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The Burr-Hamilton Duel

Imagine if U.S. Vice President Joe Biden got so angry at a former U.S. Treasury Secretary – let’s use John Snow as an example – that he challenged him to a duel. Seems crazy, doesn’t it? However, that’s exactly what happened in the summer of 1804 when Vice President Aaron Burr issued that challenge to founding father and former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton.

Burr and Hamilton were political rivals with an intense dislike of one another. Burr belonged to the Democratic-Republican Party and Hamilton was a Federalist, but political party alone wasn’t the reason for the feud. In 1791, Burr had defeated Hamilton’s father-in-law in a senate race. Later, Hamilton worked hard to ensure that it was Thomas Jefferson and not rival presidential candidate Burr that claimed the presidency in 1800 when a deadlock in the Electoral College gave the decision to the House of Representatives. Burr got the vice-presidency instead. Finally, Hamilton and others campaigned successfully against Burr in his New York gubernatorial bid in 1804 and the animosity grew. Bitter letters back and forth between the men ended on July 11, 1804 in Weehawken, New Jersey with Alexander Hamilton fatally wounded in a duel with Burr.

In this mini unit, find out more about the duel and the men who fought it, learn how duels works and the history of dueling in America, read eyewitness accounts of that day, see the Hamilton obituary that was printed in the newspaper, find out more details of the events that led to the duel, and participate in a variety of discussions and debates about the event.

Reading

The 1804 Duel Between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr

How Duels Work

History of Dueling in America

Primary Sources

Duel at Dawn

Alexander Hamilton Obituary (PDF)

Activities

The Duel - Teacher’s Discussion and Activity Guide

Timeline

Events Leading Up to the Duel

Recommended Resource

Alexander Hamilton: The Outsider
Fritz, a notable biographer of the Revolutionary War period for young people, provides a brisk, well-written account introducing Founding Father Alexander Hamilton as an outsider to America. Raised in the West Indies, Hamilton traveled to New York for his education in 1773 and became immersed in the political turmoil that led to the Revolutionary War. Joining the army as an artillery captain, he became an aide-de-camp to General Washington and led an attack at Yorktown. After the war, he served in Congress, at the Constitutional Convention, and as the first secretary of the treasury before sustaining a mortal wound in a duel with his longtime rival, Aaron Burr.

Fast moving and engaging, this straightforward biography acknowledges Hamilton’s flaws while portraying him as an intelligent, energetic man who rose to the challenge of his times. (Booklist Review)

Author: Jean Fritz
Softcover
List Price: $16.99 Amazon Price: $12.74

Read more about and purchase the book: Here