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Aaron Burr : Conspiracy to Treason

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Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, on in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.--Article. III. Section. 3 of The Constitution of the United States of America.

In Aaron Burr: Conspiracy to Treason, Buckner F. Melton, Jr., a historian and professor of law at the Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, has written a fascinating chronicle of the most sensational treason trial in U.S. history, and paints an intriguing portrait of one of the most charismatic American leaders of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Aaron Burr (1756-1836) is probably best known as the man who killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel at Weehauken, N.J., on July 11, 1804. He fought in the American Revolution, became a first-rate lawyer, and an important political figure, serving as vice-president of the U.S. during Thomas Jefferson's first term (1801-05).

Although Burr was acquitted in his trial for teason in 1807, the evidence strongly indicates that he was the ringleader in a plot to establish an independent nation in "the Western Country," the vast heartland that lies west of the Allegheny and Appalachian mountains.

The foreman announced: "We of the jury say that Aaron Burr is not proved to be guilty under this indictment by any evidence submitted to us. We therefore find him not guilty." Many jurors personally believed that Burr had committed treason, but in their opinion the prosecution had not met the burden of proof. Burr survived his journey into the hangman's shadow.

"The beginning of wisdom," said Socrates, "is the definition of terms." And the Burr conspiracy trial boiled down to the definition, or interpretation, of the Treason clause in the U.S. Constitution. What precisely is an "overt act" of treason? What did our founding fathers mean by "levying war"? What exactly is "treason"? When does a person cross the line from engaging in lesser crimes to committing treason against the United States?

Early in this book (p. 55), Melton writes, "No one will ever know what Burr was really up to." And a bit later (p. 112), he says: "Maybe Burr really had changed his plans, but maybe he was blowing more smoke. That was the problem; his stories were confusing, his actions ambiguous. No one knew, for sure, just what was happening, except for Aaron Burr." Finally (p. 235): "I don't pretend that book is the definitive story of the conspiracy or the trials of Aaron Burr, much less his full biography. I doubt that such things can ever be written. . . . The ultimate version--if anyone ever writes it--will be massive, full of fact and conjecture--yet it will still fall short of the truth, for the truth died with Burr."

Why then read Aaron Burr? Because the story of Aaron Burr is history written at its most engaging. Melton's vigorous narrative creates a portrait of one of the most dangerous characters ever to strut across the stage of American history. And his narrative provides a moral: "If we are to govern ourselves, we must remember the danger of a brilliant mind driven by frail human needs. That is why I have written this book--to provide a reminder."

Melton chronicles the intriguing struggle between the Federalists and the Republicans, and provides, in addition to Burr, fascinating sketches of Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, Andrew Jackson, James Wilkinson (the commander-in-chief of the military forces in the West), and John Marshall, chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

In Aaron Burr: Conspiracy to Treason, Melton vividly recreates an America of two centuries ago, and does so in a delightful literary style.

I am going to have to differ with my fellow reviewers in their opinions both about Melton's book and about Burr himself.

Melton is an attorney and a law professor. He is also the author of another book that I enjoyed a great deal (and have reviewed also): "The First Impeachment." However, I don't feel that Melton's Burr Conspiracy book contributes much to the existing opinions on Burr, the Burr Conspiracy, or the trial.

While the book is well-researched and well-written -- and as a fellow historian, scholar, writer, book author (and also someone with a law degree), I understand the difficulties in doing that and appreciate Melton's work generally -- I have several complaints about this book, which I think are central to the issue of who Burr was and what he was up to. To be fair, my complaint is not solely against Melton but against his sources.

Before I get into my complaints, though, let me mention that the best discussion of the Burr trial I have seen to date is in volume 3 of Albert J. Beveridge's THE LIFE OF JOHN MARSHALL, VOLUME III ONLY.

Melton, as a practitioner of the discipline of law, knows how to find and use primary and secondary source material. However, in this book he relies heavily on Thomas P. Abernethy's Burr Conspiracy, while almost completely ignoring Walter F. McCaleb's book The Aaron Burr Conspiracy. In my view, this is a huge omission, since I feel that McCaleb's book is the most important book on the conspiracy, unraveling as it does many of the mysteries of Burr's intentions in that period.

