Speaker 1: Welcome to Criminalia, a production of Shonda Land Audio in
Speaker 1: partnership with I Heart Radio. We the jury say that
Speaker 1: Aaron Burr is not proved to be guilty under this
Speaker 1: indictment by any evidence submitted to us. We therefore find
Speaker 1: him not guilty of treason. Welcome to Criminalia and the
Speaker 1: first episode of our new season, The Treasonists. I'm Maria
Speaker 1: Tremarqui and I'm Holly Fry. Aaron Burr was the third
Speaker 1: Vice President of the United States, but is probably more
Speaker 1: famous for his involvement in two of the most sensational
Speaker 1: events of his day. On the morning of July eighteen
Speaker 1: o four, when he was forty eight years old and
Speaker 1: vice President of the United States, Burr fatally shot Alexander
Speaker 1: Hamilton's with a fifty six caliber dueling pistol in a
Speaker 1: duel in Weehawken, New Jersey. Hamilton's as a founding father
Speaker 1: of the United States, a lawyer, scholar, economist, soldier, congressman,
Speaker 1: and he was the first U S Secretary of the Treasury.
Speaker 1: Three years after that life defining event, Burr was accused
Speaker 1: and acquitted of treason against the United States. So what
Speaker 1: exactly does that mean? When a vice president, or actually
Speaker 1: any United States citizen for that matter, is accused of treason.
Speaker 1: There are a few things will need to be clear
Speaker 1: about as we kick this season off with an American revolutionist.
Speaker 1: It's just a little bit of vocabulary. Actually, espionage, sedition, insurrection,
Speaker 1: and treason. So espionage is an act of spying or
Speaker 1: using spies for obtaining secret information. Several people generally thought
Speaker 1: of as traders in the United States were actually tried
Speaker 1: for espionage. For instance, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg you June
Speaker 1: nineteen fifty three, the Rosenbergs were executed for conspiracy to
Speaker 1: commit espionage under the US Espionage Act of nineteen seventeen
Speaker 1: in a plot to sell American atomic secrets to the
Speaker 1: Soviet Union. They were the first U S citizens to
Speaker 1: receive the death penalty in an espionage trial. Sedition refers
Speaker 1: to conspiring with others to incite rebellion against lawful authority.
Speaker 1: Insurrection involves actual acts of organized effort that may or
Speaker 1: may not include violence against the state or its officers.
Speaker 1: Sedition and insurrection are distinct from treason, which is a
Speaker 1: violation of a citizen's allegiance to their country by betrayal
Speaker 1: or by aiding the country's enemies. There is a treason
Speaker 1: clause written into the United States Constitution, and it's the
Speaker 1: only crime specifically defined within that document. It's found an
Speaker 1: Article three, section three, and it defines treason against the
Speaker 1: United States and its punishments. Treason against the United States,
Speaker 1: it says, shall consist only in levying war against them,
Speaker 1: or in adhering to their enemies giving them aid and comfort.
Speaker 1: No person shall be convicted of treason unless the testimony
Speaker 1: of two witnesses to the same overt act or on
Speaker 1: confession in open court. Entitle eighteen, United States Code, Section one,
Speaker 1: and that's according to federal law. Today's traders quote, shall
Speaker 1: suffer death or shall be imprisoned not less than five years,
Speaker 1: and find under this title, but not less than ten
Speaker 1: thousand dollars, and shall be incapable of holding any office
Speaker 1: under the United States. Okay, now that that is all
Speaker 1: cleared up, It is the specific wording in the definition
Speaker 1: of treason in the Constitution that ultimately one Burr has acquittal.
Speaker 1: We're going to get into that. It's a little bit early,
Speaker 1: but we're going to take a break for a word
Speaker 1: from our sponsors. So we can keep the story of
Speaker 1: Aaron Burr's life altogether. When we return, we'll get to
Speaker 1: know who Aaron Burgh was before he decided to levy
Speaker 1: war against the United States allegedly. Welcome back to criminallya
Speaker 1: Aaron Burr didn't get along with a lot of his peers,
Speaker 1: at least that's certainly how it seems. But it sounds
Speaker 1: like he was a great lawyer. Let's run through his accomplishments.
