Aaron Burr

aron Burr accompanied Colonel Benedict Arnold on a mission to meet up with General Montgomery in Quebec. Because Burr behaved extremely well he was appointed captain at headquarters. Later, General Montgomery's army had fled from the battlefield leaving only Burr and the Indian guide. The next day, Montgomery's dead body was uncovered in the snow. Quebec had been saved by Burr who had stayed by himself and fought. Aaron went through multiple promotions until reaching the rank of colonel. Unfortunately, Burr planned to control the American Southwest by aquiring a small army to fight with him, but his plan was revealed. He was tried for treason but aquited because of lack of evidence.

Aaron was a sickly baby. Twice, before he was two years old, he narrowly escaped death. A fever seized him and his mother thought of him "as one given to me from the dead." On account of this miraculous recovery, she felt that the child should be brought up "in a peculiar manner for God!" Despite plans, however, the evidence reveals that, when Aaron was left to his own devices, he proved to be a real boy: "a little, dirty, noisy boy sly and mischievous," and required "a good governor to bring him to terms." He was small in stature, active, handsome: very much after the mould of his father, who, at this juncture, was called to be the second president of the College of New Jersey, then located in Newark. Aaron Burr, the father, taught mathematics, ancient languages, and busied himself with raising funds for the college, whidh was shortly (Nov., 1756) to be moved to Princeton, and thither also went the Burr family. Aaron Burr, pere, was unusually successful in all his activities. He even raised money in Scotland for his college. But his career, through his extraordinary exertions, was soon to end. He was seized with a fever and passed away September 24, 1757. Thus, Esther Burr was left with Sally and Aaron, three and one, respectively. She tried hard to reconcile her desolate state to the harsh Calvinistic philosophy; and, apparently, had succeeded when she came down with the smallpox and soon followed her husband into the grave. Sally and Aaron, little orphans, then went to live with Timothy Edwards, their uncle, at Elizabethtown. Timothy was a stern Puritan and Aaron got on badly with him; occasionally, he was "beaten like a sack." The boy was so unhappy, he tried on several occasions to run away. His life as a child was made livable only by the fact of the presence in the house of Timothy's young brotherin-law, Matthias Ogden, a lad of Burr's age. These boys ran the woods, fished, hunted, and studied under tutors, one of whom was the celebrated Tapping Reeve, who was later to marry Sally Burr. Aaron was precocious. At eleven, he applied for admission to Princeton and was rejected on his too apparent youth. Two years later he applied again for admission; this time, to the junior class and was admitted to the sophomore class. One of the two leaders of his class, he was graduated in 1772. He was now sixteen, a lad with unforgettable hazel eyes, handsome features and irresistible charm. In the tradition of the family, he was foreordained for the ministry. So, in the fall of 1773, he began the study of theology under the Rev. Joseph Bellamy. But it soon developed that Burr's nature did not lend itself to the constricted measure of Calvinistic dogma. He asserted that the road to Heaven was open to all alike, and, in the spring of 1774, he broke away from theology. He went at once to Litchfield, Conn., to the law school of Tapping Reeve, his brother-in-law, which was already becoming famous for its liberalism of thought. ---Historian
Aaron Burr, (1756-1836), American politician and adventurer. Dynamic and ambitious, he built a strong political following and rose to the office of VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (1801-1805). But he is remembered more for his duel with Alexander Hamilton, which resulted in the latter's death, and for his schemes of empire, which resulted in his trial and acquittal on charges of treason. Burr was born in Newark, N.J., on Feb. 6, 1756. Of distinguished ancestry, he was the son of the Reverend Aaron Burr, the cofounder and second president of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), and Esther Edwards Burr, the daughter of the New England theologian Jonathan Edwards. Both parents died before he was three years old, and his early training was assumed by an uncle, the Reverend Timothy Edwards. A precocious youth who would rebel against authority throughout his life, Burr escaped the strict discipline of his uncle's home to enter Princeton as a sophomore in 1769 at the age of 13. Graduating with honors in 1772, he studied theology