July 11, 1804 - Old Fashioned American Politics
Posted: Sun Jul 12, 2009 12:45 amThe American political arena is so clean. Senators and Congressmen refer to their opposition as "the gentlemen across the aisle". Debates are taken with the utmost decorum. After the session gentlemen discard their political views and meet "the gentlemen across the aisle" for drinks and camaraderie. Not always (actually, pretty rarely, American politics has been a cesspool from the start).
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American history is much more colorful than what they tried to teach me in school.
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On July 11, 1804, Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr met on the dueling grounds at Weehawken, New Jersey, to fight the final skirmish of a long-lived political and personal battle. When the duel was over, Hamilton would be mortally wounded, and Burr would be wanted for murder ...
After Hamilton's and Burr's seconds tried without success to settle the matter amicably, the two political enemies met on the dueling grounds at Weehawken, New Jersey on the morning of July 11. Each fired a shot from a .56 caliber dueling pistol. Burr was unscathed; Hamilton fell to the ground mortally wounded. He died the next day.
Instead of reviving Burr's political career, the duel helped to end it. Burr was charged with two counts of murder. After his term as vice president ended, he would never hold elective office again. And his next plot to gain power would end with charges of treason.
American history is much more colorful than what they tried to teach me in school.
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