The Life and Times of Aaron Burr, Hamilton's Nemesis

he was a soldier a lawyer and crassly a politician he used his company's funds to fund his allies he campaigned for himself in his causes door to door his party removed judges they didn't like to replace them with their friends at a time when rumors of foreign interference and national affairs ran rampant people openly speculated that he was in league with those foreign powers it was 1806 and the United States was grappling with what some might describe as the nation's first real modern politician his name was Aaron Burr and his story deserves to be remembered he was born into privilege the son of the President of Princeton University and the grandson of noted theologian Jonathan Edwards orphaned at an early age after his parents and grandparents died his uncle raised him he went to the college his father founded joined the Revolutionary Army after the battles of Lexington and Concord bursts started his military career under General Richard Montgomery joining him in the Quebec campaign and distinguished himself when he ran onto the battlefield tried to recover the generals corpse after Montgomery was shot in the neck a lieutenant-colonel his regiment was devastated by British artillery at the Battle of Monmouth where he collapsed from heatstroke he left the army in 1779 due to continuing ill health well I would sender Hamilton was pursuing further glory on the battlefield burr became one of the country's spies doing covert intelligence work that reputation likely lent credence to later stories the burst treachery he married the widow of a British officer studied for the bar in Alban II and piled around with General Philip Schuyler and his son-in-law Alexander Hamilton relocating to New York City in 1783 burr began a new career opening a law practice and then serving in the New York Assembly while in the assembly he introduced bills that would have allowed women to vote and abolish slavery in 1794 he bought Richmond Hill a house that has served as headquarters for Washington until American forces retreated in New York he hosted the renowned mohawk chief Joseph Brant and treated him as an equal for a different treatment than the chief could have expected from burrs contemporaries unlike other politicians of his era Byrd in a raw ambition and drive something that other founders might have seen his gauche in 1789 Governor George Clinton appointed him Attorney General in a coup in 1791 the New York legislature elected him u.s. senator over the incumbent his former friend Philip Schuyler inserted in that office until 1797 reaching even higher in the political sphere burn ran in the 1796 presidential election coming in fourth in the 1800 election Thomas Jefferson was elected president and burr following the rules of the era was elected vice president because he received the second largest number of electoral votes some historians have described Aaron Burr is America's first professional politician this set him apart from his contemporaries who generally would have argued that they were serving out of a sense of personal service rather than any sort of personal gain or ambition for example Alexander Hamilton is the Treasury Secretary refused to accept his war pension even though he would have been entitled to it because he thought it gave the appearance of a conflict of interest Aaron Burr on the other hand didn't seem to much care or about the appearance of personal gain Burr however pioneered many tactics we'd recognized in modern politics you can pile voter lists help men register to vote he went door to door openly campaigning to secure the vote he used the political machinery of the city for his hands getting Democrat Republicans elected this seems politics is usual to us now but at the time the founders and their contemporaries frowned on bursts tactics is unseemly such was birth reputation that Hamilton who had soured on his former friend after his politicking had unseated his father-in-law in the New York Senate seat worried to a friend in 1793 in fact I take it he is for or against nothing because as it suits his interest or ambition he is determined as I conceive to make his way to be the head of the popular party and to climb to the highest honors of the state and is much higher as circumstances may permit in 1799 Burr got a state charter for his water company the Manhattan company on the surface it was going to install a much needed sewer system for New York City but buried in the fine print was a clause that allowed the company to invest its profits ie to become a bank burr used the Manhattan company to fund his fellow Democrat Republicans in the same that Hamilton used the Bank of New York to find Federalists Manhattan company survives today as part of JPMorgan Chase in the bank of New York still exists as well burr did not have private wealth he was perpetually in debt from various schemes even though he had a successful law practice in his private correspondence Hamilton estimated that Byrd owed $80,000 to one creditor and that there were others burr unlike many of the other influential men of his time didn't save all his correspondence or is unclear what his true financial situation may have been we do know that he borrowed against his house and from his company many times while burr left his personal journal behind his personal papers did not survive this myth helped create the image we have a burr as the villain of the early republic because what does survive are the negative opinions of his contemporaries even George Washington was wary of burr he wrote by all that I have known and heard Colonel burrs a brave and able officer but the question is whether is not equal talents