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Loading... The Treason Trial of Aaron Burr: Law, Politics, and the Character Wars of the New Nation (2012)| 19 | 1 | 1,146,691 | 
(4.5) | None | The Burr treason trial, one of the greatest criminal trials in American history, was significant for several reasons. The legal proceedings lasted seven months and featured some of the nation's best lawyers. It also pitted President Thomas Jefferson (who declared Burr guilty without the benefit of a trial and who masterminded the prosecution), Chief Justice John Marshall (who sat as a trial judge in the federal circuit court in Richmond) and former Vice President Aaron Burr (who was accused of planning to separate the western states from the Union) against each other. At issue, in addition to the life of Aaron Burr, were the rights of criminal defendants, the constitutional definition of treason and the meaning of separation of powers in the Constitution. Capturing the sheer drama of the long trial, Kent Newmyer's book sheds new light on the chaotic process by which lawyers, judges and politicians fashioned law for the new nation.… (more) |
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"A trial in a Court of Justice is a trial of many things besides the prisoners at the bar."
William Maxwell Evarts, closing address to the jury in the case of the Savannah Privateeers, 1861  | |
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| Dedication |
To my wife Rosanne Pelletier
To my brother Dan Newmyer
and his wife Paula Poppy Newmyer | |
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Americans in 1807, proud of their hard-won status as a nation among nations, were prone to exaggerate their own importance. | |
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Little wonder then that the citizens of the new nation were so "jostled" by the trial, or that historians continue to ponder the way lawyers, judges, presidents and larger-than-life characters like Aaron Burr went about fashioning law for the new nation. (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.) | |
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▾References References to this work on external resources.  Wikipedia in English
None ▾Book descriptions The Burr treason trial, one of the greatest criminal trials in American history, was significant for several reasons. The legal proceedings lasted seven months and featured some of the nation's best lawyers. It also pitted President Thomas Jefferson (who declared Burr guilty without the benefit of a trial and who masterminded the prosecution), Chief Justice John Marshall (who sat as a trial judge in the federal circuit court in Richmond) and former Vice President Aaron Burr (who was accused of planning to separate the western states from the Union) against each other. At issue, in addition to the life of Aaron Burr, were the rights of criminal defendants, the constitutional definition of treason and the meaning of separation of powers in the Constitution. Capturing the sheer drama of the long trial, Kent Newmyer's book sheds new light on the chaotic process by which lawyers, judges and politicians fashioned law for the new nation. ▾Library descriptions No library descriptions found. ▾LibraryThing members' description |
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Thomas Jefferson called out the militia to lock him up, claiming Burr aimed to stir rebellion in the West. Then he took over Burr's prosecution, dangling pardons for witnesses. John Marshall, having newly minted the separation of powers doctrine as chief justice, still was conducting circuit court trials. He caught the case and subpoenaed the president. Good thing the courts don't get this political anymore, right?