ShmoopTube
Where Monty Python meets your 10th grade teacher.
Search Thousands of Shmoop Videos
Social Studies Videos 51 videos
Time periods are super important. What if The Lord of the Rings had taken place in the future? Frodo would have just used his rocket boots to...
Plantations may have made their owners rich, but it was at the expense of the slaves that worked there. They were treated terribly. Rickety houses,...
Okay, get this. During the Civil War people actually used to march into battle with bands that blasted heroic music in order to inspire the troops...
Social Studies 5: Burr vs. Hamilton, a deadly rivalry 156 Views
Share It!
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]
Related Videos
Check out the best bias video ever made, courtesy of the most awesome and amazing educational website in existence.
No, this isn't a terrible new mint-peach bubble gum flavor...though it does tend to leave a bad taste in people's mouths.
Those settlers in Jamestown really should have settled down with all that land-stealing. Tobacco's bad for you anyway.
Being born out of multiple wars doesn't quite seem to fit the peaceful, polite Canadians we know and love today...oh wait, they were called The Bea...
Not every cartoon is meant to entertain small children while their mother gets some "Mommy time." There are also political cartoons, which are mean...