DOCSLIB.ORG

Burr Conspiracy

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Burr Conspiracy THE PRESIDENCY OF THOMAS JEFFERSON, 1801-1809 Burr Conspiracy: ‘guilt beyond question” Made Possible by a Grant from Thomas Jefferson University Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Center for Legislative Archives TheNational Archives and Records Administration Washington, D. C. 20408 (202) 501-5350 THE PRESIDENCY OF THOMAS JEFFERSON, 1801-1809 —4 BURR CONSPIRACY Burr Conspiracy: “guilt beyond question” HISTORICAL R MO ST 0 F H I s second term in intended to raise an army to wrest, Mexico ESSAY office,Jefferson and the nation from Spanish control and found a new nation, became increasingly occupied by Depending on the dreams of the pnnci pal J rumors of conspiracy and treason in consplrators. the new creation was envisioned the West. The apparent threat to the peace as either a republic or an empire. These same and safety of the Union centered on the activi plans also may have included adding the ties of Jefferson’s former vice president. Aaron American states and territories vest of the Burr. Dropped by the Republicans in 1804 to Appalachian Mountains to the new country. stand for re-election with Jefferson, unsuccess with New Orleans as the national capital of ful in his bid for the governorship of New this western nation. Yor:. and under indictment for killing Alexan To aid him in his schemes. Burr enhsted th der Hamilton in a duel in New Jersey Burr help of General James \Viikinson, the com seemed prepared to trade disgrace in the East manding general of the Lntted States Army for glory in the \\st, and acting governor of the Louistana Tcmntorv Two potentially dangerous historical strug Wilkinson was no stranger to espionage and ges amplified the alarm raised by Burr’s had supplemented his federal salary with hems in the \Vest and his subsequent mal secret payments from the Spantsh. \Vhinson for treason One struggle was a national fight remained part of Burr’s cabal until he deter fur the loyalty of the ternrones and states west mined that Burr’s plans enio ed no prospect of o the Appalachian Mountains Dependent on success. To protect himself. \\‘iknson the \lississippi River as a commercial outlet, betrayed Burr and notified Jefferson of Burr’s the \Vest had been subject to long-standing dangerous plot. Translattng a letter rv:en in I Spantsh attempts to separate it from the East. code (or cipher) in which Burr outltned his The future of the \Vest also raised a related plans, Wilkinson carefully removed evidence question of political philosophy: could a of his involvement with the conspiracy and republic effectively represent the rights and sent a copy of the edited letter to Jefferson. interests of a population spread over a large tScc document 14, Wilhinson’s t1ans!LuIoi. extent? Or were republics by nature small, Burr, still thinking he had Wilkinson’s preserving a close relationship between the support, went forward with his plans A few governed and those elected to represent them? hundred men gathered on the Ohio River to The second struggle was a political one, pit support Burr’s wild scheme, but most were ting the Republican executive and Congress stopped in December 1806 when their boats acainst the Federalist-dominated judiciary and supplies were seized by the order of Ohto Jefferson and his party captured the executive Governor Edward Tiffin. Burr was not on the and legislative branches in the 1800 elections, Ohio, and he and a party of men floated down but the Federal judiciary remained in the the Cumberland River to join his few remain hands of Federalists appointed to the bench ing supporters. Combining their forces and before Jefferson took office. Jefferson hoping to attract other adventurers, they pro lamented that the Federalists “have retreated ceeded down the Mississippi River. In New into the judiciary as a stronghold.” The Orleans, Wilkinson arrested without charge Republicans and the Federalist judiciary anyone suspected of supporting Burr. Hearing warred throughout Jefferson’s two terms, a rumors that ‘Wilkinson secretly plotted his struggle described in battles over John assassination. Burr wisely surrendered to civil Adams’s appointment of “midnight judges,” authorities in the Mississippi Territory in Janu the repeal of the Judiciary Act of 1801, Chief ary 1807, and he was sent east for trial. tScc Justice John Marshall’s decision in Marburv v. document 15, letter from Mt.’d.) Madison, Congress’s impeachment of federal Unaware that Burr had surrendered. Jeffer message describ . judges, and the Burr trial. son sent Congress a special Although the exact outlines of Burr’s plans ing the conspiracy in the West. (Sec document are difficult to draw, it appears that he 16,Jefferson’s message on the conspiracy) In his THE PRESIDENCY OF THOMAS JEFFERSON, 1801-1809 BURR CONSPIRACY —5 I HISTORICAL message of January 22. 