Secondly, Melton also relied heavily on Dumas Malone's multi-volume biography of Jefferson Jefferson and His Time (Six Volume Set, 1: Jefferson the Virginian, 2: Jefferson and the Rights of Man, 3: Jefferson and the Ordeal of Liberty, 4: Jefferson the President, First Term 1801-1805, 5: Jefferson the President, Second Term 1805-1809, 6: Jeffe.... Malone was a man who excused a great deal of Jefferson's criminal behavior with a virtual wave of the pen and was strongly biased against Burr.

While Melton does also cite to various biographies of Burr (including Parton, Davis, Daniels, Todd, Lomask, Wandell & Minnigerode, and Parmet & Hecht -- nearly all the standard ones) and to Mary-Jo Kline's important collection of Political Correspondence and Public Papers of Aaron Burr (as well as to much other solid primary source material), he does not cite at all to Roger G. Kennedy's ground-breaking, if rambling, book Burr, Hamilton, and Jefferson: A Study in Character.

The reliance on Abernethy and Malone and the failure to study and include McCaleb and Kennedy constitute, for me, a major flaw in Melton's work. I believe this omission leads to a perpetuation of speculations and misconceptions about Burr, and since Melton has more credibility because of his credentials, this lends more weight to the inaccuracies.

Many Amazon reviewers note (as did Melton) that nobody will ever know what Burr's intentions were, that Burr was brilliant and charismatic, that "the best and the brightest are always fallible," that Burr lacked principles, that the bulk of Burr's letters never surfaced, that public opinion at or after Burr's trial "overwhelmingly concluded" that Burr was "up to no good," that the "evidence strongly indicates that [Burr] was the ringleader in a plot to establish an independent nation" in the West, and so on.

I stand alone in my disagreement with each of these statements. I believe Burr's intentions are discoverable. I am tired of hearing that Burr was brilliant and charismatic and lacked principles. Burr was intelligent and charming, but the brilliant/charismatic/unprincipled combination is grossly misleading and is used to justify all manner of unsubstantiated speculation and ill opinion about Burr.

The evidence does not "strongly indicate" that Burr was a "ringleader" in a "plot to establish an independent nation." Burr was merely one in a line of many -- including, by the way, Alexander Hamilton, and many others who were supported by Jefferson (both before and during his presidency) and his successors -- who wanted to "liberate" Spanish Mexico (and possibly even South American states), which included at the time, New Orleans.

Burr's plan was, if there was a U.S. declaration of war against Spain, to invade and liberate. He later said that Jefferson had sanctioned this plan. Absent such a declaration, Burr planned to make a (perfectly lawful) settlement north of New Orleans. The rest of his "intrigues" with agents of Britain and France were mere efforts to obtain funding (see McCaleb on this). He told those people what they wanted to hear.

Many before Burr had sought or obtained foreign funding for such expeditions(including George Rogers Clark, mentioned below, and U.S. Senator William Blount, whose enterprise some say VP Jefferson was secretly supporting). None were brought up on charges of treason. Some Westerners were even in Spanish pay -- including Jefferson's saw, James Wilkinson, and other eminent western citizens who were trusted by several Presidents -- and none were charged with treason.

But even if Burr did want to establish an independent nation, Jefferson himself had once verbally sanctioned the separation of the West from the East and the former's independence from the United States. On this issue, Burr was really on the tail end of a long line of westerners who wanted independence from the U.S. -- or who already felt they were independent. This included George Rogers Clark who was sponsored by then Virginia governor Thomas Jefferson on various covert missions, including an unlawful exploration of what was then the Spanish west. (See Kennedy's book.)

Much of Burr's personal correspondence apparently went down with his daughter at sea, but this was NOT MOST of his correspondence. There are 11 reels of microfilm of Burr's letters and another 16 reels that contain his orderly books, journal, and court documents.

