Although dressed in the clothes he wore the night before, he carried himself with a nonchalant elegance befitting a gentlemen of his aristocratic heritage. On the morning of Wednesday, July 11, 1804, Burr left his Richmond Hill home in Manhattan. Burr’s distinguished ancestry included the famous theologian Jonathan Edwards, from whom he inherited his black hair and dark eyes. He had previously held the offices of Senator and Attorney General of New York. In order to understand the true significance and aftermath of the duel, one must first consider the personalities of the assailants, and the argument that brought them to that fateful place.Īt the time of the duel, Colonel Aaron Burr was the Thomas Jefferson's Vice President. Burr, although unharmed, could never recover his political standing afterwards.Įllis concludes that although this version of “the interview at Weehawken” is historically accurate, it is also too brief. Hamilton was mortally wounded, and died the next day. Ellis first relates the most common version of the duel story, which states that, in accordance with the rules or customs of code duello, Hamilton and Burr shot at one another from a distance of ten paces on the plains of Weehawken, NJ. On July 11, 1804, the most famous duel in American history took place between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, then the Vice President of the United States.
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