Today is May 22, and on this date in history, 1807, Aaron Burr was indicted for treason by a federal grand jury in Virginia.
He was one of the chief founders of the Democratic Party in New York State and is also notably remembered for his treason trial.
He was indicted for treason because the "saintly" Thomas Jefferson whipped his administration to keep submitting Burr's case to the grand jury. After the fourth attempt the Jefferson Administration finally got an indictment.
Jefferson hated Burr because they had both received the identical number of votes for President in the electoral college and Burr would not yield to Jefferson. The House of Representatives had to elect and Jefferson vowed to get even.
As to the treason charges, Burr was broke when he left the Vice Presidency and he became involved in some plot with some of Jefferson's corrupt territorial governors and generals to seize some Spanish Territory.
The informant against Burr was none other than his co-conspirator, Jefferson's crooked Governor of Louisiana Territory, General Wilkinson.
Jefferson sat on the information for over a year. Nobody knows why but finally acted as I stated before. The acts that Burr had supposedly committed were mere misdemeanors under the law but the Jeffersonians overreached themselves and indicted Burr for treason after three unsuccessful tries.
Burr came to trial in the Circuit Court of the United States August 3, 1807, in Richmond, Virginia. Chief Justice John Marshall presided.
So flimsy was the charge that Marshall dismissed the indictment. It seems the U. S. Constitution requires two witnesses in open court to secure a conviction. The Jeffersonians could not dig up another witness!
After the acquittal, Jefferson did not give up. He forced an indictment of the proper misdemeanor charge for violation of the Neutrality Act. Again Burr was acquitted--on a technicality--croaked the Jeffersonians.
The moral of my tale--don't p*ss off the "saintly" Tom Jefferson!
