This week our history study focuses on President Jefferson's second term in office.  One infamous event we'll be studying will be the duel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton.  Over the course of our history studies, we have learned how men of different eras fought for honor.  Although knights usually jousted for fun with blunt instruments, there were times when heated words led to one on one combant while on horseback with sharp lances. Then there's the wonderful story of The Three Musketeers.  Who can forget D'Artagnan being challenged to separate duels with Athos, Aramis and Porthos, one after the other on the same day!  Fortunately, this led to a long friendship which inspired my son to portray D'Artagnan at our  Year 2 Unit 2 celebration last year.

    While we previewed this week's information, my son was certain he knew exactly how the Hamilton/Burr duel was done.  So I told him to act it out with his sister.  They successfully acted out an Old West shoot out!   I showed them a slide show of the infamous Burk Duel portrayed by actor/interpreters from Colonial Williamsburg.  After going through the slide show, I read aloud the commentary from the CW Journal (linked in the "Burk Duel" above).  It was a wonderful opportunity for the kids to make lots of connections with the various topics they've been studying the last few weeks. 

     John Daly Burk was a radical Irishman who created conflict wherever he went.  He came to America, to the relief of Great Britain, in 1796.  Settling in Boston, he fervently wore his politics on his sleeve.  Burk was an ardent supporter of Thomas Jefferson, a Democratic-Republican, who believed in freedom for the peoples at all costs, arguing for America's whole hearted backing in the French Revolution.  John Adams attended one of Burk's plays in Boston, which was about General Warren and his death at the Battle of Bunker Hill.  If anyone has seen the movie, "Johnny Tremain", you'll remember Dr. Warren, one of the masterminds behind the beginning of American Independence in Boston, who surgically frees Johnny's fingers.  Yes, Dr. Warren died at the Battle of Bunker Hill.  John Adams did not like the play.  "My friend, General Warren, was a scholar and a gentleman...Your author has made him a bully and a blackguard."  My son immediately spoke up and said that the Alien and Sedition Acts were going to be the downfall of John Burk.  (I just love it when one of my kids make these connections!)  And yes, we got to that later in the article.  

     We have studied President John Adams' impassioned justification for the Alien and Sedition Acts, which most historians agree, were unconstitutional.  Adams, like Washington, wanted to keep America out of war with other countries, feeling that America was too fragile to survive another war.  When Adams was president, he put the Alien and Sedition Acts into effect, punishing anyone with fines, imprisonment and exportation who printed slander against the government. (More particularly he was trying to calm all the "hotheads" who were trying to inspire America to go to war and help the French with their revolution.) Adams felt the acts were necessary to protect America from getting caught up in foreign wars, and in the process, being destroyed.  During this time, Thomas Jefferson was Adam's vice-president and he ardently disagreed with Adams.  Their tatterred relationship came to a bitter end, as Jefferson's Democratic-Republican ideas contrasted with Adam's Federalist ideas.   

    Indeed, Burk's Anti-Federalist newspaper articles, that protested America's lack of support of the French Revolution and slandered President Adams, nearly put him in prison under the Sedition Acts.  Burk's friend, Aaron Burr, tried to help him avoid prison and leave the country instead.  In the end, Burk fled to Virginia to hide.  He found a new home in one of Virginia's anti-Federalist towns, where Burk continued to be outspoken.  While in a tavern in 1808, a frenchman by the name of Monsieur Felix Coquebert overheard Burk defame the French as "a pack of rascals."  For the sake of honor, Coquebert made his prescence known.  Angry words led to the challenge of a duel...and Burk met his demise.

   Today, the kids are reading about the events leading up to the Burr/Hamilton Duel and the aftermath which led to Burr's trial for treason. Apparently he was trying to take over the Lousiana Territory so that he could rule it as king.  The kids will be evaluating Jefferson's response to the Burr Controversy.  Hmmm,  didn't some of his actions go against the very beliefs he held when he debated President Adams? We will also evaluate Supreme Court justice John Marshall and his decision in the Burr Treason Trial.  Will the kids agree with his decision or disagree?  We should have an interesting discussion on Wednesday!   

    Update posted 8-19-09 This morning my kids and I listened to the latest Colonial Williamsburg podcast on The Code Duello, which is about the history of duels.  This presentation is done with excellence!  Even though it's been nearly a year since we've studied about the Hamilton/Burr duel, this adds another layer to my kids' understanding of this historic tradition. Through the podcast, duels were explained to be quite common not only in Europe, but also in the course of history. During our TOG studies, we got a smattering of reading time on duels in Year 2 (Middle Ages-1800).  Our Year 3 studies (19th century) reverberated with duel after duel after duel. This supplemental podcast helps to cement the concept.    Be sure to check the podcast, dated August 17, 2009, called "The Code Duello". 

Update posted 9-24-09 This morning the new week's podcast continues the theme of duels, focusing on the infamous Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton duel. The podcast ends with some highly unusual duels from the pages of history. I know that Wishbone would have been impressed with the last story! Be sure to check the podcast, dated August 24, 2009, called "History's Most Famous Duel".