Speaker 1: So Aaron Burr is actually Aaron Burg Jr. And he
Speaker 1: was born on February six, seventeen fifty six, in Newark,
Speaker 1: New Jersey. He was the son of Aaron Burr Sr.
Speaker 1: And Esther Edwards, a prominent New Jersey family. Burrow was
Speaker 1: just two years old and his sister four when their
Speaker 1: parents died, and the two were raised by a wealthy uncle,
Speaker 1: their mother's brother. At the age of sixteen, Aaron graduated
Speaker 1: from the College of New Jersey, which to a we
Speaker 1: know as Princeton University. He continued his education, studying law
Speaker 1: at Litchfield Law School in Connecticut. He put his studies
Speaker 1: on hold and volunteered to fight in the American Revolutionary War,
Speaker 1: where he served with distinction under General Benedict Donald and
Speaker 1: rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel. He resigned in
Speaker 1: seventeen seventy nine, citing ill hell, and then Burr went
Speaker 1: back to the law. In seventeen eighty two, he was
Speaker 1: admitted to the New York State Bar, and he opened
Speaker 1: what quickly became a bustling law practice in New York
Speaker 1: City soon thereafter Benedictdonald. Of course he studied under of course,
Speaker 1: he served under Benedict Donald, and like Benedictdonald, and like
Speaker 1: George Washington, didn't get along. And then like Burn Washington
Speaker 1: get along. I'm like this all it's like complete circle here,
Speaker 1: Like she's all out enough. Yeah, the same people like
Speaker 1: each other, which is generally what happens. So Burr was busy.
Speaker 1: He was elected to the New York State Assembly in
Speaker 1: seventeen eighty four and served one term. In seventeen eighty nine,
Speaker 1: he was appointed New York Attorney General by Governor George Clinton,
Speaker 1: a role he served in until seventeen. He was elected
Speaker 1: to the United States Senate that same year, beating General
Speaker 1: Philip Schuyler. This is notable because Skyler happened to not
Speaker 1: only be the incumbent, but he was also the father
Speaker 1: in law of Alexander Hamilton's. Hamilton's and Burr were definitely
Speaker 1: not friends, but they certainly knew each other. Most stories
Speaker 1: of the two's relationship are not flattering for either party.
Speaker 1: Hamilton and Burr differed over a lot of things, but
Speaker 1: definitely politics. Hamilton's was a Federalist, while Burr was politically
Speaker 1: affiliated with the Democratic Republican Party, the party that opposed
Speaker 1: the centralizing policies of Hamilton's. Burr's win over Skylar fuel
Speaker 1: that long standing rivalry. Burr had hoped to secure the
Speaker 1: vice presidency in seventeen but he was not elected. The
Speaker 1: following year, he failed to win re election to the Senate.
Speaker 1: He lost to Skylar, and he blamed that loss on
Speaker 1: Hamilton's for ruining his reputation. In the election of eighteen hundred,
Speaker 1: he was on the presidential ticket with Thomas Jefferson. Each
Speaker 1: man received the same number of electoral votes, a tie
Speaker 1: in the electoral college. Under the electoral college procedures at
Speaker 1: that time, the electors cast their votes for both candidates
Speaker 1: without specifically indicating who should be president and who should
Speaker 1: be vice president. It wasn't until eighteen o four, when
Speaker 1: the twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution was adopted,
Speaker 1: requiring electors to cast separate ballots for president and vice president,
Speaker 1: so that vote went to the House of Representatives to
Speaker 1: decide the outcome, where it was determined that Jefferson would
Speaker 1: be president with Burr as his vice president. Whether or
Speaker 1: not it had any influence, and there's no way to
Speaker 1: be sure, but it was foe Alexander Hamilton's who lobbied
Speaker 1: Congress towards choosing President Jefferson. Jefferson did not trust Burr,
Speaker 1: and since the election, he had believed that Burr had
Speaker 1: engaged in secret meetings and dealings in an effort to
Speaker 1: secure the presidency for himself. He, meaning Jefferson and other
Speaker 1: party leaders often marginalized the vice president in his role
Speaker 1: Because of that belief, secret dealings or no secret dealings.
