The most famous duel in American History took place on July 11, 1804. Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr had been political enemies for several years. Hamilton was a Federalist and Burr was a Democratic-Republican. In 1800, Hamilton had worked behind the scenes to break the electoral tie between Jefferson and Burr. The two running mates had tied for President, even though Burr was running for Vice President. Hamilton used his influence with Federalist Congressmen to get them to vote for the lesser of two evils – Jefferson. In 1804, Hamilton opposed Burr’s failed attempt to be elected Governor of New York. He was very harsh in letters to friends, one of which was published in a newspaper. Burr’s challenge was to be expected, even though dueling had been outlawed in New York and New Jersey. The site chosen was a popular one in New Jersey. Hamilton’s oldest son Philip had been killed there three years before. (That duel also involved defamatory comments. Philip had gotten into a verbal and then physical confrontation with a political opponent. When the man called Philip a “rascal”, the duel was on.)
Burr issued the challenge and Hamilton felt his honor demanded he accept. When the duelists paced off to get separation, their seconds turned their backs to provide plausible deniability. Thus only Hamilton and Burr saw what happened. Most historians feel Hamilton fired first and his shot went over Burr’s head. (The picture depicts the myth that Hamilton fired his pistol up in the air.) Did he “delope” (French for “throw away”) his shot? Accepted procedure would have been to shoot into the ground. Statements Hamilton made before and after the duel tend to confirm that he did not intend to shoot Burr. However, after a bullet whizzed by his head, it was logical for Burr to assume Hamilton had aimed at him. He was well within the rules of dueling (the code duello) to shoot Hamilton. He hit Hamilton in the lower abdomen above the right hip. Hamilton died the next day. So did Burr’s political career.
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