T.E. W. (terez93) reviewed Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr (Landmark Books, 85) on + 323 more book reviews
This volume was a hard one to get, owing to its newfound popularity, apparently. Much of the interest seems to stem from the musical "Hamilton," which brought a new familiarity with one of the more obscure Founding Fathers to a nationwide audience. This Landmark offering parallels the lives, somewhat reminiscent of Plutarch, of both Hamilton and Aaron Burr, who ultimately took the former's life in the most infamous duel in US history. It's all the more tragic because their lives did parallel each other's in so many ways.
In keeping with Landmark's "Great Men" series, this short book describes the two young men's rise from obscurity to political prominence. Both were highly gifted, and at a prodigiously early age, set out on their own to make their fortunes. Hamilton was born on the island of Nevis in the Leeward Islands (the book conveniently omits the fact that he was born out of wedlock and that his father, whom the book claims "abandoned" the family - in all likelihood separated from Hamilton's mother Rachel Levine to spare her from a charge of bigamy, as she had been previously married and had left her Danish husband and son), but was orphaned at an early age. His mother contracted yellow fever and died when he was only about thirteen. The book also omits the fact that the probate court allowed his mother's first husband to take control of her meager assets.
Hamilton and his brother were first sent to live with their cousin, who committed suicide only about a year later. The brothers were then separated, and Hamilton went to live with a merchant from Nevis, where he became a clerk at a local export company. He continued studying and reading on his own, and, as the book notes, had a letter he had written to a relative published in a local newspaper about a devastating hurricane, which attracted the attention of a Presbyterian minister, who became his tutor.
Recognizing his talent, the community even took up a collection to send Hamilton to New York City where he could continue his education. He first attended the Elizabethtown Academy in New Jersey and eventually entered King's College, now Columbia University, in 1773. With the outbreak of the war, he became involved with the Revolution shortly thereafter.
Hamilton and John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, raised a company of 60 men to help the war effort. Despite some early setbacks, Hamilton through connections managed to become an aide to George Washington, with whom he served four years, as his chief staff aide. He also became friends with the Marquis de Lafayette and other luminaries, and eventually commanded battalions at the Battle of Yorktown.
After the formal cessation of hostilities, he resigned his commission in 1782 and returned to New York City, where he passed the bar exam and became licensed to practice law. Due to his bookkeeping experience and training, Hamilton founded the Bank of New York in 1784 and famously became the US's first Secretary of the Treasury, also directing monetary policy and even coinage, with the passage of the Coinage Act of 1782. He was also a notable co-author of The Federalist Papers, along with John Jay and James Madison, and played a critical role in the drafting of the US Constitution.
Hamilton's most illustrious political rival was Thomas Jefferson, who favored strong state governments rather than an overarching federal one. Jefferson in particular denounced Hamilton as too urban-minded, with an almost singular obsession with business and banking, as opposed to the more rural-minded anti-Federalists. Their disagreements were primarily responsible for the development of the two-party system in the US which still predominates today: the Federalist and the Democratic-Republican parties, at the time.
Another of Hamilton's eventual detractors, however, was Aaron Burr. Burr's life mirrored Hamilton's in many ways. He served as the third vice president during Jefferson's first presidential term, as the runner-up in the presidential election was appointed the vice-president at the time. Burr was born in the US, in New Jersey, making him eligible for election to those positions, which Hamilton was not, as an immigrant.
Burr's father died in 1757 while serving as president of Princeton college. As the book tragically notes, he lost his father, mother, grandfather and grandmother in the same year, leaving him and his sister orphans. They eventually went to live with their 21-year-old maternal uncle, Timothy Edwards, who, with his new wife, moved the family to Elizabeth, New Jersey, where Burr also attended the Elizabethtown Academy.
As the book notes, Burr had a contentious relationship with his uncle, who was physically abusive, to the point that the orphan made multiple attempts to run away from home, starting at a reported four years old. He made a serious one at age 10, attempting to go to sea as a cabin boy, but he was intercepted and returned to his uncle. At age 13, however, he finally made good his escape by being admitted to Princeton, as a sophomore, so advanced were his studies, where he joined the American Whig Society.
The hardworking and prodigiously talented Burr received a Bachelors degree at age 16 and continued studying theology, but moved at age 19 to Connecticut to study law with his brother-in-law. In 1775, he enlisted in the Continental Army after the Lexington and Concord incident, and took part in the Quebec expedition, which was a catastrophic failure, resulting in the death of the force's leader. General Montgomery was killed, but shortly thereafter Burr's stepbrother Matthias Ogden helped him obtain a position on George Washington's staff. He quit shortly thereafter, however, to return to the battlefield, preferring life in the field to one at a desk.
