US History

U.S. History Study Guide

Knowing he was a lame duck vice president and not likely to be on the next presidential ticket, Burr decided to run for governor of New York. Hamilton then worked to defeat the Burr’s attempt to become governor of New York by running against him. Burr was effectively out of political power even though he was the vice president of the United States. The final straw for Burr was a newspaper article that showed Hamilton attacking Burr’s character. Burr then demanded that Hamilton apologize, but when Hamilton did not, Burr demanded a duel. On July 11, 1804, Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr met on the dueling grounds at Weehawken, New Jersey. Hamilton was hit and mortally wounded. Vice President Burr would be wanted for murder. After sabotaging his political career, Burr would try a last move of desperation that would end any shred of political legitimacy he had left. 8.20 The Burr Conspiracy Aaron Burr was now a fugitive, without a political future. He became involved in a plan to take Mexico from Spain and establish a new nation in the West. In the fall of 1806, he led a group of armed men down the Mississippi River. He was arrested in Natchez and tried for treason in Richmond, Virginia. Judge Marshall’s decision of acquittal helped to narrow the legal definition of treason. Despite being found innocent, the conspiracy and murder of Hamilton destroyed Burr’s political career. 8.21 The Yazoo Land Scandal The Yazoo land scandal was a land fraud which was committed from 1794 to 1803 by many Georgia governors and government officials. The state legislatures had sold large tracts of land to political insiders at very low prices. Some of the lands sold, by the state in 1794, had been resold to innocent third parties thereby greatly complicating the situation. In 1802, the controversy forced Georgia to give up all of its claims of lands to the west of the federal government, in exchange for cash. The Yazoo land fraud is often combined with the Pine Barrens speculative, another land scandal that took place in Georgia around the same time. This involved Georgia's high-ranking officials making multiple grants for the same land, they also made grants which amounted to more land than then existed in the state of Georgia. 8.22 International Involvement The Barbary War 1801 In 1801, Jefferson sent a naval force to the Mediterranean to break the practice of the North African Muslim rulers demanding payment from Western merchant ships. The sporadic undeclared war dragged on until 1805, with no real resolution.

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