and then abandoned it for law, but he had not progressed far when the Revolutionary War changed his plans. Burr served on Benedict Arnold's staff, where he met James Wilkinson, who was to figure in his later plans; he then served briefly with George WASHINGTON and later with Gen. Israel Putnam. In July 1777, as a lieutenant colonel, he took over command of a regiment. He fought in the Battle of Monmouth the next year and resigned because of ill health in 1779. When fully recovered, Burr resumed his law studies and was admitted to the New York bar early in 1782. A few months later he married Theodosia Prevost, a widow with five children. Theodosia was 10 years Burr's senior, but he seems to have been devoted to her until her death in 1794. She bore him a daughter, also named Theodosia, whom he idolized. Political Career In the bustling, commercial city of New York, Burr soon was competing with Alexander Hamilton for supremacy at the bar. He was adroit rather than profound, with a magnetic personality and a quick mind not overburdened with scruples. Before the rise of POLITICAL PARTIES, New York state was divided between Hamilton and Clinton factions. Burr became politically active in 1789, when Gov. George Clinton appointed him attorney general. Two years later he defeated Gen. Philip Schuyler, Hamilton's father-in-law, for a seat in the U.S. SENATE. Failing reelection in 1797, he entered the New York legislature. The immediate instrument of his political success was the Tammany Society, founded in 1789 as a social club but converted by Burr into a powerful urban machine. By 1800, Burr controlled the legislature and thereby the choice of presidential electors in a state whose vote was likely to decide the outcome. To assure his support he was placed on the Republican ticket for vice president. The Republicans won, but in the electoral college Burr and Thomas JEFFERSON (the intended presidential candidate) tied with 73 votes each, throwing the choice between them into the U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. There FEDERALIST votes kept the election deadlocked until the 36th ballot, when Hamilton's influence gave the presidency to Jefferson. Burr became vice president. There is no evidence that Burr intrigued for Federalist support, although Jefferson believed that he had. Although as vice president Burr was willing to cooperate with the president, he was rebuffed. He was not consulted on appointments nor was he invited to join in party councils. It is not surprising that he began to look to the Federalists for his own future. Jefferson's administration was bitterly opposed in New England, even to the point of separatist thinking. Burr undoubtedly was sounded out by those who hoped to take the disaffected states out of the Union. It may well have been with the idea of attaching New York to a Northern confederacy that Burr sought the governorship of the state in 1804. He carried New York City, mainly with Federalist votes, but was badly beaten upstate, in part by Hamilton's opposition. The Duel and the Conspiracy In the course of the gubernatorial campaign, Hamilton had made derogatory remarks about Burr, who responded with a challenge. On July 11, 1804 the two men exchanged shots at Weehawken, N.J., and Hamilton was mortally wounded. A fugitive from the law in both New York and New Jersey, Burr fled toPhiladelphia, where he and Jonathan Dayton, a former U.S. senator from New Jersey, developed the grandiose scheme that was to prove Burr's downfall. Just what the plans were and whether they were treasonous are uncertain, for Burr told different stories to different people. In its most ambitious form the scheme envisaged a vast empire in the West and South, based on the conquest of Mexico and the separation of the trans-Appalachian states from the Union. This much Burr told the British minister, of whom he asked financial and naval aid. Burr then proceeded to Washington to finish his term as vice president. Jefferson received him cordially, for Burr as vice president was to preside over the impeachment trial of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase, and the President wanted a conviction. The Chase IMPEACHMENT failed, but Burr's conduct of the trial was a model of decorum and impartiality. The trial and the vice-presidential term concluded, Burr returned to his schemes. He made a personal reconnaissance of the West in the spring of 1805. It probably was on this trip that he first met Harman Blennerhassett, an Irish expatriate who lived in feudal splendor on an island in the Ohio River. He also visited James Wilkinson, now governor of the Louisiana Territory, and several other government dignitaries. Burr next acquired title to more than a million