Speaker 1: Jefferson would continue to be a misery in Burr's life,
Speaker 1: and we could pretty safely say vice versa. They were
Speaker 1: swift political enemies. But it was a dinner party that
Speaker 1: ultimately sparked the infamous Burr Hamilton's duel. Nearing the end
Speaker 1: of his term as vice president, Burr ran for the
Speaker 1: governorship of New York in February of eighteen o four,
Speaker 1: a New York Republican doctor, Charles D. Cooper, attended a
Speaker 1: dinner at which Alexander Hamilton's spoke at length and strongly
Speaker 1: against Burr. He had done that many times, but here's
Speaker 1: the problem with this particular instance. Cooper then wrote a
Speaker 1: letter to Philip Schuyler in which he described how Hamilton's
Speaker 1: had insulted Aaron Burr, one of the New York gubernatorial candidates,
Speaker 1: at a private dinner. That letter was also published in
Speaker 1: the newspaper The Albany Register. So did Hamilton's intend for
Speaker 1: the things he said to be relayed in a published letter.
Speaker 1: Maybe maybe not. But it wasn't the first time Hamilton's
Speaker 1: had spoken about Burr in the press. It was once
Speaker 1: printed in a New York newspaper that Hamilton's quote looked
Speaker 1: upon Burr to be a dangerous man and one who
Speaker 1: ought not to be trusted with the reigns of government.
Speaker 1: The letter hindered Burr's bid for New York governorship, or
Speaker 1: at least Burr felt that way, and he lost by
Speaker 1: a large margin to Morgan Lewis. It was when he
Speaker 1: confronted Hamilton's about his slanderous words that Burr challenged his
Speaker 1: longtime rival to a duel. Duels at this point were
Speaker 1: illegal in both New York and New Jersey, but the
Speaker 1: penalties were way less severe in New Jersey, so they
Speaker 1: chose we Hawket. We Hawke in New Jersey is just
Speaker 1: over the Hudson River from New York City. Today, the
Speaker 1: Lincoln Tunnel, which is just about a mile and a
Speaker 1: half long, connects we hawk In with midtown Manhattan. There
Speaker 1: are conflicting accounts about what exactly happened during this duel,
Speaker 1: but the facts remained these. Each man fired one shot,
Speaker 1: Burr was left unhurt, and Hamilton's fatally wounded. Died the
Speaker 1: next day. While Burr was indicted for murder in both
Speaker 1: the states of New York and New Jersey. He returned
Speaker 1: to Washington, d C. And resumed his VP duties presiding
Speaker 1: over the Senate. He finished his vice presidency safe from prosecution,
Speaker 1: and the indictments in this case never reached trial. First,
Speaker 1: political achievements are largely overshadowed by his duel with Hamilton's.
Speaker 1: Many things really about for his life seemed to be
Speaker 1: overshadowed by that event, except maybe the treason In late
Speaker 1: November of eighteen o six, President Jefferson issued a proclamation
Speaker 1: stating that a traitorous conspiracy had been uncovered, so he
Speaker 1: didn't mention any names at that time. He called on quote,
Speaker 1: all persons whatsoever engaged or concerned in the same, to
Speaker 1: cease all further proceedings therein, as they will answer the
Speaker 1: contrary at their peril. In response, the House of Representatives
Speaker 1: requested that Jefferson present evidence to support his claims. Instead.
Speaker 1: On January eighteen o seven, Jefferson pronounced Burr as guilty
Speaker 1: of treason, this time naming names, and he stated that
Speaker 1: Aaron Burr was a traitor whose quote guilt is placed
Speaker 1: beyond all question. Jefferson's public declaration of Burr's guilt before
Speaker 1: there had even been an arrest or indictment, was of
Speaker 1: course controversial. In response, former President John Adams, for instance,
Speaker 1: wrote that even if Burr's quote guilt is as clear
Speaker 1: as the noonday sun, the first magistrate ought not to
Speaker 1: have pronounced it so before a jury had tried him.
