Virginia Festival of the Book

At noon on Saturday, I’ll be in at the university book store Charlottesville for the Virginia Festival of the Book, on a panel titled “American History: Our Government at Work.”  I’ll be talking…

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Burr and Jeremy Bentham

After his plans for insurrection in the Mississippi Valley and Mexico came to ashes, and after winning acquittal on treason charges in 1807, Aaron Burr traveled to Britain to secure support for…

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James Wilson's Draft

I have been tickled by the recent identification of records of James Wilson at the Historical Society of Pennsvlvania as an early draft of the Constitution prepared during the Constitutional…

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Treason, American Style

Nattering on about Aaron Burr’s 1807 treason trial this week, I was brought up short by a very simple question:  How many treason trials have there been in the United States? …

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You Never Know

So this reporter from the Washington Times — yes, the Moonie newspaper — makes a connection between the deals made for Senate votes on health care reform and those made…

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Burr on James Monroe

Aaron Burr virtually never spoke ill of others.  That trait may partly explain the deep anger that drove him to challenge Alexander Hamilton to their famous duel in 1804 after Hamilton had slandered him for…

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Burr's Wisdom

In 1795, Burr advised his daughter Theodosia to retain her serenity at all costs.  If only he had followed his own advice nine years later when he challenged Alexander Hamilton to…

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