Fallen Founder

by Nancy Isenberg

  65. See Matthew L. Davis to Albert Gallatin, Mar. 29, Apr. 15, 1800, in Papers of Albert Gallatin, microfilm; and for reports of Hamilton storming out of meetings “in a rage,” see Aurora, May 2, 1800.

  66. Matthew L. Davis to Albert Gallatin, Apr. 15, 1800, Papers of Albert Gallatin, microfilm.

  67. Journal of Benjamin Betterton Howell, New-York Historical Society; and Matthew Davis to Albert Gallatin, Mar. 29, May 1, 1800, Papers of Albert Gallatin, microfilm.

  68. See Davis, ed., Memoirs of Aaron Burr, II: 56; also AB to Thomas Jefferson, May 3, 1800, in Kline, ed., Burr Papers, I: 426; Matthew L. Davis to Albert Gallatin, Mar. 29, 1800, Papers of Albert Gallatin, microfilm; Schachner, Alexander Hamilton, 393.

  69. James Nicholson to Albert Gallatin, May 6, 1800, Papers of Albert Gallatin, microfilm. Some examples of the sexual insults and taunting appeared in the newspapers. Federalists made a point of attacking the Republican slate as a group of old men, when “younger, and more active might be found.” General Gates was ridiculed as a “doting, factious old man,” who “retains no faculty in full vigor.” Another article claimed that the “aged dotard” Gates had entered his “sixth age, and [was] already beginning a ‘second childishness’” when ‘his big, manly voice turning again toward a childish trouble, pipes and whistles in his sound.’” Federalists accused Republicans of engaging in similar taunts. One account had Henry Rutgers stationed at the polls on “orders of Burr,” and challenging one voter by mocking his manhood. Rutgers supposedly said to one gentleman that he did not come “within the letter of the constitution,” which granted the vote to “all male citizens.” See “The Anti-Jacobin,” “To the People of the City and State of New-York,” and “A Neat Thing,” Commercial Advertiser, Apr. 25, 30, 1800. Matthew Davis continued to celebrate the themes of patriotic memory and manly prowess in his Fourth of July oration. See Matthew L. Davis, An Oration delivered in St. Paul’s Church on the Fourth of July, 1800: being the 24th Anniversary of our Independence, before the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen, Tammany Society or Columbian Order, and other Associations of Citizens (New York, 1800), 11–12.

  70. See “Extract of a letter to the Editor, dated New-York, May 4th, 1800,” Aurora, May 7, 1800; the Aurora reported that the Republicans had a clear majority of 440 in all the wards, and that in the Sixth Ward (filled with mostly poorer mechanics and Irish and French immigrant voters) the “federal ticket had not a single vote.” Federalists complained that they had suffered a mysterious loss of votes in the Second Ward (heavily merchant), which they blamed on the Manhattan Bank. It is also clear from the lower turnout in the First and Second Wards (where Federalists had received the most support in 1799) that the traditional base of the Federalists had not rallied to support Hamilton or his party in this election. See Aurora, May 5, 1800; Commercial Advertiser, May 4, 1800; and for the 1799 returns, Commercial Advertiser, May 4, 1799.

  71. AH to John Jay, May 7, 1800, in Syrett, ed., Hamilton Papers, XXIV: 465.

  72. Schachner, Aaron Burr, 178; Alexander Hamilton to John Jay, May 7, 1800, in ibid., ed., XXIV: 467.

  73. Gallatin reported to his wife on May 12, that “we had last night a very large meeting of Republicans, in which it was unanimously agreed to support Burr for Vice President.” Albert Gallatin to Hannah Gallatin, May 6, 1800, and Matthew Livingston Davis to Albert Gallatin, Mar. 29, 1800, in Papers of Albert Gallatin, microfilm; and Adams, Life of Gallatin, 243.

  74. See James Nicholson to Albert Gallatin, May 6 and May 7 (letter with his report), 1800, in Gallatin Papers, microfilm.

  75. Charles O. Lerche, Jr., “Jefferson and the Election of 1800: A Case Study in Political Smear,” William and Mary Quarterly 5 (Oct. 1948): 470, 472, 479–81.

  76. “A Traveller,” Hartford Connecticut Courant, Sept. 8, 1800; “Extract of a Letter, from an American in Paris to his friend in this city, dated August 24, 1798,” Aurora, Jan. 9, 1799.

