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| John Quincy Adams |
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| Abigail Adams |
John Quincy: History will speak of us as barbarians. A duel fought in the confines of the state is an illegal act. Why then are there laws? It is as if laws themselves can be broken at will.
Abigail Adams: My son, legal or not, the man is dead. Will they see my eyes red at church from weeping? I think not. Are you expecting that due to the fact that a law was broken, you will plead that the man’s life be returned to him? What’s done is done.
John Quincy: You are quite right, Mother. At first Burr will be called a murderer but that will pass.
Not unlike the man he killed, Burr had spoiled a decent career by letting his instincts make decisions for him. Unlike Hamilton who had poor breeding, Burr had the very best education in a prominent family. The shady side of Burr, however, revealed itself in time. Can you imagine an unknown New Jersey would-be politician takes residence in New York and qualifies to challenge Jefferson for the Presidency of the United States? The voting public hasn’t the least notion what the vote means. A handsome young face appears and that face almost becomes president. With Hamilton pulling the strings behind the scenes and his hate for Burr being greater than his hate for Jefferson—Jefferson becomes the leader of America.
Abigail Adams: What I find terribly strange is that the president is a republican democrat but his vice president is of another political party—a federalist. But I shouldn’t be surprised. Your father, a federalist, had a vice-president who was also from a different party. And that made life uncomfortable for John and all of us. I wouldn’t be surprised if, in the future, party loyalties demand a president and his staff and cabinet of a single party.
John Quincy: What is stranger to me is that a sitting vice-president breaks the law and kills a man in a duel. That would be murder. Jefferson had ample reason not to ask Burr to return for a second term. Clearly, that makes Burr’s career the shortest in our history. It’s no wonder that he seized on any good reason to make Hamilton pay.
Abigail Adams: I’m not at all clear what Hamilton could do once he no longer had employment.
John Quincy: Unlike Washington, Jefferson or Father, Hamilton did not take to farming. His acreage could not earn him a living. At the height of his career he bought the property he named La Grange which represented a token of the life he wanted to enjoy entertaining dignitaries from England or France. Still a leading attorney in New York, Hamilton expected to lift himself up again; however, an expensive home with a wife and seven children would cause him to remain in debt perpetually.
Abigail Adams: I’m sure I asked your father this question but I don’t remember what he told me. Why, if there hasn’t been a war, did Hamilton get promoted to the general grade?
John Quincy: It seems that Hamilton was pressing for war with France and he persuaded George Washington to come out of retirement to lead the effort. Although the war was not declared and no fighting took place on land, there were skirmishes at sea. Hamilton convinced Washington to make him a general which he did.
Abigail Adams: Oh now I remember. Your father resisted declaring war for a host of reasons.
When Jefferson became president there was a lessening of hostilities between our country and France.
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