Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation By: Joseph J. Ellis Chapter Title: Chapter One: “The Duel” Thesis of Chapter: For the United States to fulfill their dream in eventually becoming developed enough to maintain established laws and institutions that survive corrupt and incompetent officers, they will need courageous and ambitious leaders, this is the reason Burr and Hamilton attended the interview or “The Duel”, they wished to be among those leaders. Chapter Summary: In July of 1804, Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr met near Weehawken, New Jersey for what is described as the most significant duel in American history. It was a duel of integrity and both personal and political reputation. Although that day on the plains of …show more content…
“Burr was the second-ranking official in the federal government”(13%). Hamilton, following George Washington, was the most powerful person in the Federalist party. Hamilton’s proponents would have also stated that he was the “intellectual wellspring for all the political energy that Washington merely symbolized”(13%). Ellis states, “Their fatal encounter represented a momentary breakdown in the dominant pattern of nonviolent conflict within the American revolutionary …show more content…
Consequently, in addition to the “established etiquette of the code duello”(8%), veteran duelists had created a complex unidentifiable vocabulary, that they would call the ‘language of deniability’, so that all duelists afterwards could arrogate ignorance if they were ever brought to court. This is interesting to me because it shows how important dueling was in their society. They are willing to create a code or secret vocabulary as a precaution to the risk of being sent to court or accused of dueling. Another interesting thing I learned is that the reason behind most duels is men defending their reputation or keeping their pride. “Burr challenged Hamilton, and Hamilton concluded that he could not refuse the challenge without staining his honor”(11%). Lastly, I learned that the only two eyewitnesses of the duel “Pendleton and Van Ness published a ‘Joint Statement’. Its chief purpose was to claim that both principals had conducted themselves in accord with the code duello, so that even though the practice of dueling was illegal, Burr and Hamilton had behaved according to the higher law of honor appropriate for proper gentlemen”(9%). This is interestingly ironic to me because even though the duel was illegal and could be fatal, they needed an official
Paragraph 3: Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr are similar people but both live different lives. They both became orphans at a very young age. Alex was born on January 11, 1755 in Nevis. He was always energetic. Early on when Alex was young, James Hamilton Sr. left them.
Later, when John Sevier lost the office of attorney-general of the militia to Jackson, the conflict between them escalated to a brawl in Knoxville. “Before a general riot could begin the two combatants were borne away by their friends. Jackson immediately challenged Sevier.” P.41 Yet another duel occurred between Jackson and Charles Dickinson over incendiary words and gambling debts. Unlike the previous duels, Dickinson did not survive this one.
Ellis also touches how each person described in the novel influences the foundation for the United States. The author included many sources and secondary sources that he used for the novel. One source, Joint Statement by William P. Van Ness and Nathan Pendleton, described the duel between Burr and Hamilton in great detail. The source states what Burr and Hamilton prepared for the duel and how their actions led to Hamilton getting a choice of position. It also states how Hamilton’s shot missed and Burr’s hit Hamilton and killed him the next day.
Early morning, July 11, 1804. The duel takes place across the Hudson River, in Weehawken, New Jersey. Historians have different opinions of what happened that day. Some believed Hamilton intentionally shoot at the sky and others think he misses. What it is known is that Aaron Burr fatally wounded Alexander Hamilton in the duel.
The final decision was Thomas Jefferson. Burr became Vice President. During the duel there were spectators. Seconds of both men were there. After the event the eyewitnesses or seconds joined forces to create a published article, and the article said according to ( Duel At
The story The Founding Brothers is focused on a group of important leaders and specific events that were made following the 1787 Constitutional Convention. Jonathan Ellis examines relationships during the Revolutionary generation of the founding fathers and their influences, showing modern readers how their differences helped mold the development of the United States. By explaining personal friendships that were tested, the character of the founding brothers, and revealed the diversity in political beliefs and arguments these men conquered that influenced the early development of the United States. The book focuses on a plethora of stories following a variety of different events pertaining to how they dealt with shaping the United States and how tough it was.
