How was Alexander Hamilton a martyr?

Answer 1

Alexander Hamilton was a brilliant man, a great and intelligent orator and a forward-thinking, far-sighted politician. He was also a great judge of character and he knew, almost from the time he met Aaron Burr, that the man was bad news. Burr was hot-headed, irrational, greedy and had a scheme for everything; twice Aaron Burr tried to undermine the new nation and start his own political systems in outlying territories by manipulating politics and people of power into backing him. He was more or less exiled from the political arena for a while--unofficially--for his rash, bold actions.

At one point in time, the presidency was up for grabs by either Jefferson or Aaron Burr. The feud/rivalry/general disagreement on almost everything between Jefferson and Hamilton was more than well known--it was actually pretty notorious. Still, even with all that between them, Alexander Hamilton realized he could not--in good conscience--allow the fate of the nation to fall into Aaron Burr's hands, especially over a ideological difference with Jefferson. So, in a strategical gambit, Hamilton threw the Federalist backing in Congress to Jefferson and his supporters which effectively assisted in getting Jefferson elected. And Aaron Burr never forgot that slight, ever. Time and time again, every opportunity that Aaron Burr got to resurrect or reinstate his plans for a different political scheme, Hamilton blocked it using his own political power, his connections to high-ranking officials and general back-door tactics.

In the end, Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr had a confrontation over a comment that Aaron Burr supposedly made against Hamilton's character. They agreed on a duel of honor and met at the assigned place. However, there's documentation that Hamilton at least considered--very strongly--'throwing away' his first shot in the duel, which is to say, he meant to purposely miss the shot. Also, it's worth knowing just a little bit about the situation: duels were looked down upon and missing a shot was considered both a gentleman's way of saying 'hey, look, we came and did it but there's no reason to die over this' and as a coward's way of putting things in the hands of Fate. And there's also documentation, on Burr's side, saying that he planned to shoot with deadly aim.

What happened that day on the field is a little sketchy; reports differ. Some people say Hamilton missed the shot on purpose, some say his gun didn't shoot properly; there's a general consensus that Burr was shocked that his shot connected--which seems at odds with his previous claim to 'kill Hamilton dead'. Either way, Hamilton suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the abdomen and died the the next day.

This question regards Hamilton's unofficial (but not undeserved) status as a martyr. He's often called a martyr because for better or worse, what he did on that field--both confronting Burr and in fulfilling his own death--ruined Aaron Burr's political aspirations and peer support, never to be recovered. Working under the assumption that Hamilton missed the shot on purpose (or that he at least planned to) and Burr shot him dead, then Burr would be villainized as a murderer who took a simple insult and challenge too far. By destroying Burr's credibility, Hamilton eliminated the other man's threat to the still fragile stability of the nation, therefore sacrificing himself for the good of others or the good of a cause--the definition of a martyr.