Read Closer

Statesman Alexander Hamilton wrote this statement before his fatal duel with Vice President Aaron Burr on July 11, 1804. Lawrence emphasized the senseless loss of this founding father by selecting the words that conveyed Hamilton’s intent and regret.

Excerpt from Alexander Hamilton, “Statement on Impending Duel with Aaron Burr” in Hamilton’s Letter Prior to Duel, and Last Will & Testament, New-York Evening Post, July 16, 1804

1 My religious and moral principles are strongly opposed to the practice of Duelling, and it would even give me pain to be obliged to shed the blood of a fellow creature in a private combat forbidden by the laws.
2 My wife and Children are extremely dear to me, and my life is of the utmost importance to them, in various views.
3 I feel a sense of obligation towards my creditors; who in case of accident to me, by the forced sale of my property, may be in some degree sufferers. I did not think my self at liberty, as a man of probity, lightly to expose them to this hazard.
4 I am conscious of no ill-will to Col Burr, distinct from political opposition, which, as I trust, has proceeded from pure and upright motives.
Lastly, I shall hazard much, and can possibly gain nothing by the issue of the interview. But it was, as I conceive, impossible for me to avoid it. There were intrinsick difficulties in the thing, and artificial embarrassments, from the manner of proceeding on the part of Col Burr.

Look Closer

This engraving of the Burr-Hamilton duel was reproduced in one of Lawrence’s sources, a popular pictorial history book of the time. While this illustration depicts the event as highly ritualized with all the trappings of class and privilege, Lawrence paints an alternative perspective: the bloody aftermath of the tragic contest.