1807,Jeflerson did he refused to dignify the subpoena with a for ESSAY nor hesitate to declare that Burr’s “guilt is mal answer. placed beyond question.’ Federalists then. The prosecution attempted to show Burr as and htstorians today. question jef1erson pre the conspiratorial mastermind behind the trea iudging of Burr and what led him to act as sonous assembly of a war party on the Ohto judge and jury for an individual not yet River. The case rested heavily on the testi charged with a crime. The Federalists rallied mon’ of General Wilkinson and the translated to Burr’s cause to attack and embarrass Jeffer cipher letter, but Wilkinson did not prove to son. despite Burr’s killing of the Federalist be a credible witness. The final blow to the hero Alexander Hamilton in 1804. government’s case came when ChiefJusticc lndtcted by a Rtchmond, Virginia. grand John Marshall. the presiding judge. a Federal juro for treason. Burr stood accused in the for ist, and Jeffersons staunch foe, revised an ear mal indictment of being moved and seduced her ruling and defined treason so narrow by the instigation of the devil.” The federal that it became I impossible to convict Burr At tral, which lasted from May to September of the conclusion of a bitter trial, the mr-c I 8C, was great political theater and capti the rather unusual finding that “We of tb: jury vated, the nation’s interest. Burr’s defense, con find that Aaron Burr is not proved to cc s:ructed by Burr and prominent Federalist under this lndtctrnent by arm evidence attorneys, rested on their efforts to make Burr mitted to us. appear as a \ctim of Jefferson’s persecution. Jefferson, and much of the nation, rematned Bvrr matntamed that he only wanted to irans convinced of Burr’s guilt and blamed the Fed I port settlers to the West. (Sec document 13, let eralists for letting Bun’ escape urcpurt 1t Oflt Bwr.t Federalist newspapers ndtculed Although frustrated with the outcome. ief:cr the trtal as “King Tom’s Puppet Show.” In an son reconctied htmself with the thoucbt ma: effort to stall the thai and further involve the loyalty of the West had been fcrcefuc, Jefferson, Burrs lawyers convinced Marshall to demonstrated by the comic folly of Burr’s con subpoena the president and demand delivery spiracy. Jefferson also hoped that the Federal of the origInal version of the cipher letter, ist party and Federalrs:-controied udtc:cr-. \\htch could be used to discredit Wilktnson. would be lrreparabiv damagec In the couc: or Jefferson had already agreed to provide all public opinion by their close assocta::cr necessary records calthough Wilkinson’s the scoundrel Burr. ortgir’ial ctpher letter could not be found), and THE PRESIDENCY OF THOMAS JEFFERSON, 1801-1809 —--9 BURR CONSPIRACY Letter from Burr to Senator John Smith. October 26, 1806. DOCUMENT 13 Lc\inglon 26 Oct. 1806 Dear Str I was greatly surprised and really hun by the unusual tenor of your letter of the 23rd and I hasten to reply to it as well for your satisfaction as my own. If there exists any design to separate the Western from the eastern States I am totally tgrio - rant of it i never harboured or expressed any such intention to any one nor did any person ever - inttmatc such design to me Indeed I have no conception of any mode in which such a measure could be promoted, except by operating on the minds of the people and demonstrating it to be their interest- I have never written or published a line on this subject nor ever expressed any other sentiments than those which you may have heard from me in public companies at Wash inton & else where & in which I think you concurred. Smith has heard Col. Burr and others say that in fifty or a hundred years the Terntory of the US would compose two Dtstinct Govern mcnts. Ii is a question on which I feel no interest and certainly I never sought a Conversation upon it with any one, but even if I had written and talked ever so much on the matter, it coud nec, ne deemec cnminai But the idea, as I am told, which some malevolent persons circulate is. that a separation is to be affected by force - this appears to me to be as absurd and as unworthy of contradtction as I had bec:c charged with a design to change the planetary System- all the armies of France cou’d no: effect such a purpose, because they could not get here & if they could get here. they could nec subs:s: & tf they could subsist they would certainly be destroyed I have no political views whate\-er-those which I entertained some months ago and which were communicated to you, have been abandoned U.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Early Understandings of the "Judicial Power" in Statutory Interpretation