Public opinion about Burr during the trial was not overwhelmingly against him. In fact, he had a tremendous amount of popular support, but with a President as your enemy, few friends will risk their careers to ally with you. Thus, friends who believed in him were afraid to stand up for him.

After all, Jefferson declared Burr guilty and ordered (or supported Willkinson in ordering) him to be taken dead or alive before his arrest or trial occurred.

While Burr may be the most famous of those Jefferson persecuted, Burr was not the only one whose life was ruined by Jefferson (or Wilkinson, for that matter -- and in this case, Burr had both men plotting against him, both knowing they were unjustifiably and illegally doing so). The full story of all Jefferson's victims has not yet been written, but for those interested in exploring the issue, I suggest David Leon Chandler's The Jefferson Conspiracies: A President's Role in the Assassination of Meriwether Lewis and Leonard W. Levy Jefferson and Civil Liberties: The Darker Side as well as Kennedy's book mentioned above. See also Richard Zacks The Pirate Coast: Thomas Jefferson, the First Marines, and the Secret Mission of 1805.

Wilkinson's victims, by the way, included several assassinations and/or attempted assassinations.

Like the story of Jefferson and Wilkinson's many victims, Burr's story has not yet been fully written. While he was certainly a complex man, and while his "conspiracy" confusingly led in several directions at once, both the man and the story are discoverable. I hope one day to contribute further to these understandings, but in the meantime, I hope readers can separate fact from mere speculation or inference, including such as arises out of reliance on biased sources, which is the case in Melton's otherwise well-done book.

Jennifer Van Bergen, J.D.
Author of The Twilight of Democracy: The Bush Plan for America and Archetypes for Writers: Using the Power of Your Subconscious.
See also my legal articles:
(1) Aaron Burr and the Electoral Tie of 1801: Strict Constitutional Construction
(2) In the Absence of Democracy: The Designation and Material Support Provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Laws"
(3) The Dangerous World of Indefinite Detentions: Vietnam to Abu Ghraib
all available at www.jvbline.org.

Buckner Melton Jr. has tackled a complex, shadowy topic -- the mysterious plot of former Vice-President Aaron Burr in the early years of the Nineteenth Century which led to his trial on the charge of treason. What exactly did Burr conspire to do? Break off the Western lands in the Ohio and Mississippi valleys as an independent nation? Conquer Mexico or possibly Spanish Florida? Overthrow Thomas Jefferson's government in Washington? All of the above? None of the above? Ultimately, Melton is unable to answer the question because perhaps Aaron Burr was himself uncertain what was possible to achieve. But surely the disgraced former Vice-President, who had recently killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel, was grasping desperately at chances to revive his fortunes.

The cast of characters in this history of plot and trial is hard to beat. Besides the enigmatic Burr, we have President Jefferson, Chief Justice John Marshall, Andrew Jackson, and General James Wilkinson (simultaneously the senior American military commander in the Mississippi valley and a secret agent of the Spanish enemy). Melton constructs a solid narrative of the events, and it is not his fault that in the end he cannot answer all our questions. As the author himself states, "history is the recorded part of the remembered part of the observed part of what happened." And, unfortunately, with Aaron Burr too much was never observed or recorded.

Exactly what Burr was up to in his plans for the West will never be perfectly known. Many of his associates destroyed documents because of Burr's trial for treason--the trial of the century involving a Who's Who in the U.S. during the early 19th century. As the author quotes (from William Whichard) "history is only the recorded part of the remembered part of the observed part of what happened." (page 235) Yet public opinion in his time overwhelmingly concluded that Burr, the slayer of Alexander Hamilton, was up to no good. The author wrote this book as a reminder: "...if we are to govern ourselves, we must remember the danger of a brilliant mind driven by frail human needs." (page 236) This book, an excellently written summary of Burr's life much aided by the author's legal expertise, is a call to citizen vigilance against future threats to liberty by brilliant politicians whose motives are far from noble. In the latter half of the 20th Century Americans witnessed such scoundrels in both parties. The author will have achieved his purpose only if we continue to be vigilant by recognizing in our national political choices what Aristotle said long ago: character is destiny.

