102 Facts About Aaron Burr

Aaron Burr was born to a prominent family in what was then the Province of New Jersey.

In 1791, Aaron Burr was elected to the United States Senate, where he served until 1797.

Aaron Burr later ran as the Democratic-Republican vice presidential candidate in the 1800 election.

Aaron Burr traveled west to the American frontier, seeking new economic and political opportunities.

Aaron Burr was brought to trial more than once for what became known as the Burr conspiracy, an alleged plot to create an independent country led by Burr, but was acquitted each time.

Aaron Burr returned in 1812 and resumed practicing law in New York City.

Aaron Burr was the second child of the Reverend Aaron Burr Sr.

Aaron Burr had one older sister, Sarah, who was known as Sally.

In 1757, Aaron Burr's father died while serving as president of College of New Jersey, which later became Princeton University.

Aaron Burr had a very strained relationship with his uncle, who was often physically abusive.

At age 13, Aaron Burr was admitted to the College of New Jersey as a sophomore, where he joined the American Whig Society and the Cliosophic Society, the college's literary and debating societies.

Aaron Burr then undertook rigorous theological training with Joseph Bellamy, a Presbyterian, but changed his career path after two years.

In 1775, news reached Litchfield of the clashes with British troops in the Battles of Lexington and Concord, which launched the American Revolutionary War, and Aaron Burr put his studies on hold to enlist in the Continental Army, whose commander-in-chief was George Washington.

Aaron Burr sent him up the Saint Lawrence River to contact General Richard Montgomery, who had taken Montreal, and escort him to Quebec.

However, his attempts to rescue the body of his general was short-lived, as Aaron Burr gave up due to the harsh conditions of the snow and the dead weight of Montgomery's body.

Aaron Burr was already a nationally known hero, but he never received a commendation.

Nevertheless, Aaron Burr defended Washington's decision to evacuate New York as "a necessary consequence".

Aaron Burr was briefly posted in Kingsbridge during 1776, at which time he was charged with protecting 14-year-old Margaret Moncrieffe, the daughter of Staten Island-based British Major Thomas Moncrieffe.

Aaron Burr fell in love with Margaret, and her attempts to remain with Aaron Burr were unsuccessful.

In late 1776, Aaron Burr attempted to secure Washington's approval to retake fortifications on Staten Island, which were then held by the British, citing his deep familiarity with the area.

Later that year, Aaron Burr commanded a small contingent during the harsh winter encampment at Valley Forge, guarding "the Gulph", an isolated pass that controlled one approach to the camp.

Aaron Burr imposed discipline and defeated an attempted mutiny by some of the troops.

In 1783, Aaron Burr became an Original Member of the New York Society of the Cincinnati, an organization of officers who had served in the Continental Army and Navy during the Revolution.

In Prevost's absence, Aaron Burr began regularly visiting Theodosia at The Hermitage, her home in New Jersey.

Aaron Burr promptly opened a successful law office in Albany.

Aaron Burr moved his law practice to New York City the following year, after the British evacuated the city.

Aaron Burr quickly became a key player in politics, especially in New York, largely due to the power of the Tammany Society.

Aaron Burr converted it from a social club into a political machine to help Jefferson reach the presidency, particularly in New York City.

Aaron Burr continued his military service as a lieutenant colonel and commander of a regiment in the militia brigade commanded by William Malcolm.

Aaron Burr became seriously involved in politics in 1789, when Governor George Clinton appointed him as New York State Attorney General.

In 1791, Aaron Burr was elected by the legislature as a United States Senator from New York, defeating incumbent General Philip Schuyler.

In 1795, while many were debating on the Jay Treaty, Aaron Burr gave a speech on the matter, further showing how he was becoming a part of the Democratic-Republican party.

Rather than trying to be reelected, Aaron Burr resigned from the Senate in 1797, after only one term.

Aaron Burr ran in the 1796 presidential election and received 30 electoral votes, coming in fourth behind John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Pinckney.

Aaron Burr was shocked by this defeat, but many Democratic-Republican electors voted for Jefferson and a candidate other than Burr.

