Editing Aaron Burr (section)

==Career==
===Revolutionary War===
[[File:The Death of General Montgomery in the Attack on Quebec December 31 1775.jpeg|thumb|''[[The Death of General Montgomery in the Attack on Quebec, December 31, 1775]]'', a 1786 portrait by [[John Trumbull]] depicting the [[Battle of Quebec (1775)|Battle of Quebec]] in 1775]]
During the [[American Revolutionary War]], Burr took part in Colonel [[Benedict Arnold]]'s [[Benedict Arnold's expedition to Quebec|expedition to Quebec]], an arduous trek of more than {{convert|300|mi|km}} through the northern frontier of the [[Province of Massachusetts Bay]] (now [[Maine]]). Arnold was impressed by Burr's "great spirit and resolution" during the long march.<ref name=worldhistory>{{Cite web|title=Aaron Burr|url= https://www.worldhistory.org/Aaron_Burr|date=October 10, 2024|access-date=March 2, 2025|via=[[World History Encyclopedia]]}}</ref> He sent him up the [[Saint Lawrence River]] to contact General [[Richard Montgomery]], who had taken [[Montreal]], and escort him to [[Province of Quebec (1763-1791)|Quebec]]. Montgomery then promoted Burr to captain and made him an aide-de-camp.<ref name=battlefields/> Burr distinguished himself during the [[Battle of Quebec (1775)|Battle of Quebec]] on December 31, 1775, where he attempted to recover Montgomery's corpse after he had been killed.{{sfn|Isenberg|2007|pp=22–28}} However, his attempts to rescue the body of his general was short-lived, as Burr gave up due to the harsh conditions of the snow and the dead weight of Montgomery's body.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Shelton|first1=Hal T.|title=General Richard Montgomery and the American Revolution|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/General_Richard_Montgomery_and_the_Ameri/1BwUCgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0|date=1994|access-date=March 21, 2025|publisher=[[New York University Press]]|ISBN=978-0-8147-8039-8|p=150}}</ref>

In the spring of 1776, Burr's stepbrother [[Matthias Ogden]] helped him to secure a position with [[George Washington]]'s staff in [[Manhattan]], but he quit on June 26 to be on the battlefield.{{sfn|Isenberg|2007|pp=33–34}} General [[Israel Putnam]] took Burr under his wing, and Burr saved an entire brigade from capture after the [[Landing at Kip's Bay|British landing]] in Manhattan by his vigilance in the retreat from [[Lower Manhattan]] to [[Harlem]]. Washington failed to commend his actions in the next day's General Orders, which was the fastest way to obtain a promotion. Burr was already a nationally known hero, but he never received a commendation. According to Ogden, he was infuriated by the incident, which may have led to the eventual estrangement between him and Washington.{{sfn|Lomask|1979|p=82}}{{sfn|Schachner|1961|p=37}} Nevertheless, Burr defended Washington's decision to evacuate New York as "a necessary consequence". It was not until the 1790s that the two men found themselves on opposite sides in politics.{{sfn|Isenberg|2007|pp=34, 36}}

Burr was briefly posted in [[Kingsbridge, Bronx|Kingsbridge]] during 1776, at which time he was charged with protecting 14-year-old Margaret Moncrieffe, the daughter of [[Staten Island]]-based British Major Thomas Moncrieffe. Miss Moncrieffe was in Manhattan "behind enemy lines", and Major Moncrieffe asked Washington to ensure her safe return there. Burr fell in love with Margaret, and her attempts to remain with Burr were unsuccessful.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/13/travel/new-york-city-american-revolution.html When New York City Was a (Literal) Battlefield] Retrieved September 20, 2020</ref>

In late 1776, Burr attempted to secure Washington's approval to retake fortifications on [[Staten Island]], which were then held by the British, citing his deep familiarity with the area. Washington said he wanted to defer such an action until later in the conflict, and ultimately chose not to pursue it. The British learned of Burr's plans and later took extra precautions.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Morris|first1=Ira K.|title=Morris's Memorial History of Staten Island, New York; Volume 1|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Morris_s_Memorial_History_of_Staten_Isla/SX2NzwEACAAJ?hl=en|p=217–218|ISBN=978-1-0155-9874-4}}</ref>