    ARTICLE ALL ABOUT WORDS: EARLY UNDERSTANDINGS OF THE 'JUDICIAL POWER" IN STATUTORY INTERPRETATION, 1776-1806 William N. Eskridge, Jr.* What understandingof the 'judicial Power" would the Founders and their immediate successors possess in regard to statutory interpretation? In this Article, ProfessorEskridge explores the background understandingof the judiciary's role in the interpretationof legislative texts, and answers earlier work by scholars like ProfessorJohn Manning who have suggested that the separation of powers adopted in the U.S. Constitution mandate an interpre- tive methodology similar to today's textualism. Reviewing sources such as English precedents, early state court practices, ratifying debates, and the Marshall Court's practices, Eskridge demonstrates that while early statutory interpretationbegan with the words of the text, it by no means confined its searchfor meaning to the plain text. He concludes that the early practices, especially the methodology ofJohn Marshall,provide a powerful model, not of an anticipatory textualism, but rather of a sophisticated methodology that knit together text, context, purpose, and democratic and constitutionalnorms in the service of carrying out the judiciary's constitutional role. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction .................................................... 991 I. Three Nontextualist Powers Assumed by English Judges, 1500-1800 ............................................... 998 A. The Ameliorative Power .............................. 999 B. Suppletive Power (and More on the Ameliorative Pow er) .............................................. 1003 C. Voidance Power ..................................... 1005 II. Statutory Interpretation During the Founding Period, 1776-1791 ............................................... 1009 * John A. Garver Professor ofJurisprudence, Yale Law School. I am indebted toJohn Manning for sharing his thoughts about the founding and consolidating periods; although we interpret the materials differently, I have learned a lot from his research and arguments.
    [Show full text]
  • Volume II: Rights and Liberties Howard Gillman, Mark A. Graber
    AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONALISM Volume II: Rights and Liberties Howard Gillman, Mark A. Graber, and Keith E. Whittington INDEX OF MATERIALS ARCHIVE 1. Introduction 2. The Colonial Era: Before 1776 I. Introduction II. Foundations A. Sources i. The Massachusetts Body of Liberties B. Principles i. Winthrop, “Little Speech on Liberty” ii. Locke, “The Second Treatise of Civil Government” iii. The Putney Debates iv. Blackstone, “Commentaries on the Laws of England” v. Judicial Review 1. Bonham’s Case 2. Blackstone, “Commentaries on the Laws of England” C. Scope i. Introduction III. Individual Rights A. Property B. Religion i. Establishment 1. John Witherspoon, The Dominion of Providence over the Passions of Man ii. Free Exercise 1. Ward, The Simple Cobler of Aggawam in America 2. Penn, “The Great Case of Liberty of Conscience” C. Guns i. Guns Introduction D. Personal Freedom and Public Morality i. Personal Freedom and Public Morality Introduction ii. Blackstone, “Commentaries on the Laws of England” IV. Democratic Rights A. Free Speech B. Voting i. Voting Introduction C. Citizenship i. Calvin’s Case V. Equality A. Equality under Law i. Equality under Law Introduction B. Race C. Gender GGW 9/5/2019 D. Native Americans VI. Criminal Justice A. Due Process and Habeas Corpus i. Due Process Introduction B. Search and Seizure i. Wilkes v. Wood ii. Otis, “Against ‘Writs of Assistance’” C. Interrogations i. Interrogations Introduction D. Juries and Lawyers E. Punishments i. Punishments Introduction 3. The Founding Era: 1776–1791 I. Introduction II. Foundations A. Sources i. Constitutions and Amendments 1. The Ratification Debates over the National Bill of Rights a.