at intrigue during the election of 1800 Jefferson and burr competed for the office although a Federalists said not of Jefferson's party Hamilton favored Jefferson because he believed Jefferson was the kind of gentleman politician he envisioned is appropriate for the young country by contrast burr who openly campaigned was not the kind of person Hamilton another founder saw as proper in intervening in the 1800 election Hamilton wrote to a friend that Burr was without property and loves nothing but himself thinks of nothing but his own aggrandizement and will be content with nothing short of permanent power in his own hands although burr became vice president the animosity between he and Hamilton never ceased Jefferson never trusted burner and he secured the passage of the 12th amendment which meant that he got to pick his running mate in 1804 licking his wounds burr went back to New York switched parties and ran as a federalist in the gubernatorial primary but lost he blamed Hamilton for his defeat after learning Hamilton had been quoted in the newspaper saying he thought burr a dangerous man one who I'll not be trusted with the reins of government and that there was still more despicable opinion that Hamilton had a burr burr demanded an apology that Hamilton would not give after letters of negotiation failed parties were sent on their Phil journey to Weehawken from which only one of them would survive after killing Hamilton and the dual burn ran out of New York and their threats of indictments he fled the South Carolina where his daughter Theodosia was living with her husband Joseph Alstead he spent time with his grandson Aaron Burr Alston who had been born in 1802 in another action that sent apart from his contemporaries Bert ensured his daughter was educated according the wisdom of the time that education was wasted on a woman even had a picture of Mary Wollstonecraft the woman's right advocate on his wall verse settle for hiding out and leaveneth here in New York die down by 1805 he believed it was safe to return to DC in his role as president of the Senate burr assisted Jefferson's efforts to remove Federalists from the judiciary but after being removed from the ticket and as a lame-duck vice president in 1805 Burr oversaw the first and only impeachment trial of a Supreme Court justice justice Samuel chase faced impeachment based on charges of political bias burr helped ensure that the Senators would not vote to impeach the embattled justice after departing the Senate giving a farewell address about the role of the Senate that was said to be so eloquent that it made many people wheat but sadly for which no transcript has survived burst set out for the West with a new scheme for wealth this time in land speculation along the way he gathered support and farmers to come with him to a proposed settlement in Louisiana the Louisiana territory became part of the United States in 1803 prior to that and switched hands between the French and the Spanish during Jefferson's first term it was transferred back to the French the haitian revolution cut into French colonial profits and by 1803 the French were ready to sell their North American territory to the Americans General James Wilkinson took possession of the territory for Jefferson and became the governor Wilkinson established a military base known as cantonment Wilkinson on the Ohio River south of Fort Massac in the Illinois Territory military bases in the Ohio were ordered by President Washington and Hamilton in response to threats from Spain and France which at the time were on the far western border of the United States while the Spanish had been in charged the Louisiana territory that had it interfered an American trade with native Amer Americans making trade agreements and discouraging Native Americans from making trade agreements with the United States later that spring in 1805 Aaron Burr and general wilkinson met burr had previously gone to Nashville for an honorary dinner and received a warm welcome there he would have met a young Andrew Jackson securing his support burr said he was trying to muster against the feared Spanish invasion from Mexico rumors spread however that he was instead planning his own empire the rumor went at Fort Massac in Illinois Territory around the campfire under the cover of darkness Wilkinson and Burr discussed a coup that could split the nation with Spain getting the southwestern United States burr would get the western states and start his own empire Wilkinson sent letters to burr documenting the plans eerily Hamilton had earlier predicted such treachery he warned that burr would make a bargain and sale with some foreign power because great ambition unchecked by principle or the love of glory is an unruly tyrant by 1806 burr was ready to act on the plan sent a coded letter to wilkinson's stating that he was ready to begin Jefferson opened a letter from his general and was shocked by what he read Burr was plotting a coup with the assistance of Spain's Mexico Jefferson ensured that a warrant was issued against burr for treason thousands of miles away burr was gathering farmers to form a settlement to fend off Spanish invasion he opened a Louisiana newspaper one morning and saw the news that Jefferson had branded him a traitor he twice turned himself in in both times judges said that his activities were legal he was later caught in Alabama arrested and taken to Virginia in 1807 in a courthouse in Richmond burr stood accused of treason his lawyers included former United States Attorney General had been Randolph the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Marshall personally presided over the trial Marshall may have intervened because he was thankful