Who Was Aaron Burr A Villain?

The term “villain” is described as someone who is blamed for a particular evil or difficulty. Many recognize famous American names in history as villains, such as Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, and Lee Harvey Oswald, but have you heard the name Aaron Burr and automatically think of the term “villain”? Not many are familiar with the name Aaron Burr and maybe that is due to the fact that he is not all villain. From the hit Broadway show “Hamilton”, Leslie Odom Jr., who plays Aaron Burr on stage, opened up about his character saying, “None of us wants to be judged by our worst act on our worst day, and we consistently judge Burr for that. He was not a perfect man, but he’s not a villain.” Although many remember Aaron Burr as a villain who murdered

one of our most prominent founding fathers, this political figure worked hard throughout his life to impact our country for the better.
Aaron Burr was born on February 26, 1756 in Newark, New Jersey to Aaron Burr, Sr. and Esther Edwards Burr. His father was a pastor and President of College of New Jersey, which is now Princeton University (The Biography.com website 2016). His mother had another child, Sally Burr, who is older than Aaron Burr by two years. By the age of two, Aaron Burr and his sister became orphans when both of their parents died. Aaron Burr, Sr. died of a terrible fever and Esther Burr died of smallpox (United States Senate 2018). The children moved in with their uncle, Timothy Edwards, who became their legal guardian. Later in his life, Burr married Theodosia Bartow Prevost in 1782 and they had a child, Theodosia Burr, in 1783. Theodosia Prevost later on died in 1794, the boat that she was traveling on got lost at sea and she was never found (The Biography.com website 2016). Burr eventually remarried to Eliza Jumel in 1833. Burr remained married to Eliza Jumel until his death in 1836, leaving his dear Eliza a widow (United States Senate 2018). Burr died of multiple strokes that left him partially paralyzed shortly before his death. Burr was in Port Richmond on Staten Island, New York when he was pronounced dead on September 14, 1836 (The Biography.com website 2016).
Burr’s education consisted of studying with a private tutor. He joined the College of New Jersey in 1769, when he was 13 years old and graduated in 1772. He attended Litchfield Law School in Connecticut and also studied under his brother-in-law, Tapping Reeve, in 1774. Burr was studying all he could, but the American Revolution interrupted his studies and called him into action. Burr joined the American Revolution in 1775 and participated in the March of Quebec. His role earned him his first victory in the war and a job as an aid to George Washington. Shortly after accepting the job, Burr resigned due to the fact that Burr and Washington did not get along. There was an aspect of mistrust between them, for the reason that Burr always had trouble with authority and some say that Washington caught Burr reading some private correspondences between Washington and fellow generals. After resigning, Burr worked for General Israel Putnam until 1777, where he was involved in the Battle of Long Island and the evacuation of New York City. When the battle of Monmouth Courthouse originated, Burr sided with Charles Lee in 1778. Burr’s military career came to a halt in 1779 when he retired due to bad health. Although Burr was not connected to the military after 1779, many people still called Burr “Colonel Burr” throughout his life (United States Senate 2018).
Burr’s political career began in 1791, when he was elected into the US Senate. Eventually, Burr resigned from the Senate in 1797 when he lost reelection and seat in the state legislature to Philip Schuyler. Burr went on to help form the Democratic Party in New York City and became President of the Senate until 1804 (United States Senate 2018). Burr also ran in the Election of 1800 against Thomas Jefferson and lost. Thomas Jefferson became President of the United States with Aaron Burr as his Vice President from 1800 to 1804 (The Biography.com website 2016). The worst thing to happen in Burr’s career came in 1804 when Burr and the famous Alexander Hamilton dueled in Weehawken, New Jersey. Burr held a grudge against Hamilton, blaming him for the loss of the Election of 1800. The duel took place on June 11, 1804 and ended in Hamilton’s death. Hamilton died in New York shortly after getting shot by Burr and many turned on Burr after this event took place (Chernow 2004).
Although Aaron Burr successfully killed Alexander Hamilton, there was no trial for the murder.

There was a trial against Burr in February 1807 for being charged with treason. Earlier on, Burr planned to lead a charge against Mexico, hoping to gain some Spanish Territory. Burr also tried to separate Western States from the Union (Independence Hall Association 1995). Burr was tried for both these events, but there was no trial for his role in leading the Essex Junto. The Essex Junto was a plan for New England to secede from the Union, lead by Aaron Burr and included many Federalists at the time (Aaron Burr Jr. (1756-1836).

2012).
For the remainder of Burr’s life, he traveled throughout Europe to try to gain support. Unfortunately, all his hard work was for nothing as he came home with as much support as he started out with. Burr returned to the colonies under the name “M. Arnot” and resumed his career, working as a lawyer until his death. Burr tried to revive his political career for many years but ultimately failed (United States Senate 2018). Burr died on September 14, 1836 of multiple strokes in Staten Island, New York (The Biography.com website 2016).
The impacts that Aaron Burr had on our country include he is the only Vice President to kill someone.

There has been Presidents that have killed before, but as far as Vice Presidents go, Burr is the only one. Aaron Burr also had positive impacts on the world as well as negative impacts. These positive impacts include becoming a very successful lawyer. Burr opened his own private practice in Albany, New York. Six years later, Burr became attorney general of New York (The Biography.com website 2016). Another positive impact Burr had on the country was his plan to take over Mexican land. Although Burr did not execute the plan himself, the Texans got hold of his plan and carried it out. This lead to Texas becoming independent and joining the colonies (Sherman 2018). Burr also worked to change the constitution. Burr’s work contributed to the passing of the 12th amendment. This amendment made sure that separate electoral votes were counted for Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates (Bomboy

2017).
Burr is seen as a villain for murder and treason, but he can also be seen as a hero. Throughout his political career, Burr wanted fairness in Senate elections. Burr did this by “fighting for a more transparency in the government” whenever he had the chance. Additionally, Burr also helped improve our government by voting for inclusion of naturalized foreigners in office. Burr also started the Manhattan Company, which was a New York City bank, and funded for several improvements for our country. These improvements include building and repairing bridges and roads. Along with the fact that Burr is a strong lawyer and politician, he was also a strong racial abolitionist. Burr wanted and worked hard for an amendment to ban slavery, but in the end was unsuccessful (Sherman 2018).
Refer back to the definition listed for “villain” in the beginning of the paper. If the definition is true, anyone could be considered a villain. We are all imperfect and have various flaws, which means we have done and are responsible for some evil. But before we classify a person as a villain, the entire story needs to be accounted for. Not everything Burr did was acceptable, but not everything he did was wrong, he was human just like us. A villain’s purpose and goal is to accomplish destruction, but Burr’s purpose, like some of ours, was to help our country reach its true potential with the good of the people always on his mind.