Enthusiasm notwithstanding, Burr was forced to resign due to poor health in 1779, so he renewed his study of law, but continued to perform intelligence missions for the Patriots when needed. He finally finished his studies and was admitted to the bar in 1782. He served in the New York State Assembly, was later appointed New York State Attorney General, and was then elected as a US Senator from New York, and so becoming a major figure in New York politics.
Burr seemed to have something of a short temper: unbeknownst to many, he had also fought another duel after being accused of taking a bribe, but both combatants missed their targets, leading to an amiable reconciliation of the dispute; otherwise, history may have turned out very differently.
Burr ran for president in the 1800 election, which surprisingly met with a tie in the Electoral College, although Jefferson was ultimately awarded the presidency with the tie-breaking vote of the US House of Representatives. Burr was a staunch Federalist, and as such, was blocked from playing much of a role in Jefferson's administration. He was replaced as vice president in Jefferson's second term, and ran as governor of New York, but lost. Burr's animosity reached a fever pitch thereafter: he blamed the loss on the orchestrated machinations of his political opponents, including Alexander Hamilton, setting the scene for what was to come.
By the time the lives of Burr and Hamilton intersected, there was already a high degree of animosity between the two factions. Although Hamilton was clearly no fan of Jefferson, he viewed him as a lesser threat, reportedly stating that he was "by far not so a dangerous man," unlike Burr, whom he reportedly called a "mischievous enemy." Hamilton was accused of making a "still more despicable opinion" of the vice president at a New York dinner party, which got back to Burr, who demanded a written apology. The situation escalated when Burr demanded that Hamilton recant or deny any statement against Burr's honor that he had made, or was accused of making, for the last fifteen years.
Hamilton reportedly refused, as he could not recall making any statement or insult against Burr, but he was aware that he would also be labeled a coward if he backed down in the face of Burr's threats. The two exchanged letters before they exchanged gunshots, but, in the end, could not settle their disagreements. Burr responded by challenging him to personal combat, which was shocking, considering that dueling had been outlawed in New York, and the sentence for conviction of it was the death penalty. Not so in New Jersey: it was illegal, but the punishment was not so harsh, so the parties agreed to convene there.
Unimaginably, on July 1, 1804, they met just outside Weehawken, New Jersey, near the location where Hamilton's eldest son Philip had died at age 19 in a duel three years prior, in Nov., 1801, over a similar matter of alleged slighted honor. Who fired first is still a matter of great debate. Some claim that Hamilton intentionally missed, on account of reported statements he had made to friends prior to the duel that he intended to avoid firing directly at his opponent, or to "throw away his shot," which he had apparently admonished his son to do also.
Irrespective of who fired first, Hamilton was struck just above his right hip, with his own shot hitting a tree branch over Burr's head. The bullet entered his abdomen, causing severe damage to his internal organs, including his liver and diaphragm, and eventually lodged in his spine.
Hamilton was reportedly paralyzed after being hit in the spine. He was attended by the same doctor who had previously treated his son Philip, who, by some extraordinary coincidence, had also been shot through the right hip, in almost the same place. The elder Hamilton was carried to the Greenwich Village boarding house of a friend, where he curiously asked for the Episcopal Bishop of New York to give him holy communion and the last rites.
The bishop had initially declined to do so, citing the fact that participation in a duel was a mortal sin and that Hamilton was not an Episcopalian (he had been a Presbyterian in his youth in the West Indies). After some assurances of genuine repentance and the entreaties of many of Hamilton's friends, the bishop returned and administered the last rites. Despite all efforts, the wound was mortal, and Hamilton reportedly died at two o'clock the following afternoon. City officials shut down all business at noon for Hamilton's funeral two days later. He is interred at Trinity Church in New York City.
Burr was charged with murder, but was never tried. Regardless, he could never escape the infamy of this terrible incident, whereby he had killed one of the country's Founding Fathers over a matter of slighted honor. The ignominy of it pursued him for the rest of his life. Burr first fled to South Carolina to live with his daughter' family, even leaving his vice-presidential post for a time, but he shortly thereafter returned to Philadelphia and then Washington, D.C. to complete his term as. He then went west, to the Ohio River Valley, where he had leased 40,000 acres in Louisiana from the Spanish government.
