Burr–Hamilton duel
The Burr–Hamilton duel was fought at Weehawken, New Jersey, between Aaron Burr, the Vice President of the United States, and Alexander Hamilton, the first and former Secretary of the Treasury, on the morning of July 11, 1804. The duel was the culmination of a bitter rivalry that had developed between both men who had become high-profile politicians in postcolonial America. In the duel Burr fatally shot Hamilton, while Hamilton fired into a tree branch above and behind Burr's head. Hamilton was taken back across the River Hudson and died the following day in New York.