In July 1777, Burr was promoted to lieutenant colonel and assumed virtual leadership of [[Malcolm's Additional Continental Regiment]].{{sfn|Isenberg|2007|pp=37–38}} There were approximately 300 men under Colonel [[William Malcolm]]'s nominal command, but Malcolm was frequently called upon to perform other duties, leaving Burr in charge.{{sfn|Isenberg|2007|pp=37–38}} The regiment successfully fought off many nighttime raids into central New Jersey by Manhattan-based British troops who arrived by water. Later that year, Burr commanded a small contingent during the harsh winter encampment at [[Valley Forge]], guarding "the Gulph", an isolated pass that controlled one approach to the camp. He imposed discipline and defeated an attempted [[mutiny]] by some of the troops.{{sfn|Parmet|Hecht|1967|p=42}}

Burr's regiment was devastated by British artillery on June 28, 1778, at the [[Battle of Monmouth]] in [[New Jersey]], and Burr suffered [[heatstroke]] and exhaustion.{{sfn|Isenberg|2007|p=46}}<ref name=Todd/> Washington denied Burr's request for medical leave without pay, and instead placed Burr in temporary command of the garrison at [[West Point, New York]], until his recovery.<ref name=Todd>{{cite book |first=Charles Burr |last=Todd |title=A General History of the Burr Family |pages=70–71 |edition=4th |publisher=The Knickerbocker Press |location=New York |year=1902 |url=https://www.cga.ct.gov/hco/books/A_General_History_of_the_Burr_Family.pdf }}</ref>
 
In January 1779, Burr was assigned to [[Westchester County, New York|Westchester County]], [[Province of New York|New York]], in command of Malcolm's Regiment, a region between the British post at Kingsbridge and that of the Americans about {{convert|15|mi|km|0}} to the north. This district was part of the more significant command of General [[Alexander McDougall]], and there was much turbulence and plundering by lawless bands of civilians and by raiding parties of ill-disciplined soldiers from both armies.{{sfn|Burr|1837|p=159}}

Due to continuing poor health, Burr resigned from the Continental Army in March 1779.{{sfn|Parton|1861|p=120}} During his recovery, Burr carried urgent messages to Washington and various officers at the request of Generals McDougall and [[Arthur St. Clair]].{{sfn|Burr|1837|pp=171–173}} On July 5, 1779, he rallied a group of [[Yale University|Yale]] students at [[New Haven, Connecticut]], along with Captain [[James Hillhouse]] and the Second Connecticut [[Governor's Guards]], in a [[Tryon's raid|skirmish with the British]] at the [[West River (Connecticut)|West River]].{{sfn|Parton|1861|pp=124–125}} The British advance was repulsed, forcing them to enter New Haven from nearby [[Hamden, Connecticut|Hamden]].{{sfn|Parton|1861|pp=124–125}}

In 1783, Burr became an Original Member of the New York [[Society of the Cincinnati]], an organization of officers who had served in the Continental Army and Navy during the Revolution.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Once in Every Three Years: The Triennial Meetings of the Society of the Cincinnati|url=https://www.societyofthecincinnati.org/once-in-every-three-years-the-triennial-meetings-of-the-society-of-the-cincinnati|access-date=February 26, 2025}}</ref>

===Marriage to Theodosia Bartow Prevost===
[[File:Aaron_Burr_and_His_Wife_Theodosia_Bartow.jpg|thumb|A portrait of Burr and [[Theodosia Bartow Prevost]], who Burr married in 1782, by [[Henry Benbridge]]]]
Burr met [[Theodosia Bartow Prevost]] in August 1778 while she was married to [[Jacques Marcus Prevost]], a Swiss-born British officer in the [[Royal American Regiment]].{{sfn|Williams|1973|pp=16–17}} In Prevost's absence, Burr began regularly visiting Theodosia at [[The Hermitage (Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey)|The Hermitage]], her home in New Jersey.<ref name=NYT1977>{{cite news |title=The House Where Aaron Burr Courted Theodosia |date=September 1, 1977 |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/09/01/archives/westchester-opinion-the-house-where-aaron-burr-courted-theodosia.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190517143907/https://www.nytimes.com/1977/09/01/archives/westchester-opinion-the-house-where-aaron-burr-courted-theodosia.html |archive-date=May 17, 2019 }}</ref> Theodosia would go on to visit Burr many times throughout his stay at West Point New York in June through July 1778.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.cga.ct.gov/hco/books/A_General_History_of_the_Burr_Family.pdf |title=A General History of the Burr Family with a Genealogical Record from 1193 to 1902 |first=Charles Burr |last=Todd |edition=Fourth |publisher=The Knickerbocker Press |location=New York |date=1902 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241213221444/https://www.cga.ct.gov/hco/books/A_General_History_of_the_Burr_Family.pdf |archive-date=13 December 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref> Although she was ten years older than Burr, the constant visits provoked gossip, and by 1780 the two were openly lovers.{{sfn|Isenberg|2007|pp=69–70}} In December 1781, Burr learned that Prevost had died of [[yellow fever]] while serving in [[Colony of Jamaica|Jamaica]].{{sfn|Isenberg|2007|p=70}}

