Alexander Hamilton, chromolithograph. The Knapp Co./Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-DIG-ppmsca-17523)

Most often, affairs of honor that might have resulted in duels were settled through careful negotiation. The exchange of letters between Burr and Hamilton, however, escalated in enmity to a point of no return, beginning with Hamilton’s clinical response to Burr’s initial accusatory missive. The long political rivalry between the two had culminated in two earlier events. Owing to the quirks of the presidential election process in 1800, Burr tied with his running mate, Thomas Jefferson (who topped the Democratic-Republican ticket), in the electoral college vote. Burr chose to vie with Jefferson for the top office. As a result of Hamilton’s influence on his fellow Federalists, Burr lost. He became vice president but was marginalized by Jefferson. In an attempt to revitalize his political career, Burr switched parties and sought the nomination as the Federalist candidate for governor of New York in 1804. Again, Hamilton used his influence to block the ambitions of Burr, who ran as an independent and lost badly. Burr’s subsequent challenge to Hamilton was another attempt by Burr to resuscitate his career. It came in response to a letter published in a newspaper in which Dr. Charles D. Cooper had reported that in a dinner conversation Hamilton had called Burr “a dangerous man.” In Cooper’s words, Hamilton also expressed a “more despicable opinion” of Burr. It was the loaded word despicable that drew Burr’s focus. In his letter to Hamilton, he called for an explanation. When that request ballooned to a demand that Hamilton deny that he had ever spoken ill of Burr, Hamilton felt that he could not comply with the blanket request without sacrificing his own political career. The only path led to Weehawken.