All this can be traced back to Monroe's investigation when he was a senator from Virginia. 1792, 12 In February, Frederick Mullenberg and Abraham Venable reached an agreement with his Republican colleagues. Jacob clagman, a former employee of Mullenberg, and James Reynolds, a partner, were jailed for participating in a financial plan involving * * * funds. Klingemann identified the then Treasury Secretary Hamilton as an accomplice who took advantage of his position. If the accusation against Hamilton is true, it will be the end of his career.
Monroe, Mullenberg and Wimble interviewed Klingemann, Reynolds and his wife Maria, and found that Hamilton occasionally provided funds to James. The team drafted a letter to President George Washington and attached their interview record in February 16 5438+03, but it was not sent until they met with Hamilton. What Hamilton told them on 12 and 15 shocked them: all the money paid to James Reynolds was part of extortion to cover up Hamilton's illegal love affair with Maria, and he had a letter to prove it. Members of Congress gave up the investigation, and Monroe assured Hamilton that he would not return copies of any letters under investigation to kleiman or Reynolds. Even in the18th century, sexual conspiracy may shake the Capitol.
It becomes more exciting here. When Klingemann told Maria Reynolds that he heard that Hamilton would not be prosecuted, she was "very shocked" and "shed immoral tears". Maria claimed that Hamilton and her husband forged letters and provided evidence of extramarital affairs. 1793 65438+1On the evening of October 2nd, Klingemann visited Monroe with the news of Maria. Monroe recorded his conversation with Klingemann, tied all the documents related to the investigation together and sent them to a friend in Virginia (probably Thomas Jefferson) for safekeeping. however
To Monroe's surprise, the staff working with the investigators will make more copies and send them to James Calander, a gossip reporter who is famous for spreading political scandals, including exposing the relationship between Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings. 1797 In June and July, Calander published a series of pamphlets, including allegations of financial speculation and adultery against Hamilton. It is not clear why Calander chose to announce the attack at this time, but Hamilton and his wife Elizabeth are convinced that it was instigated by Monroe to retaliate for his humiliating recall from France. This booklet contains secret documents collected by Monroe gloves. A federal congressman said that these pamphlets would "satisfy the evil and malice of an abominable faction."
Hamilton was understandably angry. On July 5th, he wrote to Monroe, Mullenberg and Venable, asking them to write these allegations into Calander's pamphlet. He did not directly accuse them, but suspected that "there was disgraceful infidelity somewhere." By July 10, Hamilton had not received Monroe's reply, but he learned that he was visiting relatives in new york. He wrote a short message asking for an interview, hinting at the challenge to the duel: Hamilton will bring a friend (second, at the duel ceremony), and Monroe should also bring it.
The next day, Hamilton and his brother-in-law John Church visited Monroe, and his friend David Gale Winston was also invited by Monroe. The two founding fathers were angry from the beginning. Fortunately, galston recorded the meeting. Hamilton once again asked for an explanation of Calander's pamphlet. When Monroe said that he had sealed all the documents related to the investigation and sent them to a friend, Hamilton retorted that it was "completely wrong". Monroe was angry and both of them jumped up.
"You mean I lied that you were a hooligan?" Monroe accused.
"I will be like' sir'," Hamilton replied-an implicit duel request.
"I'm going to take your pistol," Monroe retorted.
The two men must have struck at close range, because Church and galston had to stand up and separate the angry people. When everyone calmed down, Monroe promised that he and his co-investigators would write a letter to Hamilton explaining in detail what they knew.
A week later, Hamilton got the promised explanation, but he was still not satisfied. When he met with Klingemann on 1 June+10/October1,he concentrated on Monroe's notes. Does Monroe's record in that interview mean that Monroe agreed with kleiman's accusation that Hamilton and Reynolds had tricked Maria? This shows that Monroe believes that Hamilton actually abused the funds, which is a more serious accusation than adultery. Monroe argued that he couldn't remember the meeting clearly. Then a series of letters appeared, in which Hamilton asked Monroe to refute kleiman's allegations, and Monroe politely avoided them. This is not just stubbornness: Monroe still has doubts about Hamilton's behavior.
Event escalation. On July 3 1, Monroe finally told Hamilton that if his explanation was not sufficient, they could solve the problem by "I am ready to meet at any time", which is also a way to suggest a duel.
Dueling is highly ritualized and a way to solve disputes, which proves that you are a person with honor and courage, but most arguments end before any gunfire rings. The language of duel is full of innuendo, and a symbolic code provides space, claiming that misunderstanding and denial provide real challenges. But Hamilton accepted Monroe's suggestion and said that his friend Major Jackson would come to set the time and place. Monroe asked Jackson, is this message a challenge to duel? "
Monroe decided that he needed to find a friend as his second helper in negotiations, whether it was a friendly settlement or a duel. The friend he chose? No one knows Hamilton and Monroe except Aaron Burr, but he is Monroe's political ally and friend. He wrote a letter to Hamilton from Monroe, claiming that he misunderstood Hamilton's letter and denied that he had questioned it. Nevertheless, if Hamilton wants to fight, he should arrange it through Burr. He wrote in the letter that Monroe only needs about three months to solve his financial problems and ensure that his wife can get support. These are all facts. "In fact," Monroe concluded, "I don't want to persecute this man, even though he is very worthwhile."
It is Burr, not Hamilton or Monroe, who thinks they should avoid dueling. He thinks these people are naive. He said to Monroe, "This matter needs a friendly process." . He continued to write and ask if the other party challenged the duel. As Joanne Freeman, a political historian, explained, "The two basically exchanged letters and said,' Get ready to fight when you are' for a while, until everyone tried to convince themselves that the other was a coward." Why do you insist on "ic" correspondence, as Monroe's biographer Harry Amon said? Freeman believes that in a political culture that attaches great importance to honor, "neither of them is sure whether they will be accused of cowardice for giving in."
Burr finally solved these people before mid-August 1797. But Hamilton published a pamphlet detailing his affair with Maria Reynolds and received a letter from him and Monroe about it. Monroe wants to know if all this has really subsided. That autumn, he asked Burr to challenge Hamilton for him, and sent another political ally, james madison, a booklet of Hamilton, asking for suggestions on an appropriate response. All Monroe's friends advised him to move on, but he refused. He continued to press his friends to ask if Hamilton had ever challenged him, and hinted that he would challenge Hamilton himself.
Whether a series of quasi-doubts and quasi-denials have ended is still a mystery. 10 In early October, Hamilton wrote a letter but didn't send it. The letter accepted Monroe's challenge to duel: "Therefore, I acquiesced in the necessity you imposed on me." Maybe his mood cooled down, or maybe Hamilton's wife Eliza stopped him. At the beginning of 1798, the relationship between Hamilton and France reached a breaking point due to the debt dispute in the War of Independence and the French attack on American shipping. Hamilton could have seen a chance to return to politics. Dueling may sacrifice this opportunity. Whatever the reason, Hamilton was doomed not to fight Monroe, but to die at the hands of Allen Burr, who prevented the early conflict.
Although most duels are carefully designed, the conflict between Hamilton and Monroe is a more chaotic story. Duel's coding language may be vertical, misunderstood, or both. In this honor, two people are sometimes stingy, irritable and insecure, in other words, human beings. The last song of the musical Hamilton made the actors ask, "Who is alive, who is dead, and who told your story?" "Maybe for us today, the real drama of founding the country is to see who tells the story first. Heroes and villains are not always what we expect."
"Building Friendship: Friendship between Men and Women in the Early American Republic" and "North and South, Famous and Little Known", men and women in building friendship re-examine how the founding generation defined and experienced friendship, love, gender and power.