Burr would never escape his notoriety as the killer of Alexander Hamilton, who had powerful allies in Washington. President Thomas Jefferson even seemingly saw the event as an opportunity to rid himself of a powerful opponent, and pursued Burr with near-obsession, determined to see him punished for something. The political intrigue continued unabated - bad blood between America and the Spanish meant a real possibility of war, and Burr was accused of treason for providing them with confidential information. Jefferson swore out a warrant for his arrest, based on his secret correspondence with both British and Spanish ministers, and Burr was in 1807 brought to trial on the charge of treason at Richmond, Virginia. He was twice found not guilty of any crime, however.
After a third acquittal, Burr seemingly got the message that he had become something of a persona non grata in the US, and shortly thereafter departed for Europe He lived in England until 1812, traveling to the continent frequently, but was still pursued relentlessly, primarily by creditors looking to collect on outstanding debts he had left behind. Burr even resorted to using his mother's last name - Edwards - to escape his pursuers. After a time, although his public life was all but finished, he resolved to return to the US, and lived out his life in New York, in fact, dying of old age after a stroke in 1836. He is interred in Princeton, New Jersey, near his father.
Aaron Burr is a much-maligned character, primarily due to the outcome of his duel with Hamilton, for which he expressed no regret. Despite their animosity, as is so often the case, the two figures are now inextricably intertwined in American history; rarely is one mentioned without the other.
The book does an admirable job of describing their struggles and the political intrigue of the day, but I did notice that this one "whitewashed" their histories to a greater degree than I would like. Best example: Burr had a relationship with Mary "Eugenie" Emmons, while his wife was dying of cancer, who was likely East Indian, a servant in his household during his first marriage, with whom he fathered two children, now proved by a DNA test (something he had in common with Thomas Jefferson, in fact; however, the latter was not married at the time he began his relationship with Sally Hemmings, who by all accounts was his widow's HALF-SISTER by her FATHER).
Suffice to say, that didn't make it into the book; nor did some other rather sordid events in the lives of these various political figures. I get that it has to be age-appropriate for children, but there are numerous aspects of both of these individuals' lives that should be addressed, including their foibles and mistakes. Great Men often aren't so great, and it's problematic, to say the least, when books, especially for young readers, lionize them without much-needed context.
And, as with many of the other books in the series, some of the language is dated (almost without exception, books of this time period use the very derogatory term "squaw" to refer to Indigenous women, so that will need some explanation to younger readers as to why that's inappropriate), and some may object to the "Great Men" emphasis in the books, but biographies can also humanize vital events in our nation's history, making it palatable to readers who may otherwise have little interest in the subject matter, including the political wranglings of America's first treasury secretary.
In keeping with Landmark's "Great Men" series, this short book describes the two young men's rise from obscurity to political prominence. Both were highly gifted, and at a prodigiously early age, set out on their own to make their fortunes. Hamilton was born on the island of Nevis in the Leeward Islands (the book conveniently omits the fact that he was born out of wedlock and that his father, whom the book claims "abandoned" the family - in all likelihood separated from Hamilton's mother Rachel Levine to spare her from a charge of bigamy, as she had been previously married and had left her Danish husband and son), but was orphaned at an early age. His mother contracted yellow fever and died when he was only about thirteen. The book also omits the fact that the probate court allowed his mother's first husband to take control of her meager assets.
Hamilton and his brother were first sent to live with their cousin, who committed suicide only about a year later. The brothers were then separated, and Hamilton went to live with a merchant from Nevis, where he became a clerk at a local export company. He continued studying and reading on his own, and, as the book notes, had a letter he had written to a relative published in a local newspaper about a devastating hurricane, which attracted the attention of a Presbyterian minister, who became his tutor.
Recognizing his talent, the community even took up a collection to send Hamilton to New York City where he could continue his education. He first attended the Elizabethtown Academy in New Jersey and eventually entered King's College, now Columbia University, in 1773. With the outbreak of the war, he became involved with the Revolution shortly thereafter.
Hamilton and John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, raised a company of 60 men to help the war effort. Despite some early setbacks, Hamilton through connections managed to become an aide to George Washington, with whom he served four years, as his chief staff aide. He also became friends with the Marquis de Lafayette and other luminaries, and eventually commanded battalions at the Battle of Yorktown.
After the formal cessation of hostilities, he resigned his commission in 1782 and returned to New York City, where he passed the bar exam and became licensed to practice law. Due to his bookkeeping experience and training, Hamilton founded the Bank of New York in 1784 and famously became the US's first Secretary of the Treasury, also directing monetary policy and even coinage, with the passage of the Coinage Act of 1782. He was also a notable co-author of The Federalist Papers, along with John Jay and James Madison, and played a critical role in the drafting of the US Constitution.