In an age fascinated by the law (hence the many American television shows devoted thereto), here is a presentation that is both interesting and informative, entertaining and educational. Melton is a wordsmith of the first order. He is an artist as well. From the opening paragraphs with its memorable portrayal of the American frontier (no author I have read has ever equaled this one's skill of drawing the reader in all the while pointing out elements that otherwise might evade the eye) to its gripping conclusion, Aaron Burr holds your attention. This work is a must read for historians of the era (late 18th and early 19th century America), lawyers, political scientists, and anyone who enjoys a good story told in compelling fashion. The author's technical expertise (he is a professor of law) shines through as well, in his excellent portrayal and discussion of the trial. Finally, Melton sheds new light on the enigmatic Burr, who is able, almost two centuries later, to still stir strong emotions in those who make his acquaintance. Melton is the best introduction to the man to date.This book is highly recommended.

Who was Aaron Burr? Everyone knows that he was Vice President of the United States and the man who killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel. We all learn this in our high school history class. What we don't learn in our history class is presented here, in this book, a book that is chock for of information about a man who we are not taught enough about.

After the duel with Hamilton, Burr's political worth declined drastically. He and Jefferson were at odds and his career seemed to be over. He went west for many reasons and this is the story of what transpired, as best we can tell. Unfortunately Aaron Burr was not survived by much correspondence. Unlike Jefferson and Adams, the bulk of Burr's letters have never surfaced.

Aaron Burr was put on trial for treason. An unlikely charge against a former Vice President but times were different and Burr's actions at the time left many questions as to what he was actually trying to accomplish. He was rallying disenters in the land west of the Appalachian Mountains for some reason. He talked of invading Mexico but there was also other options. Invading Spanish Florida? To rein as King over his own country once he helped the western territories rebel against Washington DC and secede from the Union? We don't know for sure.

We do know that Burr talked to British diplomats trying to get the British Navy to help him by blocking the port of New Orleans. He tried to get US Military commanders to help him take over the city of New Orleans. What was it that he was really up to? While we may never know for sure this book goes an awful long way toward explaining many of the questions that you may have.

Filled with many of the outstanding names in history, offering insight into their character as well as their role in defending the United States, or involved in the conspiracy with Burr. See where they stand. Cheif Justice John Marshall, future President Andrew Jackson, current President Thomas Jefferson, future President James Madison, Francis Scott Key, Army Generals and Territorial Governors. In the end, Aaron Burr was found not guilty and faded away into history. But he left a legacy of hate and confusion.

This book was very interesting but at times did read like a history book. If that is not your cup of tea you may want to think twice. But th book was very good at explaining the details of Burr's actions. Where he was at, what he was doing and who he was meeting with. The book didn't have the flair of "Founding Fathers" but it is non the less worth the price. If you are in to history you will love this book.

Although everyone associates Aaron Burr as the person who killed Alexander Hamilton, most people don't know much about his life leading up to this incident. This book breaks new ground, by exploring Aaron Burr's part in the conspiracy plan to invade Mexico and set up an independent republic there. Beyond the intrigue of this historical treason case, Melton also gives a fascinating recap of Burr's relationships with people like Hamilton and Jefferson. For any history buff, this is a must read!.