Speaker 1: Here's how it began. After his rival's death and the
Speaker 1: end of his vice presidency. First interest lay with the
Speaker 1: country's newly acquired territory and the land around the United
Speaker 1: States too, orders were disputed, and the land was perceived
Speaker 1: as being unsettled, though that ignored indigenous populations already living there.
Speaker 1: He believed, with a small but well armed military, he
Speaker 1: could take territory for himself, but burn knew he couldn't
Speaker 1: go it alone and brought in General James Wilkinson of
Speaker 1: the United States Army. Wilkinson and Burr had been friends
Speaker 1: since serving in the Revolutionary War. Burr had also convinced
Speaker 1: President Jefferson to name his buddy as governor of the
Speaker 1: new Northern Louisiana. A few months after or his vice
Speaker 1: presidency ended, Burr traveled west on a reconnaissance mission of sorts,
Speaker 1: you could call it, along with a visit to Wilkinson. Together,
Speaker 1: expecting or at least hoping war to break out between
Speaker 1: the United States and Spain over boundary disputes, Wilkinson and
Speaker 1: Burr planned an invasion of Mexico, which was part of
Speaker 1: the Spanish Empire, in order to establish their own independent
Speaker 1: government there. They may the record is inconclusive on this part.
Speaker 1: They may have also discussed a plan to incite a
Speaker 1: secessionist movement in the West planning for that group to
Speaker 1: join Mexico. It's also been speculated that the plan could
Speaker 1: have been to provoke war with Spain to create an
Speaker 1: independent Mexico, or to perhaps separate the trans Alleghany region
Speaker 1: from the United States, or maybe just simply to see
Speaker 1: there was a fortune to be made. Burt did try
Speaker 1: to raise a small army on the American frontier, and
Speaker 1: by the time he returned to washing To d C
Speaker 1: that November, he had numerous supporters, including former U. S
Speaker 1: Senator Jonathan Dayton and members of the Mexico Society, which
Speaker 1: was a group of New Orleans businessmen who favored annexation
Speaker 1: of Mexican land in the West. Burr assumed Wilkinson would
Speaker 1: be able to both control the land and a military force.
Speaker 1: In August of eighteen o four, Burr contacted Britain's Minister
Speaker 1: to the United States, a man named Anthony Mary. He
Speaker 1: offered to help Britain take a piece of western territory
Speaker 1: from the United States. In return, Burr wanted money, and
Speaker 1: he wanted a force to carry out this conquest. Mary
Speaker 1: was immediately in touch with his contacts in Britain, detailing
Speaker 1: that Burr had offered to quote, lend his assistant to
Speaker 1: His Majesty's government in any manner in which they may
Speaker 1: think fit to employ him, particularly in endeavoring to effect
Speaker 1: a separation of the western part of the United States
Speaker 1: from that which lies between the Atlantic and the Mountains.
