Alexander Hamilton And Aaron Burr

On the morning of July 11, 1804 in New Jersey, near the shore of the Hudson River, Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr had their famous duel, which the two agreed on after a series of events. Many things led to the infamous duel that morning. Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr had different upbringings. The former grew up on the island of Nevis, born of parents not in marriage. His mother was a prostitute and the father accused her of “whoring around”. At ten years old, his father left and at fourteen his mother died. He had to made a living in an economy rooted in slavery, developing his dark view of human nature. He was gifted in mathematics and finance, and became head clerk of a shipping company at fifteen. His energy and ambition sent him

Hamilton was trying to get his father-in-law, who shared his economic ideas, in the New York seat, but Burr stood in his way. As a good politician, Burr avoided controversial issues and used his persona and charisma to win votes. He won the election and Hamilton was aggravated, since there was a man standing in the way of his goal: to make his vision of America a reality. Hamilton naturally distrusted people, and to him you were either his mortal enemy or a lifelong friend. He then sent letters trying to attack Burr’s character and destroy his reputation. Hamilton was an extremely aggressive and wanted to model the entire government by himself. When Burr opposed him, he attacked Burr, calling him an opportunist and a dangerous man, and provoking the duel to

Thomas Jefferson ran with his running mate Aaron Burr, but somehow they tied for the position and stayed deadlocked for several weeks. It was up to the House of Representatives, with the majority being Federalists, to break the tie. Hamilton was a Federalist and felt it was his duty to oppose Burr. Hamilton wrote more attacks in order to taint Burr’s reputation, and put the vote in Jefferson’s favor, despite political disagreements with him. When the vote came, Alexander Hamilton convinced many of the Federalists to cast blank votes, manipulating the election to his will. Burr lost the election and became the Vice-President, however, because of the nature of the election, Jefferson felt attacked by Burr and treated him poorly. With little to no power, and isolation from the government, Burr became very depressed. In this occurrence, Hamilton instigated further reaction from Burr and pollute his political