Dueling Politicians

We often get the idea that politics is getting more and more contentious, but I'm not sure that's true. I guess it's all a matter of opinion. Take the long-standing rivalry and hatred between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, for example. Their verbal battles culminated in a duel held on July 11, 1804, in New Jersey.

The two men's conflict started heating up in 1791, when Burr, a Democratic-Republican, won the senate seat formally held by Philip Schuyler, Hamilton's father-in-law, who was a Federalist like Hamilton. Then in a close election in 1800, Hamilton manipulated events in the Electoral College to get Thomas Jefferson named president and Burr became only vice-president. These problems continued to escalate, until they ended in the duel.

Philip Hamilton

Their hatred of each other was well-documented, especially in the letters Hamilton wrote to friends. In addition, Hamilton's son, Philip, had been killed in a duel with George Eacker in 1801 over derogatory remarks Eacker had made about Philip's father. In the Hamilton-Burr duel on July 11, three years later, Burr critically wounded Hamilton so that he died the next day. Burr was charged with murder in both New Jersey and New York, but both charges were dropped before the case reached trial. However, in the controversy, Burr's political career ended.

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