John Adams / John Quincy Adams on Aaron Burr

John Adams

John Quincy Adams

After retirement, John Adams would often rely on his son for the most recent political news. John Adams had reached an age when he preferred that the news come to him. His habitual impatience was still intact.

John Adams: Quincy, I’m so pleased you have come. I need to discuss this Aaron Burr matter with someone who knows what’s happening.

John Quincy: I’m not sure I’m an authority on the latest dilemmas of our former vice-president.

Adams: Well then tell me what you know. I’m too distant from the rumors of government. There was a time I considered that to be a blessing. Now every exciting tidbit keeps me on my toes and awake at night..

Quincy: That hasn’t been so long ago, what about seven years? I’m sure it will not take long to get you up to date. And I do know you’ve been reading the obituary news regularly.

Adams: Just a bit of curiosity, that’s all. When the final tallies are in, the winners are those who still put on their boots in the morning. So, they’re taking Burr to trial.

Quincy: He was arrested and taken to trial yesterday. Mr. John Hay, the attorney for the United States moved that Burr be held and committed in order to face two specific charges. The first charge is a high misdemeanor, that of organizing within the United States a military expedition against the King of  Spain, a foreign prince with whom the United States at the time of the offense, were, and still are, at peace.

Adams: I can’t imagine what would make Burr think he had the right, to say nothing of the financial means, to raise an army on his own. Is he unaware of the laws under which this country functions? He is a trained attorney, is he not?

Quincy: Ever since he killed Hamilton, he has acted in a most erratic way. Some might say that the duel unsettled his mind. The second charge against Burr is more serious—treason.

Adams: Good Lord. How did they come up with a charge of treason?

Quincy: It seems he was raising an army with the purpose of attacking the City of New Orleans, to revolutionize the territory attached to it and to separate the western from the Atlantic states.

Adams: Without knowing the particulars, I’d say that someone is eager to cause Mr. Burr considerable grief. A good attorney might have a little difficulty proving the charge. Do I see the President’s hand in this matter?

Quincy: President Jefferson was unhappy having Aaron Burr serve as his vice-president. He made it widely known that this federalist was not welcome in his administration. The unfortunate result of the duel with Hamilton gave Jefferson additional purpose to get rid of Burr.

Adams: I know what it’s like having a subversive as vice-president, especially when that person is Thomas Jefferson.

Quincy: There is no certainty that this motion will be granted. If it is, we may see the unusual situation of having a former vice-president go to prison. John Hay is launching a political and constitutional confrontation that will test the limits of our laws, and may refine the parameters and definition of the word treason. As a result it may strengthen or weaken the authority of the federal courts.

Adams: How did all this start?

Quincy: It began in Richmond, Virginia, where Burr was fighting for his life and reputation.

He had been arrested in February 1807 in the Mississippi territory, had escaped briefly, then was arrested again and taken to Richmond, where the nearest United States circuit court sat.

Adams: Now what role did Jefferson play in these proceedings?

Quincy:  In a letter to Congress, President Thomas Jefferson had declared Burr a traitor “beyond question.” In this preliminary hearing, Hay argued that Burr had admitted guilt when he fled arrest.

Adams: Quincy, you’ve managed to stir my blood. What a show this trial is bound to be!

Quincy: Because of the tremendous crowd in attendance, the hearing is being held in the main hall of Virginia’s House of Delegates.

Adams: Don’t oblige me to pull each salient detail from you like a doctor pulling teeth. Tell me all you know.

Quincy: You’re fussing again. I’ll not be responsible for your rise in blood pressure and you know that Mother will blame me.

Adams: I’m calm and as sedate as a judge who goes fishing three times a week. Talk.

Quincy: The Chief Justice of the United States, John Marshall, is presiding, sitting as a circuit

Judge, with Judge Cyrus Griffin, the last president of the Continental Congress beside him.

Abigail Adams: (entering the room) Good heavens Johnny. I didn’t know you were here.

What a pleasant surprise.