Speaker 1: He continued, quote. Mr Burr has mentioned to me that
Speaker 1: the inhabitants of Louisiana, the lands recently purchased from France,
Speaker 1: seemed determined to render themselves independent of the United States,
Speaker 1: and the execution of their design is only delayed by
Speaker 1: the difficulty of obtaining previously an assurance of protection and
Speaker 1: assistance from some foreign power. It is clear that Mr
Speaker 1: Burr means to endeavor to be the instrument for affecting
Speaker 1: such a connection. Making his move, Burr sent a coded
Speaker 1: letter to Wilkinson outlining his next plan. I have at
Speaker 1: length obtained funds it included, and have actually commenced. The
Speaker 1: letter would become known as the Cipher Letter, and the
Speaker 1: document figured prominently at Burr's treason trial. Both the prosecution
Speaker 1: and the defense used the Cipher Letter to try and
Speaker 1: prove their case. Wilkinson, though believed that the plan was
Speaker 1: going to fail, and he betrayed Burr Rumors about Burr's
Speaker 1: plans had begun to circulate and had even been published
Speaker 1: in newspapers. One Philadelphia paper speculated that Burr would soon
Speaker 1: be quote at the head of a revolutionary party. It
Speaker 1: also reported that he planned to quote engage in the
Speaker 1: reduction of Mexico with the aid of quote British ships
Speaker 1: and forces. The persistent rumors made President Jefferson increasingly suspicious,
Speaker 1: and then on October nine, Wilkinson sent a letter to
Speaker 1: Jefferson outlining the conspiracy. He did not name Burr, but
Speaker 1: stated that there was a quote deep, dark, wicked, and
Speaker 1: widespread conspiracy afoot. In an interesting and somewhat twisty side note,
Speaker 1: it turns out that Wilkinson was in the pocket of
Speaker 1: the Spanish government for many years. It's that old when
Speaker 1: you accuse people of things, it's because you are doing
Speaker 1: it yourself. Ah. So we're going to take a break
Speaker 1: for a word from our sponsor now, and when we're
Speaker 1: back you will be talking about Burr's arrest, his indictment,
Speaker 1: and finally his trial. Welcome back to Criminalia. This is it,
Speaker 1: the Burr conspiracy. So let's untangle what happened now. On
Speaker 1: the move Burr's first stop was Blenner Hasset's Island on
Speaker 1: the Ohio River, where he intended on rallying his forces.
Speaker 1: Harmon blenner Hasset, wealthy Irish aristocrat, and his wife Margaret,
Speaker 1: constructed their estate on the island in They allowed their
Speaker 1: island to become headquarters for Burr's military expedition or mission,
Speaker 1: or exploit, whatever we should be calling in at this point,
Speaker 1: since they had met him along the river during his
Speaker 1: early trips west. On December nine, eighteen o six, authority
Speaker 1: struck their first blow against his plan. Ohio militiaman captured
Speaker 1: most of Burr's boats and supplies at a merry at
Speaker 1: a boatyard. Two days later, the militia rated blinder Hassett's Island,
Speaker 1: but most of the men had already left. The end
Speaker 1: though came at Bioupierre, just thirty miles outside of New Orleans,
Speaker 1: when Burr saw a headline in a New Orleans newspaper
Speaker 1: announcing a reward for his capture. The paper also had
Speaker 1: printed in full a translation of the coded letter Burr
Speaker 1: had sent to Wilkinson. He surrendered to authorities at Biopierre
Speaker 1: and was arraigned before a Grand jury. He and his
Speaker 1: supporters insisted they had no intention of attacking US territory,
Speaker 1: and the jury failed to return an indictment, so he
Speaker 1: went free. Next for Burr was traveled down the Mississippi
Speaker 1: River on nine long boats along with about sixty men,
Speaker 1: and that is when he learned that he might be
Speaker 1: assassinated if he went to New Orleans. While making his
Speaker 1: way deep into the Mississippi Territory, soldiers from Fort Stoddard,
Speaker 1: Louisiana Territory captured Burr, who was considered a fugitive at
Speaker 1: that point. They captured him on the morning of February nineteenth,
Speaker 1: eighteen o seven, on a muddy road near the hamlet
Speaker 1: of Wakefield. On June seven, a grand jury indicted Burr
Speaker 1: for treason for levying war against the United States, an
Speaker 1: act which was said to have taken place on December tenth,
Speaker 1: eighteen o six, on Blenner Hassett's Island. Burr was also
Speaker 1: indicted for high misdemeanor for organizing a military expedition against
Speaker 1: Spain in Mexico in violation of the Neutrality Act of
Speaker 1: He was tried separately on the two charges. Despite the
Speaker 1: weakness of the evidence against him. His case went to trial,
Speaker 1: and it began on August third, eighteen o seven. Had
Speaker 1: he been found guilty of treason, the penalty would be death.
