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1-022 The Deadly Rivalry: Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr II
Vol. 1- No. 22
1995
Lead: The first capital of the United States was New York. Intro: A Moment In Time with Dan Roberts. Content: Thirty thousand people made their homes in the City in 1790 and it was fast coming to dominate the social and commercial life of the young nation. Possessed of one of the best natural harbors on the east coast, New York would enjoy nearly two centuries of spectacular growth and become the sometimes-resented pace setter in political, economic, and cultural matters. Small wonder that it was to become the home and first battleground between two great rival politicians in the early days after the nation's birth: Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr. Politically, the state was dominated by three great families. The Clintons, whose power lay upstate, the Livingstons, whose aristocratic bearing did not prevent their political base from being decidedly middle-class and the Schuylers, an old Dutch patrician family with lingering Tory sentiments and Episcopalian religion. Hamilton shrewdly married into the Schuyler family and quickly came to dominate that faction. His social connections and the affection he was shown by the new President George Washington guaranteed his place of power in state and national affairs. But at that point he made a terrible error. During the early days of the Republic, 1788-1790, Hamilton ignored the Livingston family when it came to handing out government jobs in the new regime. Aaron Burr had no such sweetheart deal. He had to claw his way to power and, among the early leaders of the nation, was one of the first to understand the importance of political parties. Many of his friends were associated with the Society of Tammany, a working class political club, and though he probably was never a member, under his influence it became a powerful political weapon. Hamilton's neglect of the Livingston family gave Burr his chance. He brought the Clintons and the Livingstons together, and in the Senate election of 1791 Burr defeated Hamilton's father-in-law, General Philip Schuyler. From that moment Hamilton and Burr were implacable enemies. Next time: the deadly end to their rivalry. The producer of A Moment In Time is Steve Clark. At the University of Richmond, this is Dan Roberts. Copyright 1995 by Educational Broadcast, Inc. Resources Burr, Aaron. Memoirs of Aaron Burr, With Miscellaneous Selections from his Correspondence. Edited by Matthew L. Davis. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1836-1837. Daniels, Jonathan. Ordeal of Ambition: Jefferson, Hamilton Burr. Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company, 1970. Lomask, Milton. Aaron Burr. New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux Publishing Company, 1972 (1982).
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