Thomas Fleming's "Duel" - Worth Your Money

One of the most difficult eighteenth century customs for twenty-first century citizens to understand is the practice of dueling. It is even harder to understand why grown men would actually allow themselves to be lured into risking everything they had, even the livelihood of their family, in order to preserve their "honor." Such was the case 200 years ago this month, when one of the most famous Founding Fathers was gunned down on the plains of Weehawken, New Jersey by one of the most notorious and colorful figures in early American politics.

The concept of "honor" is particularly fleeting in this day and age of rampant materialism, corporate scandals, and hostility to external restraints on choices and conduct. If duels were fought over million dollar stock option deals, they would at least be easier to understand, even if still abhorrent to our modern sensibilities. Eighteenth century duels, however, were rarely fought over such tangible material items as gold or silver. (Of course, plenty of nineteenth century shootouts would occur over these very things, giving rise to the 20th century Hollywood "Wild West" mythology that made the mid-19th century so famous). In the eighteenth century, duels were largely "affairs of honor" driven by personal perceptions of what some would consider abstract concepts, and the implications these had on one's ambition, reputation and emotional security.

It is into this complex web of emotion, intrigue, and old-fashioned value systems that historian Thomas J. Fleming plunges in his 1999 look at the "affair of honor" which claimed the life of Alexander Hamilton. Of course, Fleming gives the reader more than a study in the 18th century culture and ethics of dueling. In the words of Duel's dust jacket, Fleming examines the "post-revolutionary world of 1804, a chaotic and fragile time in the young country as well as a time of tremendous global instability."

According to Amazon.com reviewer Gregory McNamee, we often see the "revolutionary founders [as being] equipped with wings and haloes." McNamee points out, "They were anything but saintly, however; their behavior, public and private, was often scandalous." When you insert this "scandalous" behavior and the often unchecked ambitions of some of the more colorful figures during such a fragile and chaotic time period, you have the makings for some serious trouble. And that is exactly what happened.

Ostracized by the Democratic-Republican Party for his refusal to step aside when he tied Thomas Jefferson in the 1800 Electoral College, Vice President Aaron Burr left national government in 1804 to return to his native New York. There, he tried to put together a coalition of Republicans and Federalists to become governor. Standing in his way was Alexander Hamilton, feverishly sending out letters to friends and supporters, urging them to oppose Burr's efforts at all costs. Since Hamilton had been partly to blame for Burr's failure to capture the presidency in 1800, this was simply too much for Burr to stomach. A tense back-and-forth between Hamilton and Burr, initiated by the latter, soon led to the most famous one-on-one confrontation in American history.

Hamilton had already lost a son to a duel, and was still grief-stricken over the incident. Yet with his political career at a frustrating end (and his hopes of rebuilding it largely dashed), Hamilton agreed to face Burr in order to preserve his honor. The events following that decision have become matters of intense debate between descendants of Hamilton and Burr for decades ever since. Did Hamilton deliberately throw away his shot? Did Burr murder Hamilton? What about those hair-trigger mechanisms that Hamilton had on his pistols? Many questions. Not many answers. The exact events of the 1804 encounter remain the makings of one of history's unsolved mysteries.

Fleming takes us into that history, and pulls back the veil on the minds of both protagonists, Hamilton and Burr. In reading Fleming's book, one can really understand and feel the frustration, anxiety, and emotions that drove both men to that fateful point in their lives.

It is a highly informative, often entertaining look at one of the most important and controversial episodes in American history. While the actual events of the duel may never be fully understood, the outcome is no mystery. Both men were destroyed at Weehawken. Hamilton lost his actual, physical life. Burr lost his reputation, and his political career was finished. In fact, he would later be tried for treason in an ill-fated scheme to lead a possible secessionist conspiracy in the Southwestern United States.

Duel by Thomas J. Fleming is well worth your time.