Speaker 1: His trial, or the Burr Conspiracy, as it came to
Speaker 1: be known, was held in Richmond, Virginia. Why Virginia because
Speaker 1: the alleged overt act of treason had taken place on
Speaker 1: blinder Hassett Island, a small spot of land that was
Speaker 1: at the time part of Virginia. John Marshall, chief Justice
Speaker 1: of the United States Supreme Court, sat as circuit judge.
Speaker 1: The defense attorneys included Edmund Randolph and Luther Martin, both
Speaker 1: former delegates to the Constitutional Convention. Jefferson himself led the
Speaker 1: prosecution from the White House, or micro managed it, it
Speaker 1: would seem. Attorneys George Hay and William Wirt, who would
Speaker 1: go on to become the longest serving Attorney General in
Speaker 1: United States history, rounded out the prosecution. At one point
Speaker 1: during the proceedings, Martin denounced President Jefferson for behaving like
Speaker 1: quote a king of Great Britain and for unleashing quote
Speaker 1: the dogs of war the hell hounds of persecution against
Speaker 1: an innocent man for personal reasons. Jefferson responded by insinuating
Speaker 1: that Martin was a co conspirator of Burr and should
Speaker 1: be prosecuted for quote miss prision that would be concealment
Speaker 1: of treason. At least he was not on the prosecution side.
Speaker 1: The National Endowment for the Humanities has a great description
Speaker 1: of work engaged in the courtroom. They referred to his
Speaker 1: scathing portrayal of Burr as the serpent in the garden
Speaker 1: of Republican virtue as the quote rhetorical high point in
Speaker 1: the trial. The prosecution lined up more than one hundred
Speaker 1: and forty witnesses. Jefferson had sent prosecutors blank pardons quote
Speaker 1: to be filled up at your discretion should any of
Speaker 1: the other offenders be willing to testify against Fur. But
Speaker 1: after several testified to Burr's quote evil intention, Burr's lawyers
Speaker 1: objected to any witnesses who weren't offering any evidence regarding
Speaker 1: actual overt acts of treason. Chief Justice Marshall ruled in favor,
Speaker 1: arguing that only witnesses who could tell defy about an
Speaker 1: overt act of levying war could take the stand. He
Speaker 1: instructed the jury that it had to confine its decision
Speaker 1: to testimony that an act of war against the United
Speaker 1: States had been conducted on Blenner has Its Island. We
Speaker 1: quote no testimony relative to the conduct or declarations of
Speaker 1: the prisoner elsewhere and subsequent to the transaction on Blenner
Speaker 1: Hasset's Island can be admitted because such testimony, being in
Speaker 1: its nature merely corroborative and incompetent to prove the overt
Speaker 1: act in itself. Is it relevant until there be proof
Speaker 1: of the overt act by two witnesses. This opinion does
Speaker 1: not comprehend the proof by two witnesses that the meeting
Speaker 1: on Blenner has Its Island was procured by the prisoner.
Speaker 1: Here's what happened on that day. On Blenner Hassets Island.
Speaker 1: There had been an uneventful but armed standoff between some
Speaker 1: of Burr's men and the Virginia State militia. On December tenth,
Speaker 1: eighteen o six. Party of Burr's supporters had assembled with
Speaker 1: supplies and a few boats. The men were armed, but
Speaker 1: reportedly they had mostly hunting rifles, not military muskets. They
Speaker 1: spent time on target practice, and they prepared ammunition for
Speaker 1: the rifles. The island was the one and only location
Speaker 1: where the government claimed that Burr was planning that overt
Speaker 1: act of treason, but he wasn't even there that day.
Speaker 1: Burr was a hundred miles away from events on Blinder
Speaker 1: Hassett's Island on December tenth, and that was damaging testimony
Speaker 1: for the prosecution. Chief Justice Marshall issued a subpoena to
Speaker 1: President Jefferson to deliver documents that Burr had requested to
Speaker 1: prepare his defense, including War Department orders and copies of
Speaker 1: the letter and other paper sent to Jefferson by General
Speaker 1: James Wilkinson. Jefferson supplied only a small number of letters
Speaker 1: to the court, and he never acknowledged the subpoena or
Speaker 1: the second one that he received later that summer. As
Speaker 1: to the overt acts, Jefferson wrote, We're not the bundle
Speaker 1: of letters of information in Attorney General Caesar Rodney's hands.