for how burr had presided over the impeachment trial of Justice Chase in Richmond men of the grand jury took four tries to secure an indictment most likely because of the limited evidence against him the only physical evidence of burrs alleged treason was the supposed letter from burr to Wilkinson detailing the plan however it was discovered that Wilkinson had penned the note not burr the wilkinson said he had copied it from the original it was thrown out as evidence treason is the only crime defined in the Constitution treasonous levying war against them or an adhering to their enemies giving them aid and comfort article 3 section 3 requires that either the person confesses in open court or two witnesses testify to an overt act of treason the founders included these limitations because European monarchies had abused the law of treason to imprison their political opponents in the past they had the dream of a better system of government for the new Democratic Republic Byrd did not confess in the Richmond courthouse the government could not produce two witnesses who would testify to an overt act of treason this is an important distinction from English law where one could prove constructive treason which is the charge that could be made for simply thinking about treason the United States required an overt act of treason not just an intent to commit treason because the Constitution requirements could not be met burr was found not guilty he was supported by his daughter throughout the trial Jefferson had asked for the more serious treason charges to be brought instead of misdemeanor charges for interfering and diplomatic relations because Jefferson was using his influence by going after a former rival the treason trial of Aaron Burr was a major test of the early republic in constitutional governance Chief Justice Marshall ensured the young nation kept its principles of fairness and separation of powers although acquitted burrs hope of returning to politics were and it for good he fled to Europe to avoid his creditors lived in exile for four years before returning to America but used his mother's maiden name for a while to continue hiding during this period his grandson died from a fever and his daughter went missing at sea and was presumed dead he eventually returned to his law practice in New York and remarried this time to a wealthy widow who was 19 years younger marriage was not a happy one evarin dad and continues his land speculation burst started dwindling her fortune she left him after just four months she chose Alexander Hamilton jr. as her divorce lawyer the divorce is finalized on the day he died in September 1836 in 1854 historian Charles de are exposed James Wilkinson as agent 13 for the Spanish government Wilkinson's duplicity had been suspected his day but not prove it Jair went to the Spanish archives and discovered Wilkinson had been on the Spanish payroll during his military career highly paid spy for the Spanish Empire he likely through suspicion on burr for treason to avoid closer scrutiny of his own treasonous activities Fort Massac went mostly forgotten until the early 20th century when the Daughters of the American Revolution formed and Illinois members were looking for a revolutionary site in their state they founded in Fort Massac which had been captured from the British by General George Rogers Clark in his Kaskaskia campaign NASA found a partner and Professor Joseph Blair of the University of Illinois who wanted a state park system together they lobbied the Illinois legislature and the first state park at Fort Massac was established in 1908 today visitors can enjoy a replica fort overlooking the Ohio the ghosts of Aaron Burr and James Wilkinson ever-present history hasn't necessarily been kind to Aaron Burr he was largely defined by his enemies partly because his personal papers were lost to history well Alexander Hamilton's legacy has been refurbished a couple of times notably by a certain Pulitzer Prize winning musical reversal artists scene is one of the villains of early American history but historians have started to rethink Aaron Burr and his legacy in the last twenty years certainly he saw himself differently than his contemporaries did and he showed that in the way that he lived his life in the way that he engaged in politics he understood that Rob political power could be used to help your friends and he did so without apology to his contemporaries soldier attorney senator vice-president early advocate of women's rights and Native American Rights possible traitor Aaron Burr deserves to be remembered as much more than just the guy who shot Alexander Hamilton I hope you enjoyed this episode of the history guy short snippets a forgotten history between ten and fifteen minutes long and if you did enjoy please go ahead and click that thumbs up button if you have any questions or comments or suggestions for future episodes please write those in the comment section I will be happy to personally respond be sure to follow the history guy on facebook instagram twitter and check out our merchandise on teespring com and if you like more episodes don't forgotten history all you need to do you subscribe [Music]

Channel: The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered

Views: 383,512

Keywords: history, the history guy, us history, aaron burr, alexander hamilton, history guy

Id: 8E23AbYtYFE

Length: 15min 45sec (945 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 12 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/whaleoo_]

I have, and interestingly enough, he was charged by Thomas Jefferson before the trial even happened, partly to do with him shooting Hamilton.

[u/2020iscrazypeople]

Cool!