The Duel: Aaron Burr And Alexander Hamilton

Chapter one, The Duel, is centered on an “interview” that took place between two important historical figures, Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton. The event was categorized as an “interview” because dueling was illegal at the time. At the “interview,” Hamilton was fatally wounded by a bullet shot by Burr that ricocheted off Hamilton’s rib through several of his vital organs. The feud between the two began in 1789 when Burr strategically manipulated people to take the position of Attorney General of New York, over someone who Hamilton supported. Later, in 1791, Burr beat out Hamilton’s father-in-law to become senator. To retaliate, Hamilton swayed votes towards Thomas Jefferson in the 1800 election by calling Burr analogous to Catiline,

As a result of his temper, Aaron ended up killing Alexander Hamilton. A huge factor that led to the destruction of Burr’s reputation was that Burr could have avoided killing if he controlled his frustration and made peace with Hamilton in a different way than a shooting war. The duel could have easily been avoided because Burr initiated it. Therefore, had Burr never sent a request out to Hamilton, the duel would have never occurred. However, Burr also faced several unavoidable events such as his loss in the 1800 election and the destruction of his reputation. Burr could not erase Hamilton’s frustration with him, so, therefore, it was inevitable that once Hamilton made it a priority for Burr to lose the election, Jefferson would win. Likewise, it was specified that Burr’s political reputation was already declining because he lost the support of the Republican Party. Overall, though, Burr’s goal in life was to maintain a positive reputation within the political world. This desire sheds light on the power of the people. The better a political figure’s reputation is, the more people will support them and vice versa. Therefore, when Burr was doing better than Hamilton, his desire for a good reputation allowed his progress to accelerate. However, after killing Hamilton and destroying his own reputation, Burr’s political career halted for