Duel Between Alexander Hamilton and
Aaron Burr
Hamilton/Burr Duel - PresentationJuly 11, 1804
The bluffs at Weehawken
Alexander Hamilton
Aaron Burr
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New American Ideals:
As the nation was developing and finding its way, new ideas were forming about the basis for social hierarchy.
Aaron Burr was of the old, European school of thought whereby social position was connected to hereditary wealth. European aristocrats felt that once a person raised himself from the lower classes through savvy business (for example), it took several generations for his lineage to develop the appropriate social graces and "breed out" the baser nature. They looked down upon the "Nouveau Riche".
Alexander Hamilton subscribed to the new American ideal of the "self-made man". Those who shape their own destiny and accquire wealth by their own efforts are worthy of respect. Hamilton was among the most exemplary among these men.