Posted on 07/12/2010 10:23:12 AM PDT by jfd1776
As dawn was breaking over the heights of Weehawken, New Jersey on July 11, two boats rowed across from Manhattan Island (such interviews as they planned were illegal in New York). The first to arrive was the Vice President and his second; twenty minutes later, the other boat brought the former Secretary of the Treasury and his second.
Once they had dispensed with the formalities, two of the most prominent men in America faced each other and fired. Struck in the abdomen, General Alexander Hamilton lay on the ground, to die in agony the following day. This indispensable founding father left a rich legacy – the Federalist Papers, the victory at Yorktown, the Bank of New York, his guides for the bar exam, military procedure, and the Customs ports… and the American economic system he built almost from whole cloth, the masterpiece of his years as Treasury Secretary.
The man who killed him left no such legacy. Aaron Burr served in the Revolutionary War, was a respected attorney, bon vivant, and politician, prominent in New York and federal politics, essentially tying in the contest for the presidency in 1800. But the events of July 11, near the end of his term as Vice President of the United States, brought his political career to an end. Having touched the pinnacle of American governance at 45, he spent his remaining thirty years as an outcast; his fall from grace dates from the day he killed his greatest rival.
(Excerpt) Read more at lnkd.in ...
Thanks.
Many people do not remember that Dick Cheney was NOT the first sitting U.S. vice president to shoot another man.
;-)
Not only that, but 'twas a merely a flesh wound.
Bush and Gore should have settled the 2000 election in this manner ...
Hamilton’s legacy wasn’t all positive. His role in the events leading up to the Whiskey Rebellion wasn’t something Americans would necessarily be proud of.
If Hamilton had had his way, Washington would have been George the First with little Alex the heir apparent.
A great...if supremely depressing...read.
Bingo ! Too many forget that. Also, the fact that he was a bastard warped his personality - it was a big deal then.
About 20-25 years go, a company was given permission to make reproductions of the Hamilton-Burr dueling pistols.
Upon disassembling them, they found hidden hidden “set trigger mechanisms” inside both firearms.
It is now believed that Hamilton may have known this and “set” the trigger for a very light touch, then accidently tuched the trigger causing it to fire before he brought it up, discharging his shot into the ground.
Burr may not have “set” his trigger, then needed a more substantial trigger pull and did so after his pistol was aimed at Hamilton.
Start with Forest MacDonald's superb work on Alexander Hamilton.
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Thanks jfd1776.General Alexander Hamilton... left a rich legacy -- the Federalist Papers, the victory at Yorktown, the Bank of New York, his guides for the bar exam, military procedure, and the Customs ports... and the American economic system he built almost from whole cloth, the masterpiece of his years as Treasury Secretary. The man who killed him left no such legacy... the events of July 11, near the end of his term as Vice President of the United States, brought his political career to an end. Having touched the pinnacle of American governance at 45, he spent his remaining thirty years as an outcast; his fall from grace dates from the day he killed his greatest rival.One quibble, Burr wasn't Alexander Hamilton's (or anybody's) greatest rival. |
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I actually asked Tom Fleming (the author of several books on the revolution including The Duel if the birth thing was put in the Constitution just to keep Alex from ever becoming POTUS (he DID have many enemies). Fleming said no...
And while Irecognize his faults, he did have incredible stregths...he was brilliant and he was absolutely fearless in battle.
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