American politician (1756-1836). The
son of a
Calvinist minister, he was raised by an
uncle after both of his
parents died before he was
two years old. His
uncle was very
strict, and Burr often tried to
run away, eventually leaving home at the tender age of 13 to
enroll in
Princeton. He
graduated with
honors when he was just 16 years old and began studying to be a
preacher. He lost interest in
preaching and studied
law, but gave that up when the
Revolutionary War started.
Burr joined the
army and served in General
Richard Montgomery's
disastrous expedition to
Quebec; however, he served well and emerged from the battle
famous. He was appointed to
General George Washington's staff, but he didn't get along with the future
President and was transferred to the
command of General
Israel Putnam, where he
distinguished himself on several occasions, rose to the rank of
colonel, and was
popular with the
troops. He endured
Valley Forge without
complaint, but suffered a
heatstroke during the
Battle of Monmouth and
resigned his commission a few months later.
After completing
law school, Burr opened a
successful practice in
New York in 1782; six months later, he was
elected to the
state assembly without seeking the office. There, he spoke out against
slavery and in favor of
feminism. He also advocated for full
citizenship rights for
immigrants. He returned to his legal practice when his term of office was up.
Burr
drifted in and out of office for several years. He ran in the
1800 presidential election as
Thomas Jefferson's
running mate, but won as many
electoral votes as Jefferson, thanks to the
influence of
New York's
Tammany Hall. Burr refused to
concede the
election to Jefferson, and it took 36
committee meetings before the
tie was broken and Jefferson was
elected to the
presidency. Burr served a
rough term as
vice president under an
angry Jefferson, and he was not
selected to run again.
Burr ran for
governor of New York in 1804 and lost, largely due to accusations by
Alexander Hamilton that he was sympathetic to
secessionists and that he was too
dangerous to serve in government. Burr and Hamilton agreed to a
duel, and on July 11, 1804, in
Weehawken, New Jersey, Burr
shot and
killed his
political rival. Burr was charged with
murder, but tried. After his term as
vice president was over, he
disappeared from the
public eye for two years.
In 1806, Burr developed a
scheme to
provoke a
war between the
United States and
Spain and, in the
confusion,
invade and take over
Mexico. When his
plot was revealed, he was charged with
treason, but was again
acquitted, despite heavy pressure from the Jefferson administration. After that, he moved to
Europe for several years, where he tried to persuade
Napoleon to invade
Florida. He moved back to
New York in 1812 and practiced
law until his death.
Research from GURPS Who's Who, compiled by Phil Masters, "Aaron Burr Jr." by Seth Bernstein, pp. 94-95.