Aaron Burr arrested for alleged treason
As their relationship deteriorated over the following several years, President Jefferson refused to back Burr's nomination for a second term in office in 1804. After Jefferson's election, a group of the Federalists who had seen their prospects severely decline tried to recruit Burr into their cause. A New York newspaper paraphrased Alexander Hamilton as declaring that he "viewed Mr. Burr to be a dangerous man and one who ought not to be trusted with the reins of government" in opposition to such a move. Additionally, the paper mentioned instances in which Hamilton had spoken an even "more terrible view of Burr." Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel when Hamilton rejected his demand for an apology.
The two met on July 11, 1804, in a rural area of Weehawken, New Jersey. Burr fired to murder whereas Hamilton purposefully fired into the air. The next day, Hamilton passed away in New York City from his injuries. Burr's political career was essentially over when Hamilton died under dubious circumstances. After serving as vice president, he fled to Virginia and later went to New Orleans to meet with U.S. General James Wilkinson, a Spanish agent. The two may have planned anything, but theories vary from the creation of an independent republic in the American Southwest to the annexation of Spanish American land for the same goal.
Burr led a party of colonists who were well-armed toward New Orleans in the fall of 1806, which prompted an instant inquiry by American officials. To rescue himself, General Wilkinson turned against Burr and dispatched letters to Washington accusing Burr of treason. Burr was detained in Alabama on February 19, 1807, on suspicion of treason, and transported to Richmond, Virginia, where he would face a U.S. circuit court trial. On September 1, 1807, he was declared not guilty of treason because, although conspiring against the United States, he had not committed an "overt act," which is a condition of treason according to the U.S. Constitution. He spent several years in Europe before coming back to New York and continuing his legal career even though the general public viewed him as a traitor, which is one of the interesting facts about Aaron Burr.
