Arguments are common in politics, both in modern and historical times. Can you imagine the Vice President challenging a former Secretary of the Treasury to a duel to solve their problems? This very situation occurred in 1804 between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton. It was a battle ten years in the making. The conflict between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, which ended in a duel to the death, was important because it ruined a friendship, ended political careers that were helping form the new American government, cost Alexander Hamilton his life and Aaron Burr his quality of life.
Although Hamilton and Burr grew up in different locations, they both had difficult childhoods that created the strong and driven men they were as adults. The …show more content…
Burr was born into a extended and successful family. He had one sister, Sally, and his father was a pastor as well as president at The College of New Jersey (Princeton University). In 1757, Burr’s father and mother died and it was the beginning of a tragic streak of deaths of close family members. Eventually, Aaron Burr and his sister were put into the custody of an uncle, Timothy Edwards. At the age of ten, Aaron Burr ran away to be a cabin boy. His uncle would find him. However, this was the beginning of a challenging road to raising Aaron Burr. In 1767, eleven year old Aaron Burr applied to The College of New Jersey. He did not get in because examiners thought him to be to young looking. In response, Burr spent the next two years studying to pass the entrance exams with flying colors, so he could not be denied. Aaron Burr did very well in school and graduated in 1772. After several years of indecision, he was going to try law, but the pull of the rebel cause against Britain made him join the …show more content…
Both Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton started their legal careers as trial lawyers. In the courtroom, Burr was “low-key, brief, cool,” and would only talk and question for thirty minutes (St. George 44). Hamilton on the other hand, was “fiery, argumentative, talkative,” and would talk for two hours sometimes (St. George 44). Separately, they both decided to move to Albany, New York, to start their careers. It was in this social circle that they met and began to know one another. After the Revolutionary War is over, they both decided on their own to move back to New York City because there was a lot of work which would improve their
Although Hamilton and Burr grew up in different locations, they both had difficult childhoods that created the strong and driven men they were as adults. The …show more content…
Burr was born into a extended and successful family. He had one sister, Sally, and his father was a pastor as well as president at The College of New Jersey (Princeton University). In 1757, Burr’s father and mother died and it was the beginning of a tragic streak of deaths of close family members. Eventually, Aaron Burr and his sister were put into the custody of an uncle, Timothy Edwards. At the age of ten, Aaron Burr ran away to be a cabin boy. His uncle would find him. However, this was the beginning of a challenging road to raising Aaron Burr. In 1767, eleven year old Aaron Burr applied to The College of New Jersey. He did not get in because examiners thought him to be to young looking. In response, Burr spent the next two years studying to pass the entrance exams with flying colors, so he could not be denied. Aaron Burr did very well in school and graduated in 1772. After several years of indecision, he was going to try law, but the pull of the rebel cause against Britain made him join the …show more content…
Both Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton started their legal careers as trial lawyers. In the courtroom, Burr was “low-key, brief, cool,” and would only talk and question for thirty minutes (St. George 44). Hamilton on the other hand, was “fiery, argumentative, talkative,” and would talk for two hours sometimes (St. George 44). Separately, they both decided to move to Albany, New York, to start their careers. It was in this social circle that they met and began to know one another. After the Revolutionary War is over, they both decided on their own to move back to New York City because there was a lot of work which would improve their