Burr and Theodosia were married in 1782, and they moved to a house on [[Wall Street]] in Lower Manhattan.{{sfn|Parmet|Hecht|1967|p=57}} After several years of severe illness, Theodosia died in 1794 from [[stomach cancer|stomach]] or [[uterine cancer]].{{sfn|Lomask|1979|p=197}} Their only child to survive to adulthood was [[Theodosia Burr Alston]], born in 1783.{{sfn|Isenberg|2007|p=75-6}}

===Law and politics===
[[File:Aaron Burr, Alexander Hamilton and Philip Schuyler strolling on Wall Street, New York 1790.jpg|thumb|A 1790 illustration of Burr, [[Alexander Hamilton]], and [[Philip Schuyler]] strolling [[Wall Street]]]]
In the autumn of 1780, Burr resumed his study of law with Thomas Smith of [[Haverstraw (village), New York|Haverstraw]].{{sfn|Parton|1861|pp=124–125}} He was licensed as an attorney in [[Albany, New York]], in January 1782, and was admitted to the bar as a counselor that April.{{sfn|Burr|1837|p=134}} He promptly opened a successful law office in Albany.{{sfn|Burr|1837|p=134}} He moved his law practice to New York City the following year, after the British evacuated the city.{{sfn|Parmet|Hecht|1967|p=57}}

Burr quickly became a key player in politics, especially in New York, largely due to the power of the Tammany Society (which became [[Tammany Hall]]). Burr converted it from a social club into a [[political machine]] to help Jefferson reach the presidency, particularly in New York City.{{sfn|Myers|1901|pp=14–16}}

===Government===
Burr served in the [[New York State Assembly]] in 1784–85. In 1784, as an assemblyman, he unsuccessfully sought to abolish [[Slavery in the United States|slavery]] immediately following the war,{{sfn|PBS|2000}} despite having owned slaves himself.<ref name="WaPo 012022">{{cite news |last1=Weil |first1=Julie Zauzmer |last2=Blanco |first2=Adrian |last3=Dominguez |first3=Leo |title=More than 1,700 congressmen once enslaved Black people. This is who they were, and how they shaped the nation. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/interactive/2022/congress-slaveowners-names-list/ |access-date=January 30, 2022 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=January 20, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://slavery.princeton.edu/stories/john-pierre-burr|title=Aaron Burr Jr. and John Pierre Burr: A Founding Father and his Abolitionist Son|first=Sherri|last=Burr|website=slavery.princeton.edu}}</ref> He also continued his military service as a lieutenant colonel and commander of a regiment in the militia brigade commanded by William Malcolm.{{sfn|Documents of the Senate of the State of New York|1902|p=108}} He became seriously involved in politics in 1789, when [[Governor of New York|Governor]] [[George Clinton (vice president)|George Clinton]] appointed him as [[New York State Attorney General]].<ref name=nycourts/> He was also Commissioner of Revolutionary War Claims.<ref name=biosenate>{{Cite web|title=Burr, Aaron|url= https://bioguideretro.congress.gov/Home/MemberDetails?memIndex=b001133|access-date=March 13, 2025|via=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress}}</ref>

