ll-will against Col. Burr. I met him with a fixed resolution to do him no harm. I forgive all that happened.It is evident, that Hamilton was backed into a duel that he did not want to fight. He did so only after copious demands made by Burr, but not with the intent of ever harming Burr. It was a reluctant move on his part, which in due course led to his untimely demise. To his last hour Hamilton was indeed a man of honor, and nothing short of a gentleman.Aaron Burr felt that he had many good reasons to hate Alexander Hamilton. Burr situated blame on Hamilton for many of the misfortunes of his life, when in fact, he alone was to at fault. The demise of his reputation began in 1776. Burr was severely reprimanded by Washington when he was caught in the act of casually reading the Commander-in-chiefs private correspondence. After this incident, Washington mistrusted Burr and maintained a cold, formal distance from him. (Chrastina 1) Such a breach in confidence that he committed was his blunder alone.One of the statements that Hamilton made was that Burr was a man who ought not to be trusted with the reigns of the government. Considering the transgression that Burr had committed, this was hardly a libel statement. Aaron Burr was incensed at this comment, which was published in an Albany newspaper. He believed that Hamiltons comments in his character were what cost him the governor-ship for New York. Hamilton was coerced into a duel. The duel was undeniably Burrs fault. On June 18, 1804 Burr penned an epistle to Hamilton that enclosed a challenge to battle a duel. He included with the dispatch, a replica of the article enclosing the annotations. Burr demanded a prompt and unqualified acknowledgment or denial of the despicable opinion credited to Hamilton. The code for gentlemen at the time demanded that Hamilton respond to Burr if he wanted people to acknowledge his remarks. If Hamilton wanted to break away from conflict, he would ...