Hamilton's most illustrious political rival was Thomas Jefferson, who favored strong state governments rather than an overarching federal one. Jefferson in particular denounced Hamilton as too urban-minded, with an almost singular obsession with business and banking, as opposed to the more rural-minded anti-Federalists. Their disagreements were primarily responsible for the development of the two-party system in the US which still predominates today: the Federalist and the Democratic-Republican parties, at the time.
Another of Hamilton's eventual detractors, however, was Aaron Burr. Burr's life mirrored Hamilton's in many ways. He served as the third vice president during Jefferson's first presidential term, as the runner-up in the presidential election was appointed the vice-president at the time. Burr was born in the US, in New Jersey, making him eligible for election to those positions, which Hamilton was not, as an immigrant.
Burr's father died in 1757 while serving as president of Princeton college. As the book tragically notes, he lost his father, mother, grandfather and grandmother in the same year, leaving him and his sister orphans. They eventually went to live with their 21-year-old maternal uncle, Timothy Edwards, who, with his new wife, moved the family to Elizabeth, New Jersey, where Burr also attended the Elizabethtown Academy.
As the book notes, Burr had a contentious relationship with his uncle, who was physically abusive, to the point that the orphan made multiple attempts to run away from home, starting at a reported four years old. He made a serious one at age 10, attempting to go to sea as a cabin boy, but he was intercepted and returned to his uncle. At age 13, however, he finally made good his escape by being admitted to Princeton, as a sophomore, so advanced were his studies, where he joined the American Whig Society.
The hardworking and prodigiously talented Burr received a Bachelors degree at age 16 and continued studying theology, but moved at age 19 to Connecticut to study law with his brother-in-law. In 1775, he enlisted in the Continental Army after the Lexington and Concord incident, and took part in the Quebec expedition, which was a catastrophic failure, resulting in the death of the force's leader. General Montgomery was killed, but shortly thereafter Burr's stepbrother Matthias Ogden helped him obtain a position on George Washington's staff. He quit shortly thereafter, however, to return to the battlefield, preferring life in the field to one at a desk.
Enthusiasm notwithstanding, Burr was forced to resign due to poor health in 1779, so he renewed his study of law, but continued to perform intelligence missions for the Patriots when needed. He finally finished his studies and was admitted to the bar in 1782. He served in the New York State Assembly, was later appointed New York State Attorney General, and was then elected as a US Senator from New York, and so becoming a major figure in New York politics.
Burr seemed to have something of a short temper: unbeknownst to many, he had also fought another duel after being accused of taking a bribe, but both combatants missed their targets, leading to an amiable reconciliation of the dispute; otherwise, history may have turned out very differently.
Burr ran for president in the 1800 election, which surprisingly met with a tie in the Electoral College, although Jefferson was ultimately awarded the presidency with the tie-breaking vote of the US House of Representatives. Burr was a staunch Federalist, and as such, was blocked from playing much of a role in Jefferson's administration. He was replaced as vice president in Jefferson's second term, and ran as governor of New York, but lost. Burr's animosity reached a fever pitch thereafter: he blamed the loss on the orchestrated machinations of his political opponents, including Alexander Hamilton, setting the scene for what was to come.
By the time the lives of Burr and Hamilton intersected, there was already a high degree of animosity between the two factions. Although Hamilton was clearly no fan of Jefferson, he viewed him as a lesser threat, reportedly stating that he was "by far not so a dangerous man," unlike Burr, whom he reportedly called a "mischievous enemy." Hamilton was accused of making a "still more despicable opinion" of the vice president at a New York dinner party, which got back to Burr, who demanded a written apology. The situation escalated when Burr demanded that Hamilton recant or deny any statement against Burr's honor that he had made, or was accused of making, for the last fifteen years.
Hamilton reportedly refused, as he could not recall making any statement or insult against Burr, but he was aware that he would also be labeled a coward if he backed down in the face of Burr's threats. The two exchanged letters before they exchanged gunshots, but, in the end, could not settle their disagreements. Burr responded by challenging him to personal combat, which was shocking, considering that dueling had been outlawed in New York, and the sentence for conviction of it was the death penalty. Not so in New Jersey: it was illegal, but the punishment was not so harsh, so the parties agreed to convene there.
