Aaron Burr Research Paper

The Life of Aaron Burr
People say that Aaron Burr was a villain in the history of the American Revolution. He was wrongly perceived this way because of a smear campaign created by his political enemies. He may have killed Alexander Hamilton, but he made many contributions to the United States, most of which go unnoticed by America’s citizens. People of today have repeated these distortions, making Burr appear as the classic bad guy of American history. In reality, Aaron Burr was a particularly interesting man who faced a great number of challenges throughout his life, but still managed to accomplish many feats; both in the army and his career.
Aaron Burr’s family life was not the greatest. He suffered many losses, starting at the beginning

His grandparents took over raising him until they also passed away, a couple years after his parents. Subsequently, he and his sister went to live with their maternal uncle. Later, in 1782, he married Theodosia Bartow Prevost. They had a single daughter, Theodosia Burr Alston whom they cherished. His wife died at the age of 48 in 1794 and his daughter was lost at sea. She was pronounced dead January of 1913 when she was just 29 years old. As a boy, Burr was gifted intellectually and could be found studying most of the time. At 13, he started attending the College of New Jersey, now known as Princeton University. He graduated three years later with a degree in theology. Afterward, he was admitted to Litchfield law school, “which was run by his brother in law and former tutor, Tapping Reeve (Burr, Aaron).” Shortly after, his enthusiasm to join the war interrupted his studies.
On September of 1775, Aaron Burr became a member of the expedition to Quebec, alongside Colonel Benedict Arnold. It was a difficult trek; 300 miles long. During their trek, they had to withstand exceedingly cold temperatures, tremendous hunger, and fatigue. Even despite the harsh weather, Burr’s determination and enthusiasm never wavered. His

Eventually, their disagreements would lead to the death of founding father Alexander Hamilton. One of the reasons that led to the duel was Burr’s support of Thomas Jefferson in the presidential election. Burr was running against Jefferson and they were doing equally well. At the end of voting, they each had 73 electoral votes. Because of the tie, the House of Representatives would have to vote to decide who would win the presidency. Hamilton used his influence to persuade enough representatives to vote for Jefferson to make him the president. Burr was furious and never full forgave Hamilton for what he did. Hamilton and Jefferson didn’t get along very well, so it was surprised some that he chose to support him and not Burr, who he had worked alongside on various occasions. Another reason for Burr’s actions would be when he ran for governor of New York. He ultimately lost to Morgan Lewis, a republican. He also blamed this loss on Alexander Hamilton. He grew sick of Hamilton meddling in his political affairs and challenged him to a duel on July 11th of 1804. They met at Weehawken, a small city in New Jersey. Burr shot Hamilton in the ribs, killing him within a