Aaron Burr solicited support from Hamilton and other Federalists under the guise that he was establishing a badly needed water company for Manhattan.

Aaron Burr secretly changed the application for a state charter at the last minute to include the ability to invest surplus funds in any cause that did not violate state law, and dropped any pretense of founding a water company once he had gained approval, but he did dig a well and built a large working water storage tank on the site of his bank, which was still standing and apparently still working in 1898.

Hamilton and other supporters believed that Aaron Burr had acted "dishonorably" for tricking them.

Shortly after the bank's founding, Aaron Burr fought a duel with John Barker Church, whose wife Angelica was the sister-in-law of Alexander Hamilton.

Church had accused Aaron Burr of taking a bribe from the Holland Land Company in exchange for his political influence.

Aaron Burr accepted this as an apology, and the two men shook hands and ended the dispute.

Aaron Burr enlisted the help of Tammany Hall to win the voting for selection of Electoral College delegates.

Aaron Burr gained a place on the Democratic-Republican presidential ticket with Jefferson in the 1800 election.

Jefferson and Aaron Burr won New York, and tied for the presidency overall, with 73 electoral votes each.

Aaron Burr remained quiet publicly, refusing to surrender the presidency to Jefferson, who was seen as the great enemy of the Federalists.

Van Ness was very close to Aaron Burr, serving as his second in the duel with Alexander Hamilton.

One newspaper wrote that Aaron Burr had conducted the proceedings with the "impartiality of an angel, but with the rigor of a devil".

Aaron Burr was not nominated to a second term as Jefferson's running mate in the 1804 election, and Clinton replaced Aaron Burr as vice president on March 4,1805.

Aaron Burr lost the gubernatorial election to little known Morgan Lewis, in what was the most significant margin of loss in the state's history up to that time.

Aaron Burr blamed his loss on a personal smear campaign believed to have been orchestrated by his party rivals, including Clinton.

Hamilton replied that Aaron Burr should give specifics of his remarks, not Cooper's, and said he could not answer regarding Cooper's interpretation.

Aaron Burr responded by challenging Hamilton to a duel, personal combat then formalized under rules known as code duello.

The seconds placed Hamilton so that Aaron Burr would have the rising sun behind him, and during the brief duel, one witness reported, Hamilton seemed to be hindered by this placement as the sun was in his eyes.

Aaron Burr was charged with multiple crimes, including murder, in New York and New Jersey, but was never tried in either jurisdiction.

Aaron Burr fled to South Carolina, where his daughter lived with her family, but soon returned to Philadelphia and then to Washington, DC to complete his term as vice president.

Aaron Burr avoided New York and New Jersey for a time, but all the charges against him were eventually dropped.

Aaron Burr leased 40,000 acres of land, known as the Bastrop Tract, along the Ouachita River, in present-day Louisiana, from the Spanish government.

Aaron Burr vowed the aim of his conspiracy was that if he settled there with a large group of armed farmers and war broke out, he would likely face a force with which to fight and claim land for himself thereby restoring his wealth.

Jefferson issued an order for Aaron Burr's arrest, declaring him a traitor before any indictment.

Aaron Burr read this in a newspaper in the Territory of Orleans on January 10,1807.

Aaron Burr twice turned himself in to federal authorities, and both times judges found his actions legal and released him.

Jefferson's warrant followed Aaron Burr, who fled toward Spanish Florida.

Aaron Burr was intercepted at Wakefield, in Mississippi Territory in present-day Alabama, on February 19,1807, by Edmund P Gaines and Nicholas Perkins III.

Aaron Burr was confined to Fort Stoddert after being arrested on charges of treason.

In 1807, Aaron Burr was charged with treason in US circuit court in Richmond, Virginia.

Aaron Burr was arraigned four times for treason prior to being indicted before a grand jury.

The only physical evidence presented to the grand jury was Wilkinson's letter from Aaron Burr, which proposed stealing land in the Louisiana Purchase.

Aaron Burr said he had made a copy because he had lost the original.

