1 00:00:00,360 --> 00:00:02,480 Speaker 1: All right. You know, as long as our country has 2 00:00:02,520 --> 00:00:05,040 Speaker 1: been around, there have been groups out there that wanted 3 00:00:05,080 --> 00:00:09,440 Speaker 1: to secede from the United States. Are you surprised? Right now? 4 00:00:09,480 --> 00:00:12,720 Speaker 1: There are at least a dozen states with active movements 5 00:00:12,760 --> 00:00:15,880 Speaker 1: looking to detach their state from the US and form 6 00:00:15,920 --> 00:00:19,040 Speaker 1: their own nation. But it almost happened, and the star 7 00:00:19,120 --> 00:00:22,000 Speaker 1: of the story was a guy more famous for another 8 00:00:22,079 --> 00:00:26,079 Speaker 1: political battle. I'm Patty Steele. Aaron Burr and his plan 9 00:00:26,200 --> 00:00:33,320 Speaker 1: to start his own empire. Next on the backstory, The 10 00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:36,800 Speaker 1: backstory is back. What do you know about Aaron Burr? 11 00:00:37,240 --> 00:00:40,400 Speaker 1: You probably are familiar with his run in with founding 12 00:00:40,440 --> 00:00:45,080 Speaker 1: father Alexander Hamilton. After some very public name calling, Burr, 13 00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:49,320 Speaker 1: than the vice president under Thomas Jefferson, challenged Hamilton to 14 00:00:49,360 --> 00:00:52,320 Speaker 1: a duel. Didn't end well for Hamilton, who died from 15 00:00:52,360 --> 00:00:55,600 Speaker 1: his wounds a day later, and it didn't end particularly 16 00:00:55,640 --> 00:00:59,560 Speaker 1: well for Burr, whose political career never recovered. But he 17 00:00:59,560 --> 00:01:02,840 Speaker 1: had a play. He wanted to carve out his own 18 00:01:02,880 --> 00:01:05,720 Speaker 1: empire in the West. Sounds like the plot of a 19 00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:09,399 Speaker 1: Netflix drama, doesn't it. Well, it really happened. It's the 20 00:01:09,440 --> 00:01:13,880 Speaker 1: story of how Burr went from political powerhouse to alleged trader, 21 00:01:14,360 --> 00:01:17,800 Speaker 1: though they were never able to prove that in court. Okay, 22 00:01:17,880 --> 00:01:21,440 Speaker 1: it's seventeen fifty six. Aaron Burr is born into a 23 00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:26,080 Speaker 1: big deal New Jersey family. He's smart, charming, and ambitious. 24 00:01:26,600 --> 00:01:30,120 Speaker 1: His political career takes off. He's a senator by the 25 00:01:30,120 --> 00:01:33,400 Speaker 1: age of thirty five and vice president just ten years later. 26 00:01:34,080 --> 00:01:38,080 Speaker 1: But then along came that pesky eighteen oh four murderous 27 00:01:38,160 --> 00:01:43,680 Speaker 1: duel with Alexander Hamilton. His ego derailed his ambitions. So 28 00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:47,880 Speaker 1: what came next? The Burr Conspiracy. He knew that after 29 00:01:47,960 --> 00:01:52,320 Speaker 1: the duel his political career was toast. Hamilton's death made 30 00:01:52,360 --> 00:01:55,960 Speaker 1: him a pariah in Washington, and even Jefferson, his President, 31 00:01:56,040 --> 00:01:58,880 Speaker 1: turned his back on him. Burn needed a fresh start, 32 00:01:59,240 --> 00:02:02,880 Speaker 1: and he set his so on something ambitious, even a 33 00:02:02,920 --> 00:02:07,280 Speaker 1: little borderline delusional. Aaron Burr wanted to create his own 34 00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:11,919 Speaker 1: empire in the American West. So what was the plan. Well, 35 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:16,600 Speaker 1: his vision involved carving out a new independent nation, maybe 36 00:02:16,639 --> 00:02:20,840 Speaker 1: including parts of the Louisiana territory and even parts of Mexico. 37 00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:25,080 Speaker 1: Insiders said he dreamed of being crowned emperor of this 38 00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:28,359 Speaker 1: new land. But maybe he just wanted to break off 39 00:02:28,400 --> 00:02:30,799 Speaker 1: a little chunk of the United States and rule it. 40 00:02:31,160 --> 00:02:35,119 Speaker 1: It's a big dream and also wildly illegal. He had 41 00:02:35,160 --> 00:02:39,960 Speaker 1: co conspirators too, General James Wilkinson was a master schemer 42 00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:43,640 Speaker 1: with a talent for playing both sides, even working as 43 00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:47,080 Speaker 1: a paid agent for Spain while serving in the US military. 