Jordan Culver History 1301-4027 October 28, 2014 Founding Brothers Review & Response In the days of the American Revolution, Abigail and John Adams, Aaron Burr, Benjamin Franklin, John Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and George Washington were the key figures in the formation of a new nation. Their friendship, collaboration, and often contradictory ideologies would be the basis for forming the union between states, federal and state governments, national banks, political parties, and the future of the "New World" as a whole. Two conflicting interpretations and ideologies arise during and after the revolution, one is of Thomas Jefferson and his adherent's view that the revolution was a rebellion against the oppressors solely for
The point of a political duel was to prove a man willing to die for his honor, not to shed blood. Thus many near-duels, called “affairs of honor”, were settled through negotiations: eleven of the sixteen affairs of honor in New York City were settled in this manner. Only five honor disputes resulted in a duel. The negotiation process before a duel could occur was highly ritualized. In the beginning of most affairs of honor, an offended man would write a carefully phrased letter to his attacker demanding an explanation.
There is no clear narrative from either of the seconds, Van Ness said that Hamilton fired first at Burr, Pendelton said that Hamilton being hit by Burr caused him to pull his trigger as an involuntary reaction (Ellis, 28-29). Both seconds gave an account which would make their mentor look better, but the public ignored any attempts to humanize Burr and instead dubbed Hamilton the martyr. Chapter Four of Founding Brothers detailed the events surrounding President George Washington’s Farewell Address, published in newspapers in 1796 (Ellis, 121). Washington was reluctant to take the position of president when he was asked in 1789, as was evidenced by the fact that he had already retired in 1783 from the military (Ellis, 134).
America was going through a large amount of transitions and changes in the country during the Revolutionary period . Not only was it fighting for its freedom and Independence from Britain, it was also working and delving into its own form of government, which was not an easy process. With such large scale and important events happening, it took a lot of people to communicate and take action together. One of these men at the epicenter of the nation was Aaron Burr, surrounded by individuals to work with and off of to achieve what he desired. One such individual was
After a series of “paper wars” between the political opponents, Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel, which Hamilton accepted. According to Freeman, Hamilton accepted Burr’s challenge for a number of reasons. “In his mind, the duel; was a praiseworthy attempt to serve the common good... yet it was also an intensely personal attempt to preserve his public career. To prove to the world, and to himself, that he was a man of his word, a man of courage and principle, a leader.”
Hamilton's refusal seemed like the logical choice, but because he had made attacks on Burr's political life, he could not apologize. Burr's letters to Hamilton prior to their duel suggested he had enticed him, which meant the affair had been pushed over the line from one of settling a dispute to one of thought-out murder. Philip Hamilton, Alexander Hamilton's eldest son, was killed three years before his father's notorious match with Aaron Burr. The senior Hamilton had always despised dueling, even more so after his son's death. The act of dueling was illegal throughout the north-eastern states.
This is conveyed by Washington’s correspondence with Hamilton. Hamilton began his decline when Washington died. Freed of the tempered restraining influence of Washington, Hamilton’s judgment faltered. At this point, the book became almost unbearably sad. Hamilton engaged in a number of political feuds with Adams, Jefferson, Madison, and others that clouded his perspective.
Founding Brothers In the "Founding Brothers" by Joseph Ellis he tries to tell us a story about our founding fathers and their great generation. He tells us about some of our founding fathers and what they had to do to set the frame work for our government today. He also talks about some of the issues they face and how they will later dissolve into issues to follow later. These leaders are considered to be our revolutionary leaders. They argued that succession from the British empire is enviable.
Because of many of his radical views, he gained a lot of opposition in both the Federalist and Democratic-Republican parties, and was forced to resign, yet still remained popular, with a greatly valued opinion (Brookhiser). Hamilton then lost his firstborn son (Phillip) in a duel when Phillip challenged George Eacker to uphold his father’s honor. And yet Hamilton refused to remain quiet and openly opposed Aaron Burr in the election of 1800, and worked against Burr again when the Vice President ran for New York governorship. In an attempt to heal his wounded pride, Aaron Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel, and the discredited Alexander Hamilton died the day after. (Foner).