Aaron Burr will always remain a mystery since it's never totally clear what his intentions were when he went west to join a band of men traveling south to join the commanding General of the U.S. Armies, James Wilkinson, in a complex plot. However, Melton enjoins his own legal expertise to not only provide a history of Burr's western misadventure but to also analyze the courtroom proceedings that involved the greatest attorneys at that time including Burr himself. The trial was before Supreme Court Justice Marshall who was also doubling as a circuit judge in Virginia. This is a very confusing story since Burr whose political career was ruined by Jefferson and Hamilton; the duel does not help either, goes west to coordinate or participate in separating the west or getting involved with a filibuster to take over Spanish held territory much like George Rodgers Clark attempted before and Jackson and Houston later succeeded. Burr seems very erratic in trying to solicit support from France and England while working with the virtual double agent James Wilkinson. Melton does well explaining the complex relationship between the men and does an excellent job in explaining the complexities of the unique trial and the involvement of Jefferson. However, no one can quite get a definitive handle on what Burr's ultimate plan was. What is missing from all books on Burr is a study of Burr from a psychological point of view. Burr achieved a period of political greatness in spite of losing his parents and grandparents while only a toddler and he partakes on his misadventure not too long after his wife dies and his political career is crushed. One must wonder if Burr would have gotten so involved had his wife survived. Burr; however, was kind to his friends and children after rebounding from poverty and Melton provides this interesting epilogue that makes one wonder if Burr's life might have made a better turn had his domestic situation been more solid when his political career vaporized.

This very readable book outlines the Burr Conspiracy. Burr was handsome, charismatic, brilliant, and from one of the foremost families of colonial America; a Revolutionary War hero and Lt. Colonel under Washington. Burr was one of the most famous lawyers, Attorney-General of NY, US Senator, and VP to Jefferson. But those that knew him considered him an "unprincipled villain". This book is an overview of Burr's life and the Conspiracy - an alleged attempt to create a new republic from the western territories of the US. Burr was a genius or hero like Washington, Jefferson, Hamilton, Marshall, or others. They were all important, and all had their flaws. The best and the brightest are always fallible humans; this book is a reminder (p.236). That is the ever-present reason for checks and balances in government, and a limited term for Chief Executives in state and federal governments. The Charge of Treason against Burr is similar to the conflicts that arose in newly liberated countries in the 20th century. The Trial kept people's attention for nearly a year. Burr was found 'not guilty' but his political career was still ruined.

King George's edict banning settlements west of the Appalachians was one of the causes of the Revolution. The population growth of the Americans was as feared as their arms (p.11). The dangerous life of the squatters who preceded the settlers is described on pages 11-12. The Western Waters were hemmed in by the mountains to the east, the lakes in the north, and the Spanish Empire on the south. The latter was the only possible shipping outlet. An earlier conspiracy was exposed; US Senator William Blount was impeached and expelled. Later he became Governor of Tennessee.

Part Two traces Burr's rise to power and fame from his skills as a lawyer. Burr the lawyer stayed on good terms with both the Federalist and Republicans; this made him both powerful and loathed (p.32). Burr's strength was his popular support in New York and elsewhere (p.33). But his downfall began when he didn't give way to Jefferson in 1800; this antagonized his strongest ally. Page 63 explains Marshall's strategy in Marbury vs. Madison. After his term as VIce-President ended Burr moved westward. Burr was popular there for slaying Hamilton, their Federalist enemy (p.78). Burr was linked with the Yazoo land swindlers (p.87). General William Eaton learned of Burr's plan to gain the marine corps and naval commanders to overthrow Congress, assassinate the President, and become ruler (p.94). Burr planned to attack both Mexico and the Union. General James Wilkinson saw he could gain more by denouncing Burr, and did so (p.122). If Burr could be silenced Wilkinson would be a hero (p.145).

Leading citizens composed the Grand Jury that indicted Burr. When Wilkinson showed up with a letter Burr asked for his arrest for mail theft! This was ruled irrelevant since it happened in another jurisdiction. Burr and others were indicted for treason (p.189). Jury selection was as important then (pp.196-8). The jury found Burr 'not guilty' because the charge wasn't proven (p.216). Also 'not guilty' of violating the Neutrality Act (p.218). His most serious problems were the suits to recover loans (p.219). Burr escaped by fleeing to Europe for years. He returned to New York in 1812 and practiced law, living in obscurity. Burr died in 1836, months after the Battle of San Jacinto (p.233) which seemed to justify his dreams of expansion into the southeast. Perhaps in today's world he would be as famous and successful as other smiley-faced politicians? His lack of any principles suggests this (p.233).