Similarities Between Hamilton And Aaron Burr

The Hamilton-Burr Duel

Questions:

• How did they meet?

• How did their feud arise?

• What led them to want the duel?

• What was the outcome of the duel (Who died?)

• How did the outcome of the duel affect the community?

Part one: Exploring the early interactions of Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr

• Include their upbringings

From the very start, Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton had very different upbringings. Though they had something in common with both being orphans, how and where they were raised molded them into two very different people.

In 1957, only a year after Burr was born, his father—Aaron Burr sr.—died. His mother, Esther Edwards, passed away just a year later, leaving Aaron and his sister, Sarah, orphans. The siblings

By age 13, he was admitted to the Sophomore class at the College of New Jersey, and graduated summa cum laude. He then went on to enroll in the Litchfield law school in Connecticut.

Hamilton, on the other hand, was born and raised in Charlestown, the capital of Nevis, which is a tiny island of the British West Indies. Because of this, Hamilton did not have access to the same sorts of resources and education Burr did. Born out of wedlock, Alexander was the first illegitimate child of Rachel Faucett Lavien and James Hamilton. Around the age of ten, his father, James, abandoned Alex, his mother, and his brother (James Jr.), leaving the weight of raising two sons on Rachel. Three years later, Rachel died due to a severe fever, and Alex was left to fend for himself and his brother.

Because they were illegitimate children, the Church of England did not allow Alexander and James Jr. to be a part of the church, and denied them an education in the church school. This, however, did not stop Alexander, and decided to educate himself. In 1772, he finally made it to the mainland, and was able to complete the rest of his education in an American

Not long after the gubernatorial election, the Albany Register published letters from Dr. Charles D. Cooper that relayed the doctor’s understanding of Hamilton’s opinion of Burr. According to Cooper, Hamilton had, during a dinner party, expressed that he thought the Vice President to be a “dangerous man, and one who ought not be trusted with the reins of government.” Cooper also claimed to know of “a still more despicable opinion” Hamilton had of Burr.

Burr, who took this as an insult to his honor, sent a letter to Hamilton, demanding an apology. Hamilton, however, refused, claiming he had no recollection of insulting Burr. In Hamilton’s eyes, these were only Cooper’s words and Cooper’s interpretation of what Hamilton had said. Burr did not accept this as a good answer, and in the several letters that followed, he demanded that Hamilton withdraw and renounce any of Hamilton’s previous opinions or statements that harmed Burr’s honor and reputation over the previous fifteen years.

Part three: The Duel and its