Hamilton vs. Burr essays

Hamilton vs. Burr essays The Duel that occurred between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr on July 11, 1804 was an inevitable fight between two men defending their honor. A mans honor was the most important thing to them, even it means going against their religious and rightful beliefs. From all the letters going back and forth before and after the duel, I have come to the conclusion that Hamilton did not try to kill Burr and did intentionally throw his shot away. Hamilton was a dedicated Christian and dueling or killing another person was completely against his religion. In so many of his letters he wrote before the duel, his Christian beliefs are mentioned and defended. In a letter he wrote to his dear friend and second in the duel, Nathaniel Pendleton, he said, My religious and moral principles are strongly opposed to the practice of Dueling and it would ever give me pain to obliged to shed the blood of a fellow creature in private combat forbidden by laws. Hamilton strongly disagreed with the duel b ecause of his religious beliefs and that may have an impact on the way he acted during the duel. Even when Hamilton did die, his last words to his wife were remember, my Eliza, you are a Christian. Besides his religion, I believe Hamiltons conscious was eating him alive before the duel. Hamilton knew he was responsible for ruining a good thing for Burr. Hamilton chose not to apologize to Burr, even though he knew he deserved an apology. Regardless if Hamilton was sorry for saying all the things he said about Burr, he knew Burr was correct in wanting an apology and Hamilton refused to. Hamilton specifically states, Apology, from principle I hope, rather than Pride, is out of the question, meaning Hamilton was ready to hold his pride and honor before apologizing to Burr. In the end I believe Hamilton felt Burr was right in his will to pursue this duel when he says, I might have been more mistaken th...