Show the trial of aaron burr WA I 1 ba burr by ELMO SCOTT WATSON NE AND years ago the ayea of the whole nation were turned toward richmond va for there was taking place one of the most dramatic events in american history what has been called the greatest calm inal trial in american history and one of the notable trials in the an nals of the law iso less a person than aaron burr but lately vice president of the united states was on trial for his life and the charge against him was that of committing a crime which was a threat to the safety of not just one person or a group of persons but to the safety of the whole nation the crime of high dreison tr eison although burr was acquitted by what was substantially a scotch verdict of not proven any lord and historians are still doubtful as to whether or not the famous burr conspiracy was actually a treasonable scheme the name of aaron burr has come down in popular belief among our galaxy of scoundrels second only to benedict arnold whether or not he has been assigned such a place justly or unjustly Is a platter over which again historians disagree in the presidential election of 1800 burr and thomas jefferson the democratic republican candidates each received 73 electoral votes a tie which threw the election into the house of which was strongly federalist after balloting for a week ten otes were cast for jefferson and four for burr and under the constitution as it stood then this made jefferson president and burr vice because of political jobbery with the 1 burr lost whatever regard the leaders among the new party held for him then he became involved in a bitter struggle for supremacy in new york politics and because of the antigon ism of jefferson all the patronage was thrown to burrs rivals the and the batons accordingly he accepted federalist support in the gubernatorial race of 1801 an alliance which was fought bitterly by alexander hamilton the result was the defeat of burr who held hamilton chiefly responsible tor his humiliation then followed the famous burr hamilton duel in which burrs pistols ended the great career of washington s secretary of the treasury and made burr a political and social pariah discredited in the east where he had been a leader burr turned to the west to recoup his fortunes hoping to capitalize on the unrest among the westerners where talk of disunion was rife crossing the be arrived at blennerhassett Blenner hassett s island in the ohio river where lived harman blennerhassett Blenner hassett a wealthy irishman who had settled there in 1798 to BIenner bassett burr proposed a wild scheme of raising an armed force in the old southwest driving the spaniards out of mexico and establishing a great southern confederacy composed of these conquered mexican possessions and the american territory west of the where the sentiment for disunion seemed so throng blennerhassett Blenner hassett was enough impressed by burrs scheme to mortgage his vast possessions j to furnish the necessary money they also hoped to gain the aid of great britain in carrying out their scheme and further to insure the success of the plan burr won the support of general then governor of louisiana territory commander of the united states firmy and as two faced a villain as ever served the united states government throughout 1805 and 1800 burr developed his plot which became well known throughout the west the federal authorities however seem to have been strangely blind to what was tak ing place until at last betrayed the eche meto jefferson who on november 27 1803 issued a presidential proclamation calling for the arrest of all those involved and the others to save their own skins deserted burr and in the modern parlance he was made the goat of the whole affair attempting to flee burr was arrested in alabama and brought back to virginia for trail on the charge of treason ills case was tried in the united states cip cult court at richmond and never per naps in american history has there been gathered together in a courtroom such a galaxy of portables potables po tables aa in that attle room in wu I 1 fv Ji andolph richmond john marshall chief justice of the supreme court of the united baates presided over the trial luther martin and admund kan dolph were counsel for the accused and william wart was counsel for the government the foreman of the rand jury which brought the indictment against burr was the waspish but brilliant john randolph of roanoke and not the leist or the great figures in this case was burrs charming theodosea Theod osla of englc tame later although aaron burr was upon trial on the most serious charge which can be placed against the citizen of a country in reality he was little more than a pawn in what was at the time regarded as a test of strength between the lie publican president jefferson and the federalist chief justice marshall the trial lasted from march 27 to september 7 and the full story of the legal maneuvers executed by the two clashing forces would require a beoh for the telling under the constitution treason against the united states consists only in levying war against them or in adhering to their enemies giving them aid and comfort and no person may be convicted of it unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act or on confession in open court the crux of the whole case against burr was whether or not on a certain date december 10 1806 burr had ly levied war against the united states by assembling an armed force on s island and on the day following had set in motion this same armed force in an expedition against the city of new orleans the prosecution produced a series of wit nesses mainly servants of to proe this point then it announced its intention of introducing evidence to show burr a connection with the assemblage on the island whereupon the defense sprang a surprise which turned the tide in burr a favor developing the fact that on the night of december 10 burr had not been present at the island but had been miles away in kentucky they contended that under the constitution the assemblage on bien h s island could not be regarded ah his act even that he had advised it for said they advising war is one thing but levying it Is quite another if this interpretation was correct then no overt ait of levying war either within the jurisdiction of the court or stated in the indictment bid been or could be shown against burr dext chief justice marshall handed down an opinion accepting the contention of burrs and when the prosecution was unable to produce two witnesses who had actuel ly seen burr procure the on the Is land it allowed the case to 0 to the jury shortly thereafter the following verdict was returned we of the jury fc ly that aaron bunis not proved to be guilty under this indictment by any evidence submitted to us we therefore find him not guilty at the order of the chief justice this scotch verdict was entered on the records of the court as a simple not guilty acquitted kurr became au exile ami an out cast the man who caroe within one vote of be log president of the united states wandered about curole for four years boi rowing amounts attempting dubious promotion arg ing the french to belze louisiana in 1810 and finally returning to his own land with a filse wig and whiskers shortly after his arrival he encountered the breal ing of the one tie that held him to the airth when his beloved theo cosla who hid stood by him when the whole world seemed to hae turned against him ahle from the south to meet him in new york the ship on which she sailed never reached port and what her fate was as to this day an unsolved mystery one of the most tragic pic turca in all american history Is that of the broken dl raced airon burr a devoted fa ther whatever else he may have been going down to the battery aery day for years search ing the horizon for the sail of a ship which never cime the ship bringing back to him his long lost daughter and then as a final touch to an fated career was hla unfortunate ariage to the famous madame jumel who divorced mar him on the day he died by colon |