  77. AH to Theodore Sedgwick, May 10, 1800, in Syrett, ed., Hamilton Papers, XXIV: 475, 444–46.

  78. Theodore Sedgwick to AH, May 13, 1800, in ibid., XXIV: 482–83; Sharp, American Politics in the Early Republic, 235–36.

  79. For Burr rumor, see Abigail Adams to John Adams, May 23, 1800, Adams Family Papers, Massachusetts Historical Society, and Timothy Phelps to Oliver Wolcott, July 15, 1800, in Gibbs, ed., Memoirs of the Administrations of Washington and John Adams, II: 380. On Smith, see Frank A. Cassell, Merchant Congressman in the Young Republic: Samuel Smith of Maryland, 1752–1839 (Madison, Wis., 1971), 93–94; and for a newspaper account of the “visionary project” of the alliance between Adams and Jefferson, see “Correct Information,” Commercial Advertiser, June 4, 1800.

  80. See “Jersey Republican Meeting,” Aurora, Oct. 4, 1800. For Burr’s hopes for New Jersey, see AB to Pierpont Edwards, July 7, 1800, in Kline, ed., Burr Papers, I: 437–38, 444.

  81. After he returned from his New England excursion, Burr wrote Robert Livingston that “Jefferson will have all the Votes of Rhode Island.” See AB to Robert Livingston, Sept. 24, 1800; for his apologies, see AB to John Taylor of “Caroline,” Dec. 18, 1800, and AB to Thomas Jefferson, Dec. 23, 1800, in Kline, ed., Burr Papers, I: 444, 472–73.

  82. See Sharp, American Politics in the Early Republic, 245–47.

  83. Hamilton’s plans for distributing the pamphlet are not completely verifiable. At times, he claimed that he wanted to publish his views to a wider audience, while at other times he said that it would be limited to a select readership. The editors of the Burr Papers have concluded that Davis’s interpretation (distributing the pamphlet in South Carolina) is the only one in which makes sense if Hamilton wished to avoid the devastating consequences of openly attacking Adams. But then again, Hamilton was not known for his discretion, and showed no remorse after publishing the pamphlet. See Syrett, ed., Hamilton Papers, XXV: 177–78, 182, 185, and 24: 451; Kline, ed., Burr Papers, I: 456–57.

  84. For this secret proposition, see Commercial Advertiser, Dec. 19, 1800.

  85. In the same article, Burr was praised as a great Republican Party leader in the U.S. Senate and New York State Assembly: he had been “obnoxious to the administration for his rigid and inflexible republicanism” while in the Senate, and then retired from Congress, “advising the most influential republican members to follow his example; to go home, enlighten the minds of their constituents, and . . . correct the state governments.” Finally, he is described as spreading republicanism throughout the northern states: the “activity and address of Colonel Burr have given it complete ascendancy in the formerly high federal states of New York and Rhode Island; and even in New Jersey and Connecticut.” See “From the City Gazette,” Aurora, Dec. 5, 1800.

  86. On Kentucky, see Commercial Advertiser, Dec. 31, 1800; see also “Federalism!,” Aurora, Dec. 30, 1800. On Tennessee giving Jefferson one more vote than Burr, see “Extract of a letter from one of the Senators of the state of Rhode Island, in Congress, dated Washington, Saturday afternoon, Dec. 20,” Commercial Advertiser, Jan. 5, 1801; for the predictions after South Carolina’s votes were known, see “On the election of PRESIDENT,” Commercial Advertiser, Dec, 30, 1800.

  87. Thomas Jefferson to AB, Dec. 15, 1800, in Kline, ed., Burr Papers, I: 469.

  88. Ibid; Burr’s biographer Milton Lomask interpreted Jefferson as trying to wring a concession; see Lomask, Aaron Burr: The Years from Princeton to the Vice President, 273.

  89. Thomas Jefferson to AB, Dec. 15, 1800.

  90. AB to Thomas Jefferson, Dec. 23, 1800, in Kline, ed., Burr Papers, I: 473–74.

  91. John Francis Mercer to James Madison, Jan. 5, 1800, in Mattern, ed., The Papers of James Madison, XVII: 472. The Boston Centinel published a humorous barb concerning southern fears of a tie: “The Southern Jacobins are much afraid of Burr. They apprehend he will stick so close to the electors, as to prevent their Idol being elected.” See Aurora, Dec. 13, 1800.

