle Timothy Edwards. He was admitted into the sophomore class of the College of New Jersey at the age of 13 and received his bachelor of arts degree in 1772 at the age of 16, and he initially studied theology before enlisting in the Continental Army.
Revolutionary War[]
Burr befriended Alexander Hamilton, the Marquis de Lafayette, Hercules Mulligan, and John Laurens while studying in New York City in the summer of 1776, and they all joined the army together during the American Revolutionary War. Burr served as a Captain in the Continental Army and was the aide-de-camp to General Richard Montgomery until he was killed at the Battle of Quebec, and he served under Israel Putnam in the Battles for New York, rescuing Hamilton's battalion from the British. Burr became a national hero, and in July 1777 he was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel and given a command by George Washington, although he was jealous that Hamilton was made Washington's aide-de-camp instead of him. On 28 June 1778, he suffered from heat stroke at the Battle of Monmouth as his battalion suffered at the hands of British artillery, and in March 1779 he resigned from the army to continue his law career. During his civilian life, he fell in love with a woman named Theodosia Bartow Prevost, the wife of a British officer serving in Georgia. Theodosia wrote him every day, and after the Siege of Yorktown he wrote to her, saying that she would come of age with the new nation and would astonish everyone. In 1779, he led some Yale students to defeat Tryon's Raid in northern New York, but in 1782 he was admitted to the bar, marrying Theodosia the next year.
Political career[]
Aaron Burr as vice-president
Burr and Hamilton both practiced law after the war, working in offices in New York that were next to each other, but Hamilton rose to fame quicker. They both represented Levi Weeks in the first murder trial of the new country, and Burr was angered by Hamilton believing that he was the smartest person in the room. Later, Hamilton admitted that Burr was a better lawyer, and he decided to leave law and become a leader of the Federalist Party and a writer of the Federalist Papers.
From 1789 to 1791, Burr served as Attorney-General after Richard Varick and before Morgan Lewis, and from 1791 to 1797 he served as a senator from New York, defeating Hamilton's father-in-law and former General Philip Schuyler. Burr switched from the Federalist Party to the Anti-Federalists (the Democratic-Republican Party) so that he could run against Schuyler and win the race, and he was now opposed to Hamilton's party.
Burr grew jealous of Hamilton's growing power, and his defeat of Schuyler in the senate race after switching political parties to seize the opportunity to take power led to Hamilton and Burr having enmity. A wedge was driven between the two friends due to Burr's opportunism, and he sought to damage Hamilton's image with Madison and Jefferson. They accused Hamilton of embezzling money, but they later found letters about his love affair with Maria Reynolds, leading to Hamilton confessing about the affair in "the Reynolds Pamphlets" to prevent his opponents from twisting the story.
Burr-Hamilton duel[]
A statue of Burr shooting Hamilton
Hamilton's personal reputation was ruined by The Reynolds Pamphlets, but in 1800 he decided to run for President against Jefferson, leading his own faction of the party. They were deadlocked in a tie, and Hamilton decided to put an end to Burr's opportunism, choosing to throw his support behind Jefferson, landing all the delegates in Jefferson's camp. Jefferson won a landslide victory as a result, angering Burr. Burr and Hamilton exchanged harsh letters due to their friendship ending, as Hamilton was angered by Burr not having any views. Burr decided to challenge him to a duel, and they met in Weehawken, New Jersey for the duel; this was the same location as the death of Hamilton's son Philip Hamilton. He shot Hamilton between the ribs in the duel as Hamilton drew his gun and aimed it towards the sky; Hamilton wearing glasses was interpreted by Burr as Hamilton about to take deadly aim, and Burr shot before he realized that Hamilton would not shoot him. Hamilton's death saddened Burr, who crossed the Hudson and had a drink while people wailed in the streets. Burr's murder of Hamilton ended his political career, and he left Washington.
Burr Conspiracy[]
After leaving Washington, Burr led a cabal that sought to take over the Mexican region of Tejas and form a new republic there. Seeking both economic and political opportunities, Burr had large debts and few influential friends, and in 1807 he was arrested for treason. He left to Europe to seek more opportunities, but he failed in his endeavors and returned to New York in 1812 to practice law, living in obscurity until his death in Staten Island in 1836 at the age of 80.