Aaron Burr Was Charged With Murder, Never Tried, and Then Planned a Country Nobody Could Place
He escaped trial because there were no witnesses, then chased a plan for a country on the southern border that no one could place.
The Rest Is History · Was Alexander Hamilton Murdered? | Founding Fathers EP 3While Eliza Hamilton wept over her dying husband, New York taverns buzzed with a story spread by Hamilton's allies about Aaron Burr, America's sitting vice president. In the story, Burr moved from bar to bar, flagon in hand, laughing that he wished he had shot Hamilton in the heart and calling drinks on the house.
None of it was true. Burr left New York at once and travelled far south to Georgia. He then slipped back to Washington to serve out his term, a vice president who had just killed a former Treasury secretary in a duel.
Prosecutors in New York and New Jersey both brought murder charges against him, yet neither case ever reached trial. The duel was arranged so that few could see it, and prosecutors found no witnesses.
His vice-presidential term finished in 1805, but his political career was now totally tainted. In the two years after he left office, Burr became involved in a Catiline-style conspiracy to set up a separate nation on the southern border of the United States. Catiline was a Roman who plotted to overthrow the republic.
The strange part was that people disagreed about where Burr's country was supposed to be. Some accounts said Florida, some said northern Mexico, and some said Mississippi, Alabama, or Louisiana. When asked, Burr said he had just wanted to buy himself a nice farm. He faced a treason trial, but the charge was not proven for lack of witnesses and evidence, and he was acquitted.
After that came exile. Burr went to England, and then was kicked out amid rumors he planned to conquer Mexico and make himself its king. He tried to go to France, but Napoleon would not let him enter. He drifted back to New York, living under an assumed name to dodge his debts, and died there in 1836.
At the end, bedridden after many strokes, Burr spent his time reading Tristram Shandy, a 1760s comic novel by Laurence Sterne. Burr said, "If I had read Laurence Sterne more and Voltaire less, I should have known that the world was wide enough for Hamilton and me." Voltaire was a French writer.
Questions people ask
Was Burr still vice president when he dueled Hamilton?
Yes. The duel was fought on July 11, 1804, while Thomas Jefferson was president and Burr was his vice president. Jefferson had already decided to drop Burr from the ticket for the election that fall, and Burr's term ended in March 1805.
What was Burr actually trying to do out West?
Historians still disagree. The most common version is that Burr hoped to detach western territory, possibly Texas or parts of Spanish Mexico, and lead either an invasion or a breakaway settlement. He recruited supporters, boats, and funds, but his plans were vague and his backers gave conflicting accounts.
Why was Burr acquitted of treason?
He was tried in 1807 before Chief Justice John Marshall. Marshall required proof of an overt act of war witnessed by two people, under the Constitution's strict definition of treason. The prosecution could not produce that proof, so Burr was acquitted.