 
92. See “Newport (R.I.) Dec. 27,” Aurora, Jan. 8, 1801; also Commercial Advertiser, Jan. 6, 1801; and Thomas Jefferson to AB, Dec. 15, 1800, AB to Thomas Jefferson, Dec. 23, 1800, and AB to Samuel Smith, Dec. 24, 1800, in Kline, ed., Burr Papers, I: 469, 473–75.

  93. James Nicholson to Albert Gallatin, May 7, 1800, in Papers of Albert Gallatin, microfilm; Hannah Gallatin to Albert Gallatin, May 7, 1800, in Adams, Life of Albert Gallatin, 243.

  94. AB to John Taylor of “Caroline,” Oct. 23, 1800, in Kline, ed., Burr Papers, I: 451.

  95. Theodore Sedgwick to AH, Dec. 17, 1800, in Syrett, ed., Hamilton Papers, XXV: 262.

  96. Gouverneur Morris to AH, Dec. 19, 1800, in ibid., XXV: 267; Washington Federalist, Feb. 4, 1801.

  97. See AB to Samuel Smith, Dec. 16, 1800, in Kline, ed., Burr Papers, I: 471. For the publication of Burr’s letter, see National Intelligencer, Dec. 31, 1800, and Aurora, Dec. 31, 1800. For his duty to accept, see “Read! Neighbors Read,” Aurora, Jan. 10, 1801 (reprinted from the Washington Federalist). And on Federalists dismissing Burr’s renunciation, see James McHenry to AH, Dec. 31, 1800, and James Bayard to AH, Jan. 7, 1800, in Syrett, ed., Hamilton Papers, XXV: 282–83, 300.

  98. One article claimed that if Burr “would only be convinced of the fear of his party, particularly in Virginia, lest he should be elected President in preference to their IDOL Mr. Jefferson, he would quit them in disgust, and come over to our side”—see Washington Federalist, Nov. 24, 1800, reprinted in the New York Daily Advertiser, Dec. 1, 1800. For Burr being on the market, see Fisher Ames to Rufus King, July 15, 1800, in W.B. Allen, ed., Works of Fisher Ames, as Published by Seth Allen (Indianapolis, 1983), 2:1365; see also Lewis, “What Is to Become of Our Government?” in Onuf et al., eds., The Revolution of 1800, 8.

  99. Harper’s description of himself and his plan was recorded in the diary of Gouverneur Morris on Dec. 27; see Robert Goodloe Harper to AB, Dec. 24, 1800, in Kline, ed., Burr Papers, I: 474–75.

  100. Morris also observed this arrogant posturing among his colleagues when he wrote to Hamilton: “Mr. Burr will it is said come hither, and some who pretend to know his views think he will bargain with the Federalists.” The key phrase here is “pretend to know his views.” See Harrison Gray Otis to AH, Dec. 17, 1800, AH to Oliver Wolcott, Jr., Dec. 16, 1800, and Gouverneur Morris to AH, Dec. 19, 1800, in Syrett, ed., Hamilton Papers, XXV:258–59, 267. See also Theodore Sedgwick to Theodore Sedgwick, Jr., Jan. 11, 1801, in Kline, ed., Burr Papers, I: 482; “From Washington,” Aurora, Feb. 17, 1801.

  101. See Gouverneur Morris to AH, Dec. 19, 1800, and Jan. 26, 1801, in Syrett, ed., Hamilton Papers, XXV: 267, 329; see also “Short and Plain Reasons why all those who are attached to the Federal Constitution, ought to prefer Col. Burr to Mr. Jefferson as President,” Washington Federalist, Feb. 2, 1801, reprinted in the Daily Advertiser, Feb. 11, 1801. Theodore Sedgwick also made the argument that they should vote for Burr because he was not Jefferson; see Theodore Sedgwick to Theodore Sedgwick, Jr., in Kline, ed., Burr Papers, I: 482.

  102. See “To the Federal Members of the House of Representatives” [signed “Lucius”], Washington Federalist, Feb. 6, 1801, reprinted in the Daily Advertiser, Feb. 16, 1801; see also “Who Shall Be President?” Washington Federalist, Jan. 12, 1801. For other defenses of Burr’s manners and analytical mind, see “From the New York Gazette: No. III,” “To the Federal member of the House of Representatives of the United States,” [both signed “Epaminondas”], Washington Federalist, Jan. 21, 23, 1801.

