Aaron Burr
Aaron Burr Jr., a character that will forever live in infamy, perhaps should also deserve more acclaim for other noteworthy acts during his life. Many already know of the one event that forever etched Aaron Burr's name in history books, his dramatic duel with Alexander Hamilton. The duel was the climax of years of feuding between the two and ended the life of Hamilton, one of the leading politicians at the time. Also adding to his infamy was his empire-building scheme during the years following his duel with Hamilton. Burr became involved with a series of affairs that appeared to be treason. He had sent letters to Britain and Spain asking for support, acquired vast land in the Louisiana Territory, sent letters out to the West stating that the western states were better off without the Union, and accrued an army for an attack on Mexico. To all, it appeared that Burr was planning his own empire in the West separate from the Union. Burr was arrested and put on trail for treason. However, largely owing to a favorable interpretation of the law of treason by the trial judge, Chief Justice John Marshall, Burr was acquitted. Despite Burr's egregious shortcomings, one cannot ig
nore the outstanding work Burr accomplished before his duel. In the election of 1800, Burr ran on the Republican ticket for vice president, with Thomas Jefferson as president. The way the election was done back then, the person with the highest votes would become President, with the runner-up becoming Vice- President. In a normal election everyone would vote for his party's president but for the vice president, one less would vote so the President would win over the Vice President. However, when the votes came in, both Burr and Jefferson had the same amount of votes. Now the House of Representatives would decide the Presidency. Finally, on the 36th ballot, Jefferson was chosen President. Jefferson and many others believed Burr had rallied the votes in the original election in an attempt to wrest the Presidency from Jefferson. However, in reality, it was most likely an accident as during the House of Representatives voting, Burr absolutely refrained from campaigning to insure a Jefferson victory. During his Vice President term, Burr carried his office gracefully despite being alienated by Jefferson. At the 1804 Republican caucus, they nominated Jefferson and George Cli
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Approximate Word count = 792
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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