Reviews for Memoirs of Aaron Burr

The average rating for Memoirs of Aaron Burr based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2016-02-09 00:00:00 Dale Deason Impressionistically: Aaron Burr was another one of our brilliant, super capable, heroic founding fathers. My interest in Aaron Burr is that he when he joined the Continental Army, he became the commander of Malcolm's Brigade--the troops that were guarding the Ramapo Pass (aka, the Clove, Sidman's Clove, Suffern, Ramapough) in what is now Hillburn, NY, the place where I was born. A lieutenant colonel and commanding officer of Malcom's Brigade at age 21, he was perhaps the most effective officer in the Continental Army. Burr developed a chip on his soldier against G. Washington, when after a specific military operation in which Burr performed exceptionally well, Burr did not receive a commendation. It is said that Aaron Burr was not liked by many of the other founding fathers. Some said that he was out for himself. After the Revolutionary war, Monroe and others had recommended Burr to Washington for a federal appointment. It is said that Washington would only give his approval to people who he thought had integrity, and he nixed the Burr appointment. Burr was a known womanizer, and I wonder if that had something to do with the negative assessment of him by Washington and others. In the time after independence, and for several administrations, it was considered unseemly to campaign for President, a precedent set by George Washington himself. Aaron Burr, however, was very ambitious, and I wonder if his attempts to glom political power were viewed as unseemly by some others. Perhaps his political ambitions were viewed as evidence of a lack of integrity by George Washington. Both Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton worked as attorneys in New York City. The conflict between them was a perfect storm. They seemed to take opposite positions on legal and political matters. Hamilton idolized George Washington, including as a military man. The equally ambitious Alexander Hamilton was not born in the U.S.A. and therefore not eligible to ever become president of the U.S.A. I have read that Hamilton wanted to find and excuse, or force, the suspension of the Constitution and impose martial law on the U.S.A. He wanted this so he could assume a military role like that of George Washington's in the Revolutionary War. This was during and right after the Napoleanic era in Europe. Hamilton was wanted to become the Napolean of the Americas. Aaron Burr may have done us all a favor by killing Alexander Hamilton in their duel. Aaron Burr owned slaves. However, when he was a representative in the New York State government, he advocated and voted for the immediate freeing of all slaves in New York State. The measure was defeated. As a slave owner, Burr made sure that all of the slaves that he owned for any length of time were educated. There exists a number of letters exchanged between Aaron Burr and his slaves. The English grammar, spelling, and composition ability of the Burr's slave's are extraordinarily good, better that most people today I have to say. Also of interest, Aaron Burr fathered two children with a black woman servant when he lived in Philadelphia. In Pennsylvania freed all of its slaves at the conclusion of the Revolutionary War. Post-war, Burr had hired the woman with whom he fathered the two children, a boy and a girl Their names are known to history. The male became a prominent member of the Philadelphia black community. Today, the descendant families of Aaron Burr and the descendants of the woman accept and recognize each other as related. However, the relationship cannot be proven by DNA because Aaron Burr does not have any living, direct female descendants.

Review # 2 was written on 2017-11-16 00:00:00 Vernon Labauve Interesting. Has led me to reading Harman Blennerhasset's journal of his correspondence with Burr and how he decided not to follow him. Still don't know whether Burr was really that driven (I think so) or just misunderstood.