  103. AH to Theodore Sedgwick, Dec. 22, 1800, in Syrett, ed., Hamilton Papers, XXV: 270.

  104. For references to Cataline, see AH to Oliver Wolcott, Jr., Dec. 16, 1800, and Alexander Hamilton to John Rutledge, Jan. 4, 1801; for his reference to Godwinism, see AH to James Bayard, Jan. 16, 1801; and for charges that Burr was using democracy while despising it, see AH to John Rutledge, Jan. 4, 1801, and AH to James McHenry, Jan. 4, 1801, all in Syrett, ed., Hamilton Papers, XXV: 257, 287, 292, 297, 321.

  105. Hamilton described his account to John Rutledge as a “faithful sketch of Mr. Burr’s character,” and he portrayed himself as an authority when writing James Bayard, James Ross, and John Marshall. For Burr’s “extreme & irregular ambition,” see AH to James Bayard, Jan. 19, 1801, and for establishing “supreme power in his own person,” see AH to John Rutledge, Jan. 4, 1801. For Burr as a man who “loves nothing but himself,” see AH to Harrison Gray Otis, Dec. 23, 1800; as a “bankrupt” and “voluptuary,” and seeking war with Great Britain, see AH to Oliver Wolcott, Jr., Dec. 16, 1800, AH to Gouveneur Morris, Dec. 24, 1800, AH to James Bayard, Dec. 27, 1800, AH to James Ross, Dec. 29, 1800, and AH to John Rutledge, Jan. 4, 1801. For Burr attracting the worst men, the “young and profligate,” laughing “in his sleeve,” and signing a “death warrant” for the nation, see AH to James McHenry, Jan. 4, 1801, AH to John Rutledge, Jan. 4, 1801, AH to James Bayard, Dec. 27, 1800, AH to James Ross, Dec. 29, 1800, and AH to Oliver Wolcott, Dec. 1800. All in ibid., XXV: 257, 271–72, 276–77, 280–81, 287, 292, 294–97, 320–21.

  106. AH to John Rutledge, Jan. 4, 1801, AH to James Bayard, Jan. 16, 1801, and AH to James Bayard, Dec. 27, 1800, in ibid., XXV: 276, 296, 323.

  107. See Gouveneur Morris to AH, Dec. 19, 1800; and for Hamilton’s harangue, see AH to Gouveneur Morris, Dec. 24, 1800, in ibid., XXV: 267, 272.

  108. AH to Gouveneur Morris, Dec. 26, 1800, and AH to Gouveneur Morris, in ibid., XXV: 275.

  109. John Marshall to AH, Jan. 1, 1801, James Bayard to AH, Jan. 7, 1801, John Rutledge to AH, Jan. 10, 1801, and Theodore Sedgwick to AH, Jan. 10, 1801, in ibid., XXV: 290–91, 300–01, 308–09, 311–12.

  110. See Aurora, Jan. 10, 1801; Thomas Jefferson to John Breckenridge [Breckinridge], Dec. 18, 1800, in Lipscomb and Bergh, eds., The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, X: 183; and “To the House of Representatives of the United States of America,” National Intelligencer, Jan. 12, 1801, and Washington Federalist, Jan. 26, 1801. See also Joseph H. Nicholson to a constituent, Jan. 15, 1801, Nicholson MSS, Letter, Historical Society of Pennsylvania; and Sharp, American Politics in the Early Republic, 267–71.

  111. This was the second fire in Washington; the first was in the War Department in November 1800, see Aurora, Jan. 26, 27, Feb. 19, 1801; Sharp, American Politics in the Early Republic, 250–52, 267–68.

  112. Albert Gallatin to Hannah Gallatin, Jan. 22, 1801, in Papers of Albert Gallatin, microfilm; and Richard Mannix, “Albert Gallatin in Washington, 1801–1813,” Records of the Columbia Historical Society (1971–72): 61, 64–65.

  113. See Albert Gallatin to Hannah Gallatin, Jan. 22, Jan. 29, 1801, in Gallatin Papers, microfilm; James Madison to Thomas Jefferson, Jan. 10, 1801, in Mattern, ed., The Papers of James Madison, XVII: 45–54; and Lewis, “What is to become of the Constitution?” in Onuf et al., eds., The Revolution of 1800, 37.

