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On July 11, 1804, Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr met on the dueling grounds at Weehawken, New Jersey, to fight the final skirmish of a long-lived political and personal battle.

When the duel was over, Hamilton would be mortally wounded, and Burr would be wanted for murder.

The first major skirmish was in 1791, when Burr successfully captured a United States Senate seat from Philip Schuyler, Hamilton's powerful father-in-law. Hamilton, then Treasury secretary, would have counted on Schuyler to support his policies.

President Andrew Jackson kills a man who accused him of cheating on a horse race bet

Estimates of the number of duels in which Jackson participated ranged from five to 100.

Jackson challenged Dickinson to a duel.

One of the most shocking events of his presidency was the Aaron Burr duel with Alexander Hamilton

Duels were not uncommon

perhaps by flinging his glove before him, the origin of the phrase "throwing down the gauntlet"

Jackson challenged Dickinson to a duel very much according to the customs of the time in the south. Dickinson, known as one of the best shots in Tennessee if not the best, had choice of weapons and chose pistols. Dickinson fired the first shot, which broke two of Jackson's ribs and lodged two inches from his heart. Dickinson then had to stand at the mark as Jackson, clutching his chest, aimed slowly and shot him fatally.

Member of U.S. House of Representatives, 1796-97 United States Senator, 1797-98 Justice on Tennessee Supreme Court, 1798-1804 Governor of the Florida Territory, 1821 United States Senator, 1823-25

Following the War of Independence, Jackson followed several occupations, studied law and became a public prosecutor in western North Carolina (present-day Tennessee) in the new community of Nashville. Jackson became a land speculator and slave owner, who also developed a reputation for brawling.

During the War of 1812, Jackson took command of militia forces, but his mission was cancelled. While marching back to Tennessee, his soldiers experienced his toughness and dubbed him “Old Hickory.”

In 1823, Jackson was elected to the U.S. Senate and immediately regarded as a presidential possibility. In the Election of 1824, he garnered the most popular votes, but lacked an electoral majority. The House of Representatives selected his rival, John Quincy Adams.

All of Jackson's high-handed actions as General were brought up. One notable example was the "Coffin Handbill" featuring pictures of 6 coffins, and describing one-sidedly the story of some soldiers that Jackson had court-martialed and executed. Naturally, Jackson's record of dueling made good print for the opposition.

The South was adamantly anti-tariff, and prominent South Carolinians were on the verge of proclaiming a right to "Nullify" offensive national laws, with a threat of succession if Washington intervened by force.

In December, it had become obvious that Jackson won the election in a landslide. The count was 178 to 83 electoral votes, or 647,276 to 508,064 electoral votes.