Aaron Burr

Lore & Background

Burr was born to a prominent family in what was then the Province of New Jersey. After studying theology at College of New Jersey, he began his career as a lawyer before joining the Continental Army as an officer in the American Revolutionary War in 1775. After leaving military service in 1779, Burr practiced law in New York City, where he became a leading politician and helped form the new Jeffersonian Democratic-Republican Party.

In 1791, Burr was elected to the United States Senate, where he served until 1797. He later ran in the 1800 presidential election. An Electoral College tie between Burr and Thomas Jefferson resulted in the U.S. House of Representatives voting in Jefferson's favor, with Burr becoming Jefferson's vice president due to receiving the second-highest share of the votes.

Although Burr maintained that he supported Jefferson, the president was somewhat at odds with Burr, who was relegated to the sidelines of the administration during his vice presidency and was not selected as Jefferson's running mate in 1804 after the ratification of the 12th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Burr traveled west to the American frontier, seeking new economic and political opportunities. His secretive activities led to his 1807 arrest in Alabama on charges of treason. He 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.

For a short period of time, Burr left the United States to live in Europe. He returned in 1812 and resumed practicing law in New York City. He died of a stroke on September 14, 1836, at the age of 80.

Orphaned at Two, Forged in Adversity

Aaron Burr entered the world in Newark, New Jersey, in 1756, into a family of extraordinary intellectual and religious prominence. His father, a Presbyterian minister, had co-founded the College of New Jersey—today Princeton—and served as its second president. His mother, Esther, was the daughter of the renowned theologian Jonathan Edwards.

Yet this lineage of distinction crumbled almost immediately. His father died of fever in late 1757, and within months, both his maternal grandfather and his mother succumbed to fevers as well. By the autumn of 1758, young Burr and his older sister Sarah were complete orphans, barely two and three years old.

They were first placed with the Shippen family in Philadelphia, then under the guardianship of their maternal uncle Timothy Edwards. That arrangement proved brutal; Edwards was frequently physically abusive, and the boy made repeated attempts to flee his home. Despite this turbulent foundation, Burr was admitted to Princeton as a sophomore at just thirteen, joined the college's literary and debating societies, and earned his bachelor's degree at sixteen before pivoting from theology to law.

The War That Made and Broke a Hero

When the Revolutionary War erupted in 1775, the nineteen-year-old Burr abandoned his legal studies in Connecticut to enlist in the Continental Army. His first major assignment was Colonel Benedict Arnold's grueling expedition toward Quebec, a march exceeding three hundred miles through the frozen northern frontier. Arnold was struck by Burr's great spirit and resolution and dispatched him up the Saint Lawrence River to rendezvous with General Richard Montgomery, who had captured Montreal. Montgomery, in turn, promoted Burr to captain and made him an aide-de-camp.

At the Battle of Quebec in December 1775, Burr tried to retrieve Montgomery's body after the general was killed, but the bitter cold and the dead weight of the corpse forced him to abandon the effort. Later, during the British landing in Manhattan, Burr's vigilance during the retreat from Lower Manhattan to Harlem saved an entire brigade from capture. Yet George Washington omitted any mention of this feat from the following day's General Orders—the very mechanism through which promotions were typically granted. Burr, already a nationally recognized figure, never received that commendation, and the slight reportedly deepened the rift between him and the commander-in-chief.

The Vice Presidency That Wasn't

After a successful legal career in New York City and a stint in the U.S. Senate from 1791 to 1797, Burr threw his name into the 1800 presidential race as a member of the Jeffersonian Democratic-Republican Party. The election produced a stunning Electoral College tie between Burr and Thomas Jefferson, forcing the matter into the House of Representatives, where Jefferson ultimately prevailed. Because the Constitution at the time did not distinguish between presidential and vice-presidential ballots, Burr—having received the second-highest share of votes—became Jefferson's vice president.

He maintained that he had supported Jefferson throughout, but the president kept him at a distance, relegating him to the margins of his administration. After the ratification of the 12th Amendment, which separated the two offices, Jefferson simply did not select Burr as his running mate in 1804. The episode left Burr politically isolated and set the stage for his restless departure westward in search of new opportunity.

Conspiracy, Acquittal, and a Quiet Return

Frustrated by his political marginalization, Burr traveled to the American frontier, where he pursued secretive economic and political ventures that would later be interpreted as a plot to carve out an independent territory from parts of the United States or the Spanish Empire. His activities drew the attention of federal authorities, and in 1807 he was arrested in Alabama on charges of treason. The case, which became known as the Burr conspiracy, saw him brought to trial more than once, yet he was acquitted on every occasion. For a period afterward, he left the country entirely and lived in Europe.

He returned to New York City in 1812 and resumed his legal practice, attempting to rebuild a professional life after years of infamy and obscurity. He remained in New York until his death on September 14, 1836, when a stroke took him at the age of eighty. His final years were marked by a quiet re-engagement with the law, a far cry from the political turbulence that had defined his middle decades.

Reader's Guide

Burr was born on February 6, 1756, in Newark, Province of New Jersey. He was the second child of Reverend Aaron Burr Sr. and Esther Edwards Burr. After his parents and maternal grandparents died by 1758, Burr and his sister Sarah were placed with the William Shippen family, then with their uncle Timothy Edwards.

Burr attended Elizabethtown Academy. At age 13, he entered the College of New Jersey as a sophomore, joining the American Whig Society and Cliosophic Society. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1772 at age 16, then continued studying theology at Princeton for an additional year. He then undertook rigorous theological training with Joseph Bellamy for two years before changing career paths.

At age 19, he moved to Litchfield, Connecticut, to study law with his brother-in-law Tapping Reeve. In 1775, he enlisted in the Continental Army. During the Revolutionary War, he took part in Benedict Arnold's expedition to Quebec, was promoted to captain, and served as an aide-de-camp to General Richard Montgomery.

He attempted to recover Montgomery's corpse after the Battle of Quebec. He served on George Washington's staff briefly in 1776 but quit to be on the battlefield. He saved a brigade from capture after the British landing in Manhattan. In July 1777, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and led Malcolm's Additional Continental Regiment.

He guarded the Gulph at Valley Forge, where he defeated an attempted mutiny. His regiment was devastated at the Battle of Monmouth in 1778, and Burr suffered heatstroke and exhaustion. Washington denied Burr's request for medical leave without pay.