Aaron Burr was immediately tried on a misdemeanor charge and was again acquitted.

Jefferson used his influence as president to seek Aaron Burr's conviction, leading the trial to be seen as a major test of the US Constitution and the separation of powers.

Aaron Burr sent a letter to Jefferson in which he stated that he could do Jefferson much harm.

David O Stewart, on the other hand, alleged that Aaron Burr was not explicitly guilty of treason, according to Marshall's definition, but evidence existed linking him to treasonous crimes.

Bollman admitted to Jefferson during an interrogation that Aaron Burr planned to raise an army and invade Mexico.

Aaron Burr said that Burr believed that he should be Mexico's monarch, since a republican government, in Burr's view, was not appropriate for Mexico.

Dr David Hosack, Hamilton's physician and a friend to both Hamilton and Aaron Burr, lent Aaron Burr money for passage on a ship.

Aaron Burr lived in self-imposed exile from 1808 to 1812, passing most of this period in England, where he occupied a house on Craven Street, London.

Aaron Burr became a good friend, even confidant, of the English Utilitarian philosopher Jeremy Bentham, and on occasion lived at Bentham's home.

Aaron Burr spent time in Scotland, Denmark, Sweden, Germany and France.

Aaron Burr was ordered out of England and Emperor Napoleon of France refused to receive him.

Aaron Burr acted as a parent to his two stepsons by his wife's first marriage and he became a mentor or guardian to several proteges who lived in his home.

Theodosia Aaron Burr Alston was born in 1783 and was named after her mother.

Aaron Burr was the only child of Burr's marriage to Theodosia Bartow Prevost who survived to adulthood.

Aaron Burr served as a guardian to Nathalie de Lage de Volude from 1794 to 1801, during Theodosia's childhood.

Aaron Burr opened his home to them, allowing Madame Senat to tutor private students there along with his daughter, and Nathalie became a companion and close friend to Theodosia.

Aaron Burr arranged Vanderlyn's training by Gilbert Stuart in Philadelphia and sent him in 1796 to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he remained for six years.

In 1835, the year before his death, Aaron Burr acknowledged two young daughters whom he had fathered late in his life, by different mothers.

Aaron Burr worked as a servant in his household during his first marriage.

Aaron Burr fathered two children with Emmons, both of whom married into Philadelphia's "Free Negro" community in which their families became prominent:.

Aaron Burr was a man of complex character who made many friends, but many powerful enemies.

Aaron Burr was arrested and prosecuted for treason by President Jefferson, but acquitted.

Jane Fairfield, the wife of the struggling poet Sumner Lincoln Fairfield, recorded in her autobiography that in the late 1820s, their friend Aaron Burr pawned his watch to provide for the care of the Fairfields' two children.

Aaron Burr believed women to be intellectually equal to men and hung a portrait of Mary Wollstonecraft over his mantel.

Hamilton attacked Aaron Burr for supporting the idea that women were the intellectual equals of men.

Aaron Burr described "sexual release as the only remedy for his restlessness and irritability".

Aaron Burr fought against anti-immigrant sentiment, led by Hamilton's Federalist party, which suggested that anyone without English heritage was a second-class citizen and even challenged the rights of non-Anglos to hold office.

At an earlier time, he wrote, Aaron Burr "had served in the army, and came out of it with the character of a knight without fear and an able officer".

Aaron Burr believed that this led to his personal and political defeats and, ultimately, to his place outside the golden circle of revered revolutionary figures.

Hamilton thought that Aaron Burr's self-serving nature made him unfit to hold office, especially the presidency.

Aaron Burr contended that Burr cared little about the Constitution and predicted that if he gained any more power, his leadership would continue to be for personal gain, while Jefferson was a true patriot and public servant committed to preserving the Constitution.

Aaron Burr died in a boarding house after suffering two strokes in Port Richmond, New York, on Staten Island, on September 14,1836, at age 80, the same day that his divorce was officially completed.

Aaron Burr was buried near his father's gravesite in Princeton, New Jersey.

Aaron Burr is sometimes seen as one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, although this characterization is unusual.