Unimaginably, on July 1, 1804, they met just outside Weehawken, New Jersey, near the location where Hamilton's eldest son Philip had died at age 19 in a duel three years prior, in Nov., 1801, over a similar matter of alleged slighted honor. Who fired first is still a matter of great debate. Some claim that Hamilton intentionally missed, on account of reported statements he had made to friends prior to the duel that he intended to avoid firing directly at his opponent, or to "throw away his shot," which he had apparently admonished his son to do also.
Irrespective of who fired first, Hamilton was struck just above his right hip, with his own shot hitting a tree branch over Burr's head. The bullet entered his abdomen, causing severe damage to his internal organs, including his liver and diaphragm, and eventually lodged in his spine.
Hamilton was reportedly paralyzed after being hit in the spine. He was attended by the same doctor who had previously treated his son Philip, who, by some extraordinary coincidence, had also been shot through the right hip, in almost the same place. The elder Hamilton was carried to the Greenwich Village boarding house of a friend, where he curiously asked for the Episcopal Bishop of New York to give him holy communion and the last rites.
The bishop had initially declined to do so, citing the fact that participation in a duel was a mortal sin and that Hamilton was not an Episcopalian (he had been a Presbyterian in his youth in the West Indies). After some assurances of genuine repentance and the entreaties of many of Hamilton's friends, the bishop returned and administered the last rites. Despite all efforts, the wound was mortal, and Hamilton reportedly died at two o'clock the following afternoon. City officials shut down all business at noon for Hamilton's funeral two days later. He is interred at Trinity Church in New York City.
Burr was charged with murder, but was never tried. Regardless, he could never escape the infamy of this terrible incident, whereby he had killed one of the country's Founding Fathers over a matter of slighted honor. The ignominy of it pursued him for the rest of his life. Burr first fled to South Carolina to live with his daughter' family, even leaving his vice-presidential post for a time, but he shortly thereafter returned to Philadelphia and then Washington, D.C. to complete his term as. He then went west, to the Ohio River Valley, where he had leased 40,000 acres in Louisiana from the Spanish government.
Burr would never escape his notoriety as the killer of Alexander Hamilton, who had powerful allies in Washington. President Thomas Jefferson even seemingly saw the event as an opportunity to rid himself of a powerful opponent, and pursued Burr with near-obsession, determined to see him punished for something. The political intrigue continued unabated - bad blood between America and the Spanish meant a real possibility of war, and Burr was accused of treason for providing them with confidential information. Jefferson swore out a warrant for his arrest, based on his secret correspondence with both British and Spanish ministers, and Burr was in 1807 brought to trial on the charge of treason at Richmond, Virginia. He was twice found not guilty of any crime, however.
After a third acquittal, Burr seemingly got the message that he had become something of a persona non grata in the US, and shortly thereafter departed for Europe He lived in England until 1812, traveling to the continent frequently, but was still pursued relentlessly, primarily by creditors looking to collect on outstanding debts he had left behind. Burr even resorted to using his mother's last name - Edwards - to escape his pursuers. After a time, although his public life was all but finished, he resolved to return to the US, and lived out his life in New York, in fact, dying of old age after a stroke in 1836. He is interred in Princeton, New Jersey, near his father.
Aaron Burr is a much-maligned character, primarily due to the outcome of his duel with Hamilton, for which he expressed no regret. Despite their animosity, as is so often the case, the two figures are now inextricably intertwined in American history; rarely is one mentioned without the other.
The book does an admirable job of describing their struggles and the political intrigue of the day, but I did notice that this one "whitewashed" their histories to a greater degree than I would like. Best example: Burr had a relationship with Mary "Eugenie" Emmons, while his wife was dying of cancer, who was likely East Indian, a servant in his household during his first marriage, with whom he fathered two children, now proved by a DNA test (something he had in common with Thomas Jefferson, in fact; however, the latter was not married at the time he began his relationship with Sally Hemmings, who by all accounts was his widow's HALF-SISTER by her FATHER).
Suffice to say, that didn't make it into the book; nor did some other rather sordid events in the lives of these various political figures. I get that it has to be age-appropriate for children, but there are numerous aspects of both of these individuals' lives that should be addressed, including their foibles and mistakes. Great Men often aren't so great, and it's problematic, to say the least, when books, especially for young readers, lionize them without much-needed context.
And, as with many of the other books in the series, some of the language is dated (almost without exception, books of this time period use the very derogatory term "squaw" to refer to Indigenous women, so that will need some explanation to younger readers as to why that's inappropriate), and some may object to the "Great Men" emphasis in the books, but biographies can also humanize vital events in our nation's history, making it palatable to readers who may otherwise have little interest in the subject matter, including the political wranglings of America's first treasury secretary.