acres of land in Orleans Territory, the settlement of which thereafter became his ostensible purpose. Funds were supplied by his son-in-law, Joseph Alston, and by Blennerhassett. By the summer of 1806, boats, supplies, and men were being procured, mainly at Blennerhassett Island. Satisfied, Burr and some 60 followers set out to join Wilkinson near Natchez, Miss. Coded letters from Burr and Dayton already were on the way to Wilkinson alerting him to be ready to move on Mexico. The preparations openly being made seemed too extensive for the avowed purpose, giving substance to rumors that approached the truth. To protect himself, Burr demanded an investigation. With young Henry Clay as his attorney, he twice was cleared of any treasonable intent. Arrest and Trial At this point, however, General Wilkinson decided to betray his friend. He wrote to the president, who issued a proclamation calling for the arrest of the conspirators. Burr learned of it on Jan. 10, 1807, as he entered Orleans Territory, then saw a newspaper transcript of his coded letter to Wilkinson. He surrendered to civil authorities at Natchez, but jumped bail and fled toward Spanish Florida. He was intercepted on February 20 and conveyed to Richmond. There he was arraigned before Chief Justice John Marshall, and on June 24 he was indicted for treason. Dayton and Blennerhassett also were indicted, while the chief witness for the government, Wilkinson, barely missed a similar fate. The trial was anticlimactic. Burr was acquitted September 1, after Marshall ruled that acts of treason must be attested by two witnesses. Later Years Harassed by creditors and with no prospect of a return to public life, Burr slipped away to Europe. He tried in vain to recoup his fortunes. In June 1812, Burr returned almost unnoticed to New York. In quick succession he received two crushing blows, the death of his grandson and then of his daughter. He spent the remaining years of a long life as a moderately successful New York attorney. In 1833, at the age of 77, he married Eliza Jumel, a wealthy widow. Eliza was granted a divorce on the day that Burr died in Staten Island, N.Y., Sept. 14, 1836. ---Historian
Was part of a conspiracy to have the WEST (not the North!)secede from the United States in 1804, not because of the Louisiana Purchase but because he was a power-hungry mad man who wanted his own empire to rival the U.S. ---Super Nova
Burr and Jefferson tied for presidency in 1800. ---Anonymous
The famous duel between Burr and Hamilton took place on July 11, 1804. the end. ---A. Nonny Mouse
he was born in 1756 in New Jersey ---Anonymous
Even though some think Burr was psychotic (and he really wasn't) he [at the time] held political views that were all later passed through congress. They would include: educating african-americans, more rights for women, elimanating slavery, etc.! ---landlord@usa.net
BURR'S GOAL WAS TO INVADE & CONQUER MEXICO AND BECOME EMPEROR NOT TO OVERTHROW THE GOVERNMENT. THAT'S WHY HE WAS AQUITTED OF TREASON. ---LEBEAU
President Martin Van Buren was his son according to Gore Vidal ---Anonymous
Burr describes his plans to make a new empire in a letter. "The easter {troops} will {meet} on Ohio 1st november. Everything favors our view-naval protection of England is {promised}. Which suggests his plans of committing treason. ---QsaQ
Killed Hamilton in New Jersey where duels were illegal. ---Anonymous
He was tried for treason in a conspriracy to start a new empire... ---ShyYajGirl
As he was brought back east for his trial for treason, in the little village of Chester, S.C., Burr leapt atop a rock and asked the people of the town to liberate him from his guards. This Chestrians did nothing. The rock is still there, a monument to civic indifference. ---Anonymous
Aaron burr was hero at Montreol and later became Senator and then vice-president. ---Anonymous
Burr founded both Tamany Hall and the Chase Manhattan Bank! ---J.B.
fled country later married only to be divorced, formally on the day of his death!! ---Anonymous
He is the subject of a short story by James Thuber entitled " A Friend to Alexander". ---Anonymous
He graduated from Princeton at 16 with honors, also supposedly killed Alexander Hamilton over a young woman as well as political differences and normal rivelries. ---A. Ettlin
Aaron was orphaned at age two years after his father(second president of Princeton University), mother, and both maternal grandparents (his maternal grandfather was Jonathan Edwards, third president of Princeton), all died within a year of one another. ---E. Frank
Vice President under Jefferson (1801-05)Killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel (1804) ---Anonymous

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