  114. For the two plans, see James Hamilton to Albert Gallatin, Jan. 16, 1801, The Papers of Albert Gallatin, microfilm.

  115. Albert Gallatin to Hannah Gallatin, Jan. 29, 1801, and Albert Gallatin to Thomas Jefferson and James Nicholson [ca. Jan. 29], in ibid.

  116. Côté, Theodosia, 110–20; and Eleanor Parke Lewis to Mrs. Charles [Mary] Pinckney, [n.d.], in Lewis and Peter Papers, Special Collections, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va.

  117. AB to Samuel Smith, Dec. 29, 1800, and for earlier declaration, see Burr to Samuel Smith, Dec. 16, 1800, in Kline, ed., Burr Papers, I: 478–79, 471.

  118. AB to Samuel Smith, Dec. 29, 1800, and Burr to William Eustis, Jan. 16, 1801, in ibid., I: 479, 490–91.

  119. AB to Samuel Smith, Dec. 24, 1800, and Burr to Samuel Smith, Feb. 4, 1801, in ibid., I: 475, 489.

  120. The meeting between Burr and Smith is based on an account (given two years later) by one of Smith’s Maryland colleagues of what Smith told him. The main thrust of the discussion centered on the fear of a deadlock, and whether Burr would resign to break it. See Gabr
iel Christie to Samuel Smith, Dec. 19, 1802, cited in Kline, ed., Burr Papers, I: 484; see also Albert Gallatin to Hannah Gallatin, Jan. 15, 1801, in Papers of Albert Gallatin, microfilm; Thomas Jefferson to Mary Jefferson Eppes, Jan. 4, 1801, in Edward Morris Betts and James Adam Bear, Jr., eds., The Family Letters of Thomas Jefferson (Charlottesville, Va., 1966), 190; and George Clinton to DeWitt Clinton, Jan. 13, 1801, in DeWitt Clinton Papers, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University, New York, N.Y.

  121. See AB to Albert Gallatin, Jan. 16, 1801, and AB to Samuel Smith, Jan. 16, 1801, in Kline, ed., Burr Papers, I: 492–93. For Hamilton spreading rumors about Livingston, see AH to Gouverneur Morris, Jan. 9, 1801, and Jan. 13, 1801, in Syrett, ed., Hamilton Papers, XXV: 305, 314. The only sources that make Edward Livingston into Burr’s double agent are based on the gossip circulated by Federalists: Hamilton, Robert Troup, and James Bayard. Unlike the rumors, Livingston’s letter to his brother, Chancellor Robert Livingston, conveyed his strong conviction to oppose the Federalist “usurpation,” saying it “will be firmly & Effiiciently resisted.” See Hatcher, Edward Livingston, 70. For Troup’s letter, see Robert Troup to Rufus King, May 27, 1801, in King, ed., Life and Correspondence of Rufus King, III: 460; and Edward Livingston to Robert Livingston, Jan. 29, 1801, Robert Livingston Papers, New-York Historical Society; see also Kline, ed., Burr Papers, I: 504–05.

  122. There were others: Timothy Green, Gideon Granger, Pierpont Edwards, and Abraham Bishop were accused for promoting Burr over Jefferson. David A. Ogden, Hamilton’s law partner and protégé, shared a carriage ride with Burr from New York to Trenton. He was approached by Federalists to talk to Burr; he later admitted that Burr had never engaged him as his agent, and that Burr flatly refused to make any deals. This is the same Ogden involved with the Holland Land Company. Linn was probably seen as a likely turncoat because he represented New Jersey, another delegation, like New York, that southern Republicans feared might switch sides. Virginian George Jackson wrote Madison that Linn was a “very Suspicious character,” seeming to play both sides. Linn probably did know Burr: he attended Princeton around the same time, and married Mary Livingston, one of the daughters of William Livingston. But contrary to the rumors, the New York and New Jersey delegations made sure to reaffirm their commitment to Jefferson during a caucus meeting in anticipation of the balloting in the House. See “James Linn,” in Harrison, ed., Princetonians, 1769–1775, II: 28–30; Kline, ed., Burr Papers, I: 489–90; and George Jackson to James Madison, Feb. 5, 1801, in Mattern, ed., The Papers of James Madison, XVII:461; see also Joanne Freeman, “Corruption and Compromise in the Election of 1800,” in Onuf et al., eds., The Revolution of 1800, 108, 114.