Skip to main content

Duel with the Devil: (Burr and Hamilton in NYC in 1800)

The book opens with a general picture of Manhattan in 1800 . . . some interesting facts
1) Shopkeepers routinely advertised their country of origin in store window
2) Water was terrible--sickness abounds, people drink warm beer in the morning
3) Yellow Fever from mosquitoes is common problem some years all along east coast.  Many dead.  Relationship to mosquitoes not understood . . . First frost ends outbreak, cold winter meant fewer yellow fever deaths the next summer
4) Burr involved in the Manhattan Water Project--ostensibly to bring good water to all of Manhattan, but also to enrich him. Burr the "people's" man
5) Hamilton the "Tory" man is opposed to any new bank that would compete with the banks that favor the rich--exactly the kind of bank Burr wants to open
6) Burr's daughter an early feminist (Theodosia)
7) Look up 110 North Front Street in Philadelphia
8) Philadelphia streets smoother, better than NYC. Philly built on English style; NYC on Dutch style. Franklin says he can tell a New Yorker by his hunched and awkward gait--born of walking NYC streets.
9) Greenwich Village really was a village, disconnected from Manhattan, almost a resort community

Plot/Narrative:  These enemies become lawyer/partners in the trial of Levi Weeks, accused of murdering Elma X (forgot her last name) a Quaker girl who lived in his rooming house and whom he was dating. Elma found at bottom of well.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Tess of the D'Urbervilles, continued 2/3rds

"To all humankind, Tess was only a passing thought. Even to friends, she was only a frequently passing thought." Angel Clare is a good character. He's "enlightened," in so many ways, but when Tess's confesses her "crime," he reverts to ancestral form . . . Tess's "confession" comes earlier than I expected, right after Angel reveals that he has had a bad moment with a woman. Tess points out the similarity in their transgressions, though his is the only true transgression, expecting forgiveness. She doesn't get it. She returns to her mother . . . realizes she can't stay with her. Thoughts to suicide. Unhappiness that divorce is not possible. Departs. Tragic in that the two, if Angel could just see clearly, would indeed be a great couple, each adding to the other.  Nature as a definite force involved in the tragedy.  It's not neutral--when things go bad, the very skies mock Tess. Tess as unaware of the power of her bea...

Napoleon 14 Amiens

"Ambassadors are essentially spies with titles."  Napoleon President of Italy