TEXT E Two of the most important
men in America faced each other at dawn on July 1, 1804. There were no words of
greeting nor any smiles as they proceeded with their business. Each had taken
two of his closest friends with him. A small crowd was beginning to gather as
one of the men produced a set of dueling pistols. Both men, in their late
thirties, had already achieved great fame, wealth and political success. One,
Alexander Hamilton, had been Secretary of the Treasury and at this time headed
the Federalist Party; the other, Aaron Burr, was actually Vice President of the
United States. What prompted these two men to a duel Why would
they risk their lives here on this dismal morning To find the answer we have to
take a good look at these two personalities. Both men were about the same age,
both had taken an active part in the Revolutionary War, and both had achieved
high office in the army under George Washington, despite the fact that they were
very young. These similarities did not make friends of them, however, as there
was bitterness and rivalry from the start. Some historians believe that both may
have loved the same woman, Elizabeth Schuyler. In 1780, Miss Schuyler
became Mrs. Alexander Hamilton. Another factor that contributed
to the bitterness was the fact that the two men were very influential in
opposing political parties. Hamilton was without doubt the leader of the
Federalist Party. He had contributed largely to the ideas that were put
forth in our Constitution and had been very helpful in seeing that the
Constitution was accepted by the people of New York. Later, as the Secretary of
the Treasury, the ideas of Hamilton were put into effect and helped the country
get off to a good financial start. Hamilton’s ideas on government were adopted
by many. These people became known as file Federalist Party.
Bemuse America is a free country and because we are the type of people we
are, those who opposed Hamilton could make their views known. One such man was
Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson started a group to oppose the ideas of Hamilton and
The Federalists, and one of the first leaders of the group was Aaron Burr. These
people were at first called Anti-Federalists, then Democratic-Republicans, and
later Democrats. This party had been successful in defeating the
Federalists in the Election of 1800. It was in this election
that the bitterness between Hamilton and Burr really came to the surface. Under
our old system of election, the person who received the greatest number of
votes, cast by a group called the Electoral College, became the President; the
person getting the next largest number of votes became the Vice President. We
were a new country then and not experienced in the art of politics. What
happened was that many Electors cast their votes for Thomas Jefferson for
President. The same number then cast a vote for Aaron Burr. The result: they
both had the same number of votes. It is usually accepted that these Electors
had meant to vote for Jefferson for President and Burr for Vice President, but
legally it was a tie. Fortunately, our Constitution provided for such an
occurrence or we might have had chaos and revolution as has been the case in
many other countries. According to our law, however, if a tie occurs between the
two top vote-getters, then the House of Representatives decides. Here it seemed
Burr had a chance to be President. Many of his closest friends were in the
House, and many Federalists who disliked Jefferson and his ideas might be
persuaded to vote for Burr. This is where Hamilton stepped in.
Although he had quarreled a great deal with Jefferson over ideals, he thought
that Jefferson was a great American and would make a much better President than
would Burr. Hamilton hurried to Washington and used all his influence to get the
Federalist members of the House to vote for Jefferson. Hamilton was successful.
By a narrow majority Burr was defeated and Thomas Jefferson became the third
President of the United States. Burr became Vice President.
Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton became hostile now. Burr was very bitter
and blamed it all on Hamilton. He was not content with being Vice President. He
could no longer get along with Jefferson and the leaders of the
Democratic-Republican Party. In 1804 he decided to make an attempt at getting
elected Governor of New York instead. Once again his campaign got off to a good
start. Many people were impressed by his charm and his ideas. Then, his old
enemy, Alexander Hamilton, took part in the campaign. Hamilton was not a
candidate but he fought hard to see that Burr was defeated. Once again Hamilton
was successful, and Burros bid for the Governorship was rejected.
During the campaign many harsh things were said by both men. Burr felt
that Hamilton had slandered him and demanded an apology. Hamilton refused, and
when he did, Burr challenged him to a duel. Most of Hamilton’s close friends
dismissed the challenge as childish. They knew that Hamilton hated dueling,
because just three years ago his eldest son had beenkilled in a duel.
But Hamilton did not turn down the challenge. He asked Burr to choose the
weapons and the site. Aaron Burr replied that they would use dueling pistols at
Weehawken, New Jersey, On July 11, 1804, at dawn. Both men were
excellent marksmen. Both seemed to know no fear. Silently, they counted off ten
paces, then turned. Burr fired first, but his gun failed to discharge. Hamilton,
perhaps realizing this, fired into the air rather than at Burr; but it was too
late-- Burr had taken deadly aim and had pulled the trigger. Hamilton fell
mortally wounded in almost the same spot where his son had met death three years
before. The next day, Alexander Hamilton, hero, politician,
statesman, and financial genius, died. What had Burr gained from this
Bitterness and blame from a nation that once loved him was his reward. Aaron
Burr never again was admitted into the high offices of this country; and though
he lived until 1836, he died alone, friendless and poverty-stricken. The challenger in this duel was ______.