Speaker 1: The letters and facts published in local newspapers, Burr's flight,
Speaker 1: and the universal belief or rumor of his guilt probable
Speaker 1: ground for presuming overt acts to have taken place. Jefferson
Speaker 1: didn't like Burr. Are the rumors not enough? But he
Speaker 1: did not get along with Marshall either. Marshall took a
Speaker 1: nationalist view of the Constitution, and he focused on strong
Speaker 1: central government. Jefferson was an a grarian. Jefferson also believed
Speaker 1: the Chief Justice stole a seat on the Supreme Court
Speaker 1: through lame duck appointments. So let's just say there was
Speaker 1: friction here absolutely whether he had or had not plotted
Speaker 1: to take United States in Spanish territories in Louisiana and
Speaker 1: Mexico to establish an independent republic. He was acquitted for
Speaker 1: lack of evidence, a verdict many historians attribute to Marshall's
Speaker 1: strict instructions to the jury to take strict and narrow
Speaker 1: interpretation of the Constitution's treason clause. Burr's team spent three
Speaker 1: days arguing this very thing, that to be guilty of treason,
Speaker 1: the accused must have committed an overt act in a war,
Speaker 1: testified to by two witnesses and committed within the district
Speaker 1: of the trial. Because Burr's actions did not meet that definition,
Speaker 1: he had to be acquitted. The jury found him quote
Speaker 1: not guilty by the evidence presented. Separately, Burr was also
Speaker 1: acquitted on his high misdemeanor charge. Jefferson, in frustration and
Speaker 1: anger at that verdict, wanted the House of representatives to
Speaker 1: bring an impeachment charge against Chief Justice Marshall Jefferson, though
Speaker 1: did not get his way on that one. After his acquittal,
Speaker 1: Burr was not guilty, but found he had lost in
Speaker 1: the court of public opinion. He was burned in effigy.
Speaker 1: With resources drained, Burr left the United States to live
Speaker 1: as an expat in Europe, but not permanently. He did
Speaker 1: return to the United States and in eighteen twelve resumed
Speaker 1: practicing law in New York City. In his final years,
Speaker 1: he did suffer multiple strokes that left him partially paralyzed,
Speaker 1: and he died on September four, eighteen thirty six, at
Speaker 1: the age of eighty, while in the care of a
Speaker 1: cousin at Port Richmond, Staten Island in New York. So
Speaker 1: this season, out of the treasonists in the traders, what
Speaker 1: shall we call our goldtail station, I'm calling this the
Speaker 1: perfect e poor. I just felt alliterative, and I like
Speaker 1: that word. Sometimes the word is Wednesday, and it's true
Speaker 1: Maine to our theme of people not trusting one another.
Speaker 1: So we are living in very interesting and troubling times,
Speaker 1: and I think we keep talking about many news things
Speaker 1: and even just when people are chatting amongst themselves around
Speaker 1: social It's like unprecedented the things we're going through some
Speaker 1: of them. Yes, but listen, when you read this story
Speaker 1: or you hear this story, it's like, oh well, actually, um,
Speaker 1: a lot of these things were going on from the
Speaker 1: beginning of our country's existence. Exactly. It's a little bit
Speaker 1: hard to escape from the news and the show. Yes,
Speaker 1: I couldn't help but think about that a lot. As
Speaker 1: I was preparing his first perfecty poor, I wanted to
Speaker 1: do something that was reminiscent of drinks that may have
Speaker 1: been consumed around this time. We've talked about before how
Speaker 1: like a hard cider would be very popular during that time,
Speaker 1: often with another spirit added. So I made a little
Speaker 1: cocktail called the same as it ever was. Hopefully you
Speaker 1: still have some hard cider from the last time we
Speaker 1: did it, which is not that long ago. It has
Speaker 1: an interesting flavor, and I'll tell you what happened when
Speaker 1: I made it. You might laugh at me, and that's fine.