    [Show full text]
  • Just Because John Marshall Said It, Doesn't Make It So: Ex Parte
    Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University Scholarly Commons at Hofstra Law Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship 2000 Just Because John Marshall Said it, Doesn't Make it So: Ex Parte Bollman and the Illusory Prohibition on the Federal Writ of Habeas Corpus for State Prisoners in the Judiciary Act of 1789 Eric M. Freedman Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.law.hofstra.edu/faculty_scholarship Recommended Citation Eric M. Freedman, Just Because John Marshall Said it, Doesn't Make it So: Ex Parte Bollman and the Illusory Prohibition on the Federal Writ of Habeas Corpus for State Prisoners in the Judiciary Act of 1789, 51 Ala. L. Rev. 531 (2000) Available at: https://scholarlycommons.law.hofstra.edu/faculty_scholarship/53 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarly Commons at Hofstra Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship by an authorized administrator of Scholarly Commons at Hofstra Law. For more information, please contact [email protected]. MILESTONES IN HABEAS CORPUS: PART I JUST BECAUSE JOHN MARSHALL SAID IT, DOESN'T MAKE IT So: Ex PARTE BoLLMAN AND THE ILLUSORY PROHIBITION ON THE FEDERAL WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS FOR STATE PRISONERS IN THE JUDIcIARY ACT OF 1789 Eric M. Freedman* * Professor of Law, Hofstra University School of Law ([email protected]). BA 1975, Yale University;, MA 1977, Victoria University of Wellington (New Zea- land); J.D. 1979, Yale University. This work is copyrighted by the author, who retains all rights thereto.
    [Show full text]
  • Early 19C America: Cultural Nationalism
    OPENING- SAFE PLANS Study for Ch. 10 Quiz! • Jefferson (Democratic • Hamilton (Federalists) Republicans) • S-Strict Interpretation • P-Propertied and rich (State’s Rights men • A-Agriculture (Farmers) • L-Loose Interpretation • F-France over Great Britain • A-Army • E-Educated and common • N-National Bank man • S-Strong central government Jeffersonian Republic 1800-1812 The Big Ideas Of This Chapter 1. Jefferson’s effective, pragmatic policies strengthened the principles of two-party republican gov’t - even though Jeffersonian “revolution” caused sharp partisan battles 2. Despite his intentions, Jefferson became deeply entangled in the foreign-policy conflicts of the Napoleonic era, leading to a highly unpopular and failed embargo that revived the moribund Federalist Party 3. James Madison fell into an international trap, set by Napoleon, that Jefferson had avoided. The country went to war against Britain. Western War Hawks’ enthusiasm for a war with Britain was matched by New Englanders’ hostility. “We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists” Is that true? Economically? Some historians say they are the same b/w Jefferson and Hamilton both dealt with rich people - be they merchants or southern planters Some historians say they are the same b/c Jefferson did not hold to his “Strict Constructionist” theory because 1. Louisiana purchase 2. Allowing the Nat’l bank Charter to expire rather than “destroying it” as soon as he took office 1800 Election Results 1800 Election Results (16 states in the Union) Thomas Democratic Virginia 73 52.9%
    [Show full text]
  • Download Legal Document
    UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK -----------------------------------------------------------------------x JOSE PADILLA, DONNA R. NEWMAN, as Next Friend of Jose Padilla, : Petitioners, : -against- : 02 Civ. 4445 (MBM) GEORGE W. BUSH, DONALD RUMSFELD, : JOHN ASHCROFT and COMMANDER M.A. MARR : Respondents. ------------------------------------------------------------------------x BRIEF SUBMITTED ON BEHALF OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION, NEW YORK CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION AND CENTER FOR NATIONAL SECURITY STUDIES AS AMICI CURIAE Steven R. Shapiro (SS-9900) Lucas Guttentag (LG-0329) Robin R. Goldfaden Amrit Singh AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION 125 Broad Street, 17th Floor New York, New York 10004 (212) 549-2500 Arthur N. Eisenberg (AE-2012) Christopher T. Dunn (CD-3991) Donna Lieberman (DL-1268) NEW YORK CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION 125 Broad Street, 17th Floor New York, New York 10004 (212) 344-3005 Kate Martin CENTER FOR NATIONAL SECURITY STUDIES 1120 19th Street, N.W., Suite 800 Washington, DC 20036 (202) 721-5650 Attorneys for Amici Curiae Dated: New York, New York September 26, 2002 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page TABLE OF AUTHORITIES. ii INTEREST OF AMICI. 1 INTRODUCTION . 2 ARGUMENT: THE CONSTITUTION DOES NOT PERMIT THE INDEFINITE DETENTION OF AN AMERICAN CITIZEN ARRESTED IN THE UNITED STATES AND HELD IN AN AMERICAN MILITARY JAIL WITHOUT CHARGES, TRIAL, OR ACCESS TO COUNSEL. 4 A. Petitioner’s Confinement Without Charges Or Trial Is Unauthorized By Law. 6 B. Petitioner’s Confinement Without Trial In A Military Brig Cannot Be Justified As A Form Of Preventive Detention. 10 C. Petitioner Can Be Criminally Charged, As Others Have Been In Similar Circumstances . 14 D.
    [Show full text]
  • The Aaron Burr Trial Claudia Bell
    University of Richmond UR Scholarship Repository Honors Theses Student Research Winter 1967 The Aaron Burr Trial Claudia Bell Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.richmond.edu/honors-theses Recommended Citation Bell, Claudia, "The Aaron Burr Trial" (1967). Honors Theses. Paper 398. This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Research at UR Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of UR Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND LIBRARIES 1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 3 3082 00688 8159 THE AARON BURR TRIAL by Claudia Bell typed by Susie Johnston Honors Paper December 19, 1967 PREFACE The Aaron Burr trial was one of the most interesting cases in American history. Not only was the testimony at the inquiry significant but all events leading to the trial were important. Only those occurrences in Burr 1 s life which led to his tria 1 a re des.crihe.d;-. since perronal situations have no bearing on the case. The trial itself has been clone with as nm.ch detail as possible in order to make the outcome of the inquest understandable. TABLE OF CDNTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. BACKGROUND • . • • • • • . • • . 1 II. INDICTMElIT B2FORE TP..E GR.Ai'JD JURY • . .13 III. TRIAL BUJRE THE PEI'IT JURY. • . .22 IV. SUhMARY. • . .33 FOOTNOTES. • . .37 BIBLIOGRAPHY • .43 CP.AP'I'ER 1 BAGKGROillm One of the most iT!T_!)Ortant events of 1807 was the .Aaron Burr trial. by the final day of the inquest a dispute between the judicial and exec- utive branches of the federal government had been brought to a head and the consr,ructive definition of treason had been negated.
