Aaron Burr was born in New Jersey in 1756. His parents could be considered to be among the elite of society in the English held colonies. His father was the President of the College of New Jersey in Princeton. Unfortunately for the recently born Aaron he did not experience the happy childhood that being born into such a family usually afforded. When Burr was a mere two years old both his parents died, along with a grandfather, a grandmother and a great-grandfather. Burr and his older sister were orphaned and sent to live with their uncle, under his charge is where Burr would spend the remainder of his young life. When Burr became old enough he attended the College at Princeton, the very College where his father had once been president. When rumblings of the Revolutionary War began to spread through the colonies Burr began to turn the attention of his studies to military strategy and tactics. When war broke out Burr enlisted in the new American army. He served valiantly in the army, (Ironically, given future events, serving under Benedict Arnold in his northern campaign.) rising to the rank of Colonel. It was during this period of his life where the young Burr first became acquainted with a man named James Wilkinson. A man who would later help lead Burr to his ultimate demise in America. Burr served a number of years in the army but because of declining health he eventually resigned. After the war ended Burr moved to New York to establish himself in a law practice. The smart and eloquent Burr quickly rose to prominence in the legal community of the rapidly growing city of New York. In New York Burr's main rival quickly became another young attorney rising to prominence named Alexander Hamilton. Burr quickly became involved in the politics of the newly formed state of New York and at the age of thirty-three he was appointed Attorney General of the State. He was nearing the end of this term when the state legislature appointed Burr to be their new Senator to the United States Senate. This move was particularly upsetting to Burr's rival, who had been counting on his father-in-law being appointed to that position.
In the year 1800 Burr ran for the Presidency, in actuality most people had voted for Burr expecting he would be the Vice-President to Thomas Jefferson. However when the votes were counted Jefferson and Burr ended up tied. This through the election into the House of Representatives where each state was to vote to decide who between the two would be the President. After numerous tie votes Jefferson emerged as the winner. (Rumors persist to this day that some sort of deal was struck between Jefferson and his political rivals.) Burr was now the Vice-President of the United States, he was however distrusted by his President and seen not as an ally but as a potential rival. For this reason when time came for the next election Burr was not even mentioned as a candidate for the Vice-Presidency. Burr next ran an unsuccessful campaign for governor of New York. This loss was evidence to Burr just what had happened to his political career. In 1804 Hamilton made disparaging comments about Burr which were printed in the papers. Burr could not suffer these indignities from his rival and issued a challenge to Hamilton to meet him for a duel. On July 11, 1804 the two met and Burr fatally wounded Hamilton. Burr showed no remorse for the act he had done. Unfortunately an Indictment for Burr was soon issued for the murder of Alexander Hamilton. Considering this and the shambles his political career had become, Burr decided to go West to find his fortune again.
It was in the West that Burr and his partner, and long time friend, James Wilkinson hatched their conspiracy. The conspiracy involved their plans to invade the Spanish colony of Mexico and bring it over to the United States. This was a realistic assumption given the strained politics between the two countries at the time. However at this point the scope of the conspiracy becomes called into question by a variety of sources. It is not clear if, as he was later charged at trial, Burr intended to convince the States west of the Appalachian Mountains to break away from the rest of the United States and join with Mexico to form a new country led by Burr. It has never been determined what Burr's intentions were and what Wilkinson's intentions were involving the raising of an army. The undisputed facts are that Burr intended to invade Mexico and he intended to raise and army using as a staging ground the island mansion of Harman Blennerhassett. When these attempts failed Burr was arrested, indicted, tried and eventually acquitted of treason.
Disgraced in the United States Burr went abroad in an attempt to revive his fortunes. He first tried to find refuge in England. When he was rebuffed there he tried to find a place in the various countries in Europe, with little to no success. He would eventually return to the United States, but he would never again reach the political or financial prominence he had once enjoined. Burr finally ended his long and storied life in the year 1836.