Speaker 1: You were going to take one ounce of dark rum.
Speaker 1: I did a dark spice drum for this delicious one
Speaker 1: ounce of orgea, or you could use another almond syrup
Speaker 1: if you have that on hand. Five ounces of apple cider.
Speaker 1: I made sure that the dark rum and the orga
Speaker 1: were combined together completely before pouring that hard cider over it,
Speaker 1: because the hard cider has some bubbling nous to it.
Speaker 1: And then I hit it with just a dash or
Speaker 1: two of angister a bitters. And this is one of
Speaker 1: those drinks that I sipped it and went, was this
Speaker 1: a horrible mistake? And then I stirred it a little bit,
Speaker 1: went is this a horrible mistake? And then I took
Speaker 1: a third sip and went, it is not a horrible
Speaker 1: mistake at all. Now I just got good. I needed
Speaker 1: to stir it a little bit more and combine it,
Speaker 1: because if you just let it sit on top of
Speaker 1: each other sometimes that's a fun way to experience a drink.
Speaker 1: This is not one of those you want to combine them.
Speaker 1: I would like to think that along the way. Aaron
Speaker 1: Burr was like, is this a horrible mistake? I'm doing it.
Speaker 1: I love a little almond flavor. The thing that's interesting
Speaker 1: is that the cider and the dark rum have so
Speaker 1: much flavor of their own that they bring to the
Speaker 1: party that the or ja, uh, you don't get that
Speaker 1: almond flavor initially like. It took a couple of SIPs
Speaker 1: before my tongue was like, that's almond and it's delicious,
Speaker 1: and then it was very yummy. That is the same
Speaker 1: as an because that's how I'm feeling today. This is
Speaker 1: a very easy one to make a mock tail out of.
Speaker 1: Instead of dark rum, We're going to do that thing
Speaker 1: we do where we sub out a tea. I would
Speaker 1: do a tea with some spice to it. I would
Speaker 1: do like a tea that's intended to make chai here,
Speaker 1: and then do that with a non alcoholic apple cider,
Speaker 1: especially as sparkling. Use your or you can still do
Speaker 1: the bidders if you are a person that doesn't even
Speaker 1: do bidders because you want no drops of alcohol at all.
Speaker 1: Since it has a tiny minuscule amount in it, you
Speaker 1: can skip those. It's fine. It's still to be really interesting,
Speaker 1: I think in very yummy. It's what's interesting is that
Speaker 1: it's not too sweet at all. I tend to like
Speaker 1: a sweet drink, but I know not everyone does. If
Speaker 1: you do like a sweet drink, or you a horror
Speaker 1: sweet drink, the easy fix to make here is to
Speaker 1: dial that orga amount up or down When I first
Speaker 1: did it, I only put in a half ounce. That
Speaker 1: was not enough for my palette, and it just was
Speaker 1: a little too Something wasn't working in terms of the balance,
Speaker 1: so I added a little bit more and that's how
Speaker 1: we landed here. But if you would like it even sweeter,
Speaker 1: you could put more in. It also depends on the
Speaker 1: sweetness of the apple cider you're using. Summer much much
Speaker 1: sweeter than others, especially once you get into hard cider.
Speaker 1: They have very different flavor profiles. Brand to brand. You
Speaker 1: can calibrate based on that. So yes, same as it
Speaker 1: ever was. I hope we all have some sense of
Speaker 1: hope that our country has gotten through a lot of
Speaker 1: weird times before and hopefully we will manage this again.
Speaker 1: It's hard to see that at some moments, but that's
Speaker 1: my hope. If this story gives you any rent of
Speaker 1: hope whatsoever, I will consider in a wild runaway success
Speaker 1: and you can enjoy a little sip of a cocktail
Speaker 1: while you condum plate. We are so excited to be
Speaker 1: talking about trees in this season, and we hope you
Speaker 1: will join us again next week because we have more
Speaker 1: wild tales of behavior. Criminalia is a production of Shonda
Speaker 1: land Audio in partnership with I heart Radio. For more
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Speaker 1: favorite shows.