In 1791, Burr was elected by the legislature as a [[United States Senator]] from [[New York (state)|New York]], defeating incumbent General [[Philip Schuyler]].<ref name=biosenate/><ref name=ussenate>{{Cite web|title=Indicted Vice President Bids Senate Farewell|url= https://www.senate.gov/about/officers-staff/vice-president/indicted-vice-president-bids-senate-farewell.htm|access-date=March 13, 2025|via=[[United States Senate]]}}</ref> During his time in the [[United States Senate|Senate]], Burr made several federalist enemies due to his beliefs. One of the main things he was against was Hamilton's system in terms of finance. Due to him not approving of many federalist policies, Burr became a [[Democratic-Republican Party|Democratic-Republican]] while in the Senate.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Aaron Burr (1801-1805)|url=https://millercenter.org/president/jefferson/essays/burr-1801-vicepresident|access-date=March 17, 2025|via=[[Miller Center]]}}</ref> In 1795, while many were debating on the [[Jay Treaty]], Burr gave a speech on the matter, further showing how he was becoming a part of the Democratic-Republican party.<ref name=monticello>{{Cite web|title=Aaron Burr|url=https://www.monticello.org/research-education/thomas-jefferson-encyclopedia/aaron-burr|access-date=March 19, 2025|via=Monticello.org}}</ref> In Burr's last year of being a senator, he opposed Washington's foreigner policy in [[George Washington's Farewell Address|Washington's Farewell Address]].<ref name=ussenate/> Rather than trying to be reelected, Burr resigned from the Senate in 1797, after only one term.<ref name=ussenate/>

Burr ran in the [[1796 United States presidential election|1796 presidential election]] and received 30 [[United States Electoral College|electoral vote]]s, coming in fourth behind [[John Adams]], [[Thomas Jefferson]] and [[Thomas Pinckney]].<ref>Members of the electoral college in the 18th century cast two ballots but did not specify an office. The first-place finisher overall became president and the runner-up vice president. They did not run on a "ticket" and were often opponents.</ref> He was shocked by this defeat, but many Democratic-Republican electors voted for Jefferson and a candidate other than Burr.{{sfn|Isenberg|2007|p=153}}

[[President of the United States|President]] [[John Adams]] appointed Washington as commanding general of U.S. forces in 1798, but he rejected Burr's application for a brigadier general's commission during the [[Quasi-War]] with [[French First Republic|France]]. Washington wrote, "By all that I have known and heard, Colonel Burr is a brave and able officer, but the question is whether he has not equal talents at intrigue."{{sfn|Lomask|1979|p=215}} Burr returned to the New York State Assembly in 1798 and served there through 1799.{{sfn|Office of Art and Archives|n.d.}} During this time, he cooperated with the [[Holland Land Company]] in gaining passage of a law to permit [[Alien (law)|aliens]] to hold and convey lands.{{sfn|Steiner|1907}} National parties became clearly defined during Adams' presidency, and Burr loosely associated himself with the Democratic-Republicans. However, he had moderate [[Federalist Party|Federalist]] allies such as Senator [[Jonathan Dayton]] of New Jersey.<ref>{{cite book| url = http://www.history.army.mil/books/RevWar/ss/ss-fm.htm| title = Soldier-Statesmen of the Constitution| id = CMH Pub 71-25| chapter = David Brearly| location = Washington D.C.| publisher = United States Army Center of Military History| first1 = Robert K. Jr.| last1 = Wright| first2 = Morris J. Jr.| last2 = MacGregor| access-date = March 6, 2025| archive-date = October 9, 2019| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191009074857/https://history.army.mil/books/RevWar/ss/ss-fm.htm| url-status = dead}}</ref>

===Manhattan Company===
{{Further|Manhattan Company}}
In September 1799, Burr founded his own bank, the [[Manhattan Company]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Ebb & Flow |url=https://www.archives.nyc/ebb-flow |access-date=January 2, 2024 |website=NYC Department of Records & Information Services |language=en-US}}</ref> and the enmity between him and Hamilton may have arisen from how he did so. Before the establishment of Burr's bank, the Federalists held a [[monopoly]] on banking interests in New York via the federal government's [[First Bank of the United States|Bank of the United States]] and Hamilton's [[Bank of New York]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Alexander Hamilton, First Secretary of the Treasury Born|url=https://guides.loc.gov/this-month-in-business-history/january/alexander-hamilton?loclr=blogadm|access-date=March 13, 2025|via=[[Library of Congress]]}}</ref> These banks financed operations of significant business interests owned by aristocratic members of the city. Hamilton had prevented the formation of rival banks. Small businessmen relied on [[tontine]]s to buy property and establish a voting voice.<ref>{{cite web |title=Expansion of Rights and Liberties – The Right of Suffrage |url=https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/charters_of_freedom_13.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160706144856/http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/charters_of_freedom_13.html |archive-date=July 6, 2016 |access-date=April 8, 2025|website=Online Exhibit: The Charters of Freedom |publisher=National Archives}}</ref>{{efn|At this time, voting was based upon property rights.}}