    [Show full text]
  • The Aaron Burr Conspiracy
    Rnnk . A/ /C^ Zbc 'Qknivcxeit^ of Cbicago ;v^ h' 3 I FOUNDED BY JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER THE AARON BURR CONSPIRACY A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTIES OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOLS OF ARTS, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE, IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY) Ifl BY WALTER FLAVIUS McCALEB NEW YORK DoOD, /BbeaD anJ> Gompanis 1903 The Aaron Burr Conspiracy The ^aron Burr Conspiracy A History largely from original and h';herto unused sources By Walter Flavius McCaleb, A.M., Ph.D. Fellow in the Texas State Historical Association Sometime Fellow in History in the University of Chicago t New York DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY 1903 Copyright, 1903, by Dodd, Mead and Company First Edition, published April, 1903 THE CAXTON PRESS NEW YORK. TO HERMANN EDUARD VON HOLTZ Teacher and Friend Preface FOR a century the conspiracy, of Aaron Burr has been a puzzHng theme. Apart from the distin- guished figures that move across its stage, the nature of the enterprise from its very extravagance must always engage the attention of those who care to know something of the United States in its Heroic Age. The conspiracy was of much wider and deeper origin than has been usually supposed, and the conditions which gave rise to it, as well as the events with which it was vitally connected, have received scant treatment from historians. Social and political upheavals are not growths of a night, but are the results of the workings of real and definite causes which are traceable in every case and susceptible of some degree of analysis.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 Failed Filibusters: the Kemper Rebellion, the Burr Conspiracy And
    Failed Filibusters: The Kemper Rebellion, the Burr Conspiracy and Early American Expansion Francis D. Cogliano In January 1803 the Congressional committee which considered the appropriation for the Louisiana Purchase observed baldly, “it must be seen that the possession of New Orleans and the Floridas will not only be required for the convenience of the United States, but will be demanded by their most imperious necessities.”1 The United States claimed that West Florida, which stretched south of the 31st parallel from the Mississippi River in the west to the Apalachicola River in the east (roughly the modern state of Louisiana east of the Mississippi, and the Gulf coasts of Mississippi and Alabama, and the western portion of the Florida panhandle) was included in the Louisiana Purchase, a claim denied by the Spanish. The American claim was spurious but the intent behind it was clear. The United States desired control of West Florida so that the residents of the Mississippi Territory could have access to the Gulf of Mexico. Since the American Revolution the region had been settled by Spaniards, French creoles and Anglo-American loyalists. Beginning in the 1790s thousands of emigrants from the United States migrated to the territory, attracted by a generous system of Spanish land grants. An 1803 American government report described the population around Baton Rouge as “composed partly of Acadians, a very few French, and great majority of Americans.” During the first decade of the nineteenth century West Florida became increasingly unstable. In addition to lawful migrants, the region attracted lawless adventurers, including deserters from the United States army and navy, many of whom fled from the nearby territories of Louisiana and Mississippi.2 1 Annals of Congress, 7th Cong.
    [Show full text]
  • The Burr Trial As a Defense of Individual Rights Kassian A
    30 Traitors and Tyrants: The Burr Trial as a Defense of Individual Rights Kassian A. Kovalcheck On May 22, 1807, the Circuit Court of ·Appeals for the District of Virginia convened at Richmond for the most dramatic trial in the short history of the United States. With Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Marshall presiding, the court began the tedious project of selecting a grand jury for the con­ spiracy trial of Aaron Burr, former vice-president of the country he was accused of betraying. While the nature of the charges and the character of the principal defendant attracted and maintained public interest, the questions involved were not only the alleged Burr Conspiracy, but also the conflict between the power of the federal government and the rights of individuals in American society. This trial tested the concept of civil liberties as much as it adjudicated the constitutional issues of treason. When on October 20, 1807, Chief Justice Marshall declared in his concluding state­ ment that he could not find evidence significant enough to bind the defendant over, Burr left the court a free but ruined man. The Grand Jury, in an earlier statement, had expressed popular sentiment in their verdict: "We of the jury find that Aaron Burr is not proved to be guilty under this indictment."1 Burr could protest 2 that the jury had no right to deface the record of the court," but at the age of forty-n ine his political and public life had ended. 31 Only through the skillful rhetorical strategies of a brilliant defense had he maintained his freedom, if not his honor.
    [Show full text]
  • A New Nation Struggles to Find Its Footing: Power Struggles, 1789-1804
    A New Nation Struggles To Find Its Footing: Power Struggles in the Jeffersonian Era 1800-1809 Beginning of distinctly different political parties, all of which Louisiana Purchase, 1803 Burr Conspiracy, 1806 maintained their own agenda. US fears Napoleon was a military threat, and that western territory Aaron Burr attempts to separate the western part of the United Political parties were not mentioned in the Constitution, as many along the Mississippi River might join Napoleon. States and unite it with to-be-conquered Spanish territory west of believed it too dangerous to involve common people too deeply in Jefferson casts away his anti-Federalist leanings when he purchases the Louisiana Territory and parts of northern Mexico. politics New Orleans and the Louisiana Territory for $15 million from the Initially supported by James Wilkinson (military governor of upper “Anti-Federalists” (pro-strong states; Jefferson and Madison) v. French. Louisiana), who later exposed plot to Jefferson “Federalists” (pro-central federal government; Washington and Constitutional issue: Nowhere in the Constitution does it authorize the Burr arrested in 1806, but case was dropped when the Supreme Hamilton) President to purchase land. Jefferson secretly proposes an amendment Court could not find two witnesses. Jefferson’s prior statement that “Republicanism” – a philosophy which replaces the king/monarchy to allow him to buy the land; doesn’t work. He submits the treaty to Burr was guilty of treason “…beyond a doubt” would be called into with a government of and by the people with frequent elections, Congress (it’s approved) promptly before Napoleon changes his mind. question with the cases dismissal.