44 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:51,440 Speaker 1: And Burr even chatted with Anthony Mary, the British Minister 45 00:02:51,560 --> 00:02:55,080 Speaker 1: to the US, telling him that Britain could regain power 46 00:02:55,120 --> 00:02:58,320 Speaker 1: in the Southwest by giving him arms and ammo for 47 00:02:58,400 --> 00:03:02,320 Speaker 1: his plan. Even offer to several Louisiana from the Union 48 00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:05,119 Speaker 1: if they gave him half a million bucks and put 49 00:03:05,160 --> 00:03:08,520 Speaker 1: a British fleet in the Gulf of Mexico. Mary told 50 00:03:08,600 --> 00:03:12,160 Speaker 1: him the powers in London had zero interest in supporting 51 00:03:12,240 --> 00:03:15,919 Speaker 1: an American secession. Finally, with the help of a very 52 00:03:16,240 --> 00:03:20,080 Speaker 1: very rich Irish immigrant, Byrd did put together an army 53 00:03:20,120 --> 00:03:25,440 Speaker 1: of settlers, adventurers, and disillusioned soldiers, promising them land and 54 00:03:25,520 --> 00:03:28,560 Speaker 1: power in the new Empire. He tried to sell his 55 00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:32,200 Speaker 1: plan as a way to defend American interests in the West, 56 00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:35,600 Speaker 1: but rumors started swirling about what he was really up to. 57 00:03:36,320 --> 00:03:39,760 Speaker 1: Stories were published that exposed his plans to build his 58 00:03:39,880 --> 00:03:43,280 Speaker 1: empire in the West. It wasn't completely clear what he 59 00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:46,720 Speaker 1: was trying to do. Was he planning to invade Spanish 60 00:03:46,720 --> 00:03:50,400 Speaker 1: held territory for the US or plotting to break off 61 00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:54,720 Speaker 1: that chunk of the country and declare independence. Word was. 62 00:03:54,840 --> 00:03:57,640 Speaker 1: He met with a Spanish diplomat and told him his 63 00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:01,320 Speaker 1: ultimate goal was to march on one Washington and take over. 64 00:04:02,160 --> 00:04:05,960 Speaker 1: Unfortunately for Burr, like the British, the Spanish didn't want 65 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:09,240 Speaker 1: to get involved in his grand plan. But then it 66 00:04:09,320 --> 00:04:13,000 Speaker 1: turned out that General James Wilkinson thought the plot was doomed, 67 00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:16,080 Speaker 1: and he flipped sides. He sent a letter to President 68 00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:20,320 Speaker 1: Jefferson warning him about Burr's plot, while Jefferson thought the 69 00:04:20,400 --> 00:04:25,479 Speaker 1: accusations were politically motivated. Charges were brought against Burr, although 70 00:04:25,520 --> 00:04:28,720 Speaker 1: a grand jury refused to indicte But by the middle 71 00:04:28,760 --> 00:04:31,920 Speaker 1: of eighteen oh six, Jefferson in his cabinet took a 72 00:04:31,960 --> 00:04:37,080 Speaker 1: serious look and Burr's plan unraveled. Almost overnight. Wilkinson turned 73 00:04:37,080 --> 00:04:41,520 Speaker 1: on him completely, sending Jefferson a heavily doctored letter between 74 00:04:41,640 --> 00:04:45,640 Speaker 1: himself and Burr that outlined his plans but made Wilkinson 75 00:04:45,680 --> 00:04:48,560 Speaker 1: look innocent. He was brought to trial in one of 76 00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:52,200 Speaker 1: the most sensational events of the early eighteen hundreds. The 77 00:04:52,240 --> 00:04:55,880 Speaker 1: prosecution had to prove that Burr had committed an overt 78 00:04:56,000 --> 00:04:59,560 Speaker 1: act of treason. But here's the catch. His troops never 79 00:04:59,600 --> 00:05:03,520 Speaker 1: carried any military action because they were caught before they 80 00:05:03,520 --> 00:05:07,560 