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Social Studies 5: Burr vs. Hamilton, a deadly rivalry 156 Views
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Description:
With a name like Burr, we're not too surprised he ended up being a stone-cold killer. Today's video is all about the duel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton.
Transcript
- 00:04
[Coop and Dino singing]
- 00:13
The Founding Fathers of the United States were some pretty smart guys. [Founding fathers in a room]
- 00:17
But sometimes, they were just plain dumb.
- 00:19
Take, for example, how they would occasionally duel one another with actual guns to settle disputes. [Men using guns in a dual]
- 00:25
In general, this is rarely the best solution.
Full Transcript
- 00:27
…Unless it's a high stakes game of laser tag, or something…
- 00:29
One of the most famous duels is the Burr-Hamilton duel, fought by two prominent American politicians–
- 00:35
–former secretary of the treasure Alexander Hamilton, and sitting vice president Aaron Burr.
- 00:39
But before get to the duel itself, let's rewind a bit and figure out who these two were and [A couple watching the Burr-Hamilton duel]
- 00:44
why this duel happened at all.
- 00:45
Alexander Hamilton was a Federalist, while Aaron Burr was a Democratic-Republican–
- 00:50
–those were the two major parties at the time.
- 00:52
We wonder which one had the better cake… [People playing pin the tail on the donkey]
- 00:54
Anyway, the Federalist Party wanted the federal government to be the central power controlling
- 00:58
the country, while the Democratic-Republican party believed in the “common man” and
- 01:02
preferred more local governments.
- 01:04
But that alone wasn't what caused the start of their feud. It all began when Burr picked [Burr bouncing a basketball]
- 01:09
Hamilton last for a game of basketball.
- 01:11
…Just kidding.
- 01:12
It actually began when Burr won a Senate seat over Hamilton's powerful father-in-law. [Philip walking off sadly]
- 01:17
The two also clashed over the 1800 Presidential
- 01:20
election where Hamilton supported Jefferson over Burr.
- 01:23
And as we all know, Jefferson won. However, because Burr received the second-most
- 01:28
votes, he became Vice-President. And in 1804, when Burr ran for governor of New York, [Burr on stage speaking]
- 01:33
the permanent-grudge-holding-Hamilton worked hard to defeat Burr's candidacy there as well.
- 01:38
Even later on, Hamilton trash-talked Burr at a dinner party,
- 01:41
ultimately leaving Burr no choice but to challenge Hamilton to a duel, [Glove strikes Hamilton across the face]
- 01:45
while hoping to help his political career in the process.
- 01:48
Which brings us to July 11, 1804 in Weehawken, New Jersey – the day of the duel.
- 01:53
After a tense stand-off, both men shot Hamilton missed...
- 01:57
...and Burr didn't. He killed Hamilton, which meant he was the winner of the duel. [Burr shoots Hamilton]
- 02:02
And remember how Burr thought winning the duel would help his political career?
- 02:06
Yeah, think again, Aaron…
- 02:07
He was arrested and charged with murder. [Burr in a prison cell]
- 02:09
Which really shouldn't have been all too surprising to him.
- 02:12
Y'know…because he just murdered someone.
- 02:14
Seriously. Stick to laser tag next time, guys. [Burr playing laser tag behind bars]
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