The Trial of Aaron Burr

Chapter 2: PREFACE

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About This Book

An account recounts the arrest and Richmond preliminary examination of Aaron Burr in 1807, detailing his confinement, presentation before Chief Justice Marshall, and the prosecution's reliance on depositions from the Bollman and Swartout proceedings connecting him to armed schemes against Spanish territory and New Orleans. It describes the legal arguments over probable cause, bail set at ten thousand dollars, the adjournment to the House of Delegates, and the May Circuit Court session, while situating the case amid partisan tensions and President Jefferson's anger. The narrative draws on original court papers, warrants, subpoenas, and jury findings to reconstruct events and legal procedure.

PREFACE

Among the records of the United States Courts at Richmond, Virginia, are the original papers in the case of the “United States versus Aaron Burr, Indictment for Treason.” The tawny fingers of time have dealt gently with these papers, and although more than a century old they are still in a good state of preservation.

The story of the trial of Aaron Burr has often been written, and there is little new that can be added; but these old manuscripts and official documents, so historic in their character, should at least in some form survive the ravages of time. It is with this thought in mind, and with the hope that possibly some fact not already recorded in history might be disclosed by the original papers, that this brief history is written.