    [Show full text]
  • Treason Trial of Aaron Burr Before Chief Justice Marshall
    Loyola University Chicago Loyola eCommons Master's Theses Theses and Dissertations 1942 Treason Trial of Aaron Burr before Chief Justice Marshall Aurelio Albert Porcelli Loyola University Chicago Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_theses Part of the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Porcelli, Aurelio Albert, "Treason Trial of Aaron Burr before Chief Justice Marshall" (1942). Master's Theses. 687. https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_theses/687 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Loyola eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of Loyola eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. Copyright © 1942 Aurelio Albert Porcelli .TREASON TRilL OF AARON BURR BEFORE CHIEF JUSTICE KA.RSHALL By AURELIO ALBERT PORCELLI A THESIS SUBJfiTTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OJ' mE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN LOYOLA UNIVERSITY .roD 1942 • 0 0 I f E B T S PAGE FOBEW.ARD • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 111 CHAPTER I EARLY LIFE OF llRO:N BURR • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • l II BURR AND JEFF.ERSOB ••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 24 III WES!ERN ADVDTURE OF BURR •••••••••••••••••••• 50 IV BURR INDICTED FOR !REASOB •••••••••••••••••••• 75 V !HE TRIAL •.•••••••••••••••• • ••••••••••• • •••• •, 105 VI CHIEF JUSTICE lfA.RSlU.LL AND THE TRIAL ....... .. 130 VII JIA.RSHALJ.- JURIST OR POLITICIAN? ••••••••••••• 142 BIBLIOGRAPHY ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 154 FOREWORD The period during which Thomas Jefferson, John Marshall, and Aaron Burr were public men was, perhaps, the most interest­ ing in the history of the United States.
    [Show full text]
  • CHAPTER 6 Jeffersonian Democracy
    CHAPTER 6 Jeffersonian Democracy ANTICIPATION/REACTION Directions: Before you begin reading this chapter, place a check mark beside any of the following seven statements with which you now agree. Use the column entitled “Anticipation.” When you have completed your study of this chapter, come back to this section and place a check mark beside any of the statements with which you then agree. Use the column entitled “Reaction.” Note any variation in the placement of check marks from anticipation to reaction and explain why you changed your mind. Anticipation Reaction _____ 1. Thomas Jefferson believed that humans were selfish _____ 1. by nature. _____ 2. Thomas Jefferson was a superb political theorist, _____ 2. but he was an unskillful politician and ineffective president. _____ 3. Although appreciated by later generations, the _____ 3. Louisiana Purchase was unpopular when it was made. _____ 4. As president, Thomas Jefferson rejected the entirety _____ 4. of Federalist policies and programs, and he replaced them with his own as quickly as possible. _____ 5. While he was Jefferson’s vice president, Aaron Burr _____ 5. was impeached, convicted of treason, and removed from office. _____ 6. During Jefferson’s presidency, the war between _____ 6. Britain and France was enormously profitable for American commerce. _____ 7. Military preparedness was of key importance to _____ 7. President Jefferson’s foreign policy. LEARNING OBJECTIVES After reading Chapter 6 you should be able to: 1. State Thomas Jefferson’s key political principles. 2. Explain Jefferson’s antagonistic relationship with John Marshall and the federal courts. 95 3.
    [Show full text]