Speaker 1: were able to. During the trial, Burr was charming, eloquent, 81 00:05:07,960 --> 00:05:11,360 Speaker 1: and completely confident in his ability to sway the jury. 82 00:05:12,040 --> 00:05:15,280 Speaker 1: He'd been a Revolutionary War hero and an ex vice president, 83 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:19,880 Speaker 1: plus he had amazing lawyers. The government's case fell apart 84 00:05:20,320 --> 00:05:23,719 Speaker 1: when the defense uncovered the doctoring of the most damning 85 00:05:23,800 --> 00:05:28,160 Speaker 1: letter between Wilkinson and Burr. The defense painted Wilkinson as 86 00:05:28,200 --> 00:05:31,359 Speaker 1: the real villain. He had rewritten the letter in his 87 00:05:31,440 --> 00:05:35,320 Speaker 1: own handwriting that dummy, so Burr managed to deny having 88 00:05:35,360 --> 00:05:40,719 Speaker 1: written it at all. The chief justice in the case 89 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:44,920 Speaker 1: had set a high bar for what constituted treason, insisting 90 00:05:44,960 --> 00:05:48,440 Speaker 1: the prosecution had to prove an overt act of war 91 00:05:48,520 --> 00:05:52,880 Speaker 1: against the US. Burr, again, hero of the Revolutionary War, 92 00:05:53,480 --> 00:05:56,839 Speaker 1: was trusted over a guy who had doctored evidence. The 93 00:05:56,920 --> 00:06:00,240 Speaker 1: jury found Burd not guilty, and he walked free, but 94 00:06:00,360 --> 00:06:05,040 Speaker 1: his reputation was completely shattered. The trial was a media circus, 95 00:06:05,320 --> 00:06:09,240 Speaker 1: like a modern day celebrity scandal, and he was done. 96 00:06:09,400 --> 00:06:12,679 Speaker 1: After the trial, Burr's life took a nosedive. He fled 97 00:06:12,720 --> 00:06:15,600 Speaker 1: to Europe, where he spent years trying to drum up 98 00:06:15,640 --> 00:06:20,039 Speaker 1: support for many other schemes, even trying to convince Napoleon 99 00:06:20,320 --> 00:06:24,560 Speaker 1: to help him invade Mexico, but no dice there. Eventually 100 00:06:24,600 --> 00:06:27,800 Speaker 1: he came back to America at the age of seventy seven. 101 00:06:28,160 --> 00:06:31,800 Speaker 1: He married a much younger, wealthy widow, but she divorced 102 00:06:31,839 --> 00:06:34,320 Speaker 1: him after a few years because he started losing her 103 00:06:34,360 --> 00:06:38,120 Speaker 1: money in bad land deals. He finally died in a 104 00:06:38,160 --> 00:06:41,640 Speaker 1: boarding house on Staten Island at the age of eighty, 105 00:06:41,680 --> 00:06:45,800 Speaker 1: never becoming the Emperor he dreamed of being. Aaron. Burr's 106 00:06:45,839 --> 00:06:49,240 Speaker 1: ambition and ego brought him a lot of early success, 107 00:06:49,839 --> 00:06:53,280 Speaker 1: but his inability to play by the rules torpedoed all 108 00:06:53,320 --> 00:07:04,040 Speaker 1: of it. Hope you like the backstory with Patty Steele. 109 00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:06,760 Speaker 1: I would love it if you'd subscribe or follow for 110 00:07:06,760 --> 00:07:10,560 Speaker 1: free to get new episodes delivered automatically, and feel free 111 00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:12,440 Speaker 1: to DM me if you have a story you'd like 112 00:07:12,480 --> 00:07:15,480 Speaker 1: me to cover. On Facebook, of course it's Patty Steele 113 00:07:15,600 --> 00:07:21,240 Speaker 1: and on Instagram Real Patty Steele. I'm Patty Steele. The 114 00:07:21,320 --> 00:07:26,200 Speaker 1: Backstories a production of iHeartMedia, Premiere Networks, the Elvis Durand Group, 115 00:07:26,280 --> 00:07:30,040 Speaker 1: and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer is Doug Fraser. Our 116 00:07:30,080 --> 00:07:34,200 Speaker 1: writer Jake Kushner. We have new episodes every Tuesday and Friday. 117 00:07:34,600 --> 00:07:36,800 Speaker 1: Feel free to reach out to me with comments and 118 00:07:36,880 --> 00:07:40,800 Speaker 1: even story suggestions on Instagram at Real Patty Steele and 119 00:07:40,880 --> 00:07:43,880 Speaker 1: on Facebook at Patty Steele. Thanks for listening to the 120 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:47,640 Speaker 1: Backstory with Patty Steele, the pieces of history you didn't 121 00:07:47,760 --> 00:07:48,840 Speaker 1: know you needed to know.