Burr used his power as the head of the New York State Assembly in order to convince his delegation to let a private company run the project as a doctor, Joseph Browne had previously suggested.<ref name=dirtywater/> He solicited support from Hamilton and other Federalists under the guise that he was establishing a badly needed water company for Manhattan. He secretly changed the application for a state charter at the last minute to include the ability to invest surplus funds in any cause that did not violate state law,{{sfn|Allen|p=12}} and dropped any pretense of founding a water company once he had gained approval, but he did dig a well and built a large working water storage tank on the site of his bank, which was still standing and apparently still working in 1898.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=AST18980521.2.30&e=-------en-20--1--img-txIN%7ctxCO%7ctxTA--------0------|title=Aaron Burr's Old Tank – Reminder of a Legislative Charter Trick Exhumed in New York. |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=May 21, 1898 |website=Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection |publisher=The Aspen Tribune |access-date=February 11, 2022 |quote=For the first time in more than one generation, Aaron Burr's old tank in Center street is on public view.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://collections.mcny.org/Explore/Highlights/Jacob-A--Riis/Page16 |title=Aaron Burr's famous old tank in the building on Reade, Centre and Duane Streets, on which hangs Charter of the Bank of the Manhattan Company at 42 Wall Street. |last=Riis |first=Jacob |date=1900 |website=Museum of the City of New York |access-date=February 12, 2022}}</ref> Hamilton and other supporters believed that Burr had acted "dishonorably" for tricking them.<ref name=worldhistory/> Meanwhile, construction was delayed on a safe water system for Manhattan, and writer [[Ron Chernow]] suggests that the delay may have contributed to deaths during a subsequent [[malaria]] epidemic.{{sfn|Chernow|2004|pp=585–590}} However, [[Museum of American Finance]] employees Maura Ferguson and  Sarah Poole believe that the epidemic was not malaria, but [[yellow fever]].<ref name=dirtywater>{{Cite web|last1=Ferguson|first1=Maura|last2=Poole|first2=Sarah|title=Dirty Water|url=https://www.archives.nyc/blog/2020/3/6/dirty-water|date=March 6, 2020|access-date=April 9, 2025|via=Financial History}}</ref>

The Manhattan Company was more than a bank; it was a tool to promote Democratic-Republican power and influence, and its loans were directed to partisans. By extending credit to small businessmen, who then obtained enough property to gain the franchise to vote, the bank was able to increase the party's electorate. Federalist bankers in New York responded by trying to organize a credit boycott of Democratic-Republican businessmen.<ref>Brian Phillips Murphy,  " 'A Very Convenient Instrument': The Manhattan Company, Aaron Burr, and the Election of 1800." ''William and Mary Quarterly'' 65.2 (2008): 233–266. [https://blogs.baruch.cuny.edu/brianmurphy/files/2009/10/WMQuarterly.Murphy.pdf online]</ref>

Shortly after the bank's founding, Burr fought a [[duel]] with [[John Barker Church]], whose wife [[Angelica Schuyler Church|Angelica]] was the sister-in-law of [[Alexander Hamilton]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/church-john-barker-1748-1818|title=Church, John Barker (1748–1818), of Down Place, Berks. {{!}} History of Parliament Online|website=historyofparliamentonline.org|access-date=February 26, 2025}}</ref> Church had accused Burr of taking a [[bribery|bribe]] from the Holland Land Company in exchange for his political influence. Burr and Church fired at each other and missed, and afterward, Church acknowledged that he was wrong to have accused Burr without proof. Burr accepted this as an apology, and the two men shook hands and ended the dispute.{{sfn|Chernow|2004|pp=589–591}}