Founding Brothers-"the Duel" "The Interview Essay

S. - disposed to create secession in the union in order to accomplish his personal goals, it becomes clear that this was an unprincipled man. This is certainly surprising, given that Burr was to a certain degree responsible for the creation of the United States. All things considered, Burr was a man who considered his personal gains to be more important than morality.

Hamilton's article came as a blow to Burr, especially given that he had lost the gubernatorial elections. He could not accept being publicly insulted and demanded for the article's author to come forth with an apology. Hamilton's response only caused more stress on Burr, as the former claimed that he did not even remember insulting him.

One can also consider the duel to be the physical materialization of the long history of divergences between the Democratic-Republicans and the Federalists. One of the first instances to raise tensions between Burr and Hamilton went back to 1791, when the former took a Senate seat from the latter's father-in-law.

When all's said and done, both men involved in the duel lost in their own way, as Hamilton lost his life while Burr's political career was ended. Hamilton was "safely buried and assuming legendary proportions as a martyr" (Ellis, 26) whereas Burr was "out of town, eventually headed toward bizarre adventures in the American West, but already consigned to political oblivion" (Ellis, 26).

Even with the fact that the duel can easily be attributed to Burr feeling that his dignity was hurt by Hamilton's article, there are probably a series of reasons leading to the clash between the two men, with the masses being left to speculate on the incident.Burr's determination to have the duel happen is not typical for him, given that his past proves how he put his interest before his honor. Moreover, if one were to consider Hamilton's higher military rank, it would seem more probable for Burr to lose the duel. The fact that Hamilton was devastated by the recent loss of his son in a duel and that he chose to use pistols recognized for their lack of precision increased Burr's confidence, making him feel that he had all the chances to get out of the duel in one piece. Being an opportunist, Burr pressed Hamilton into going through with the clash, even if the latter done almost anything in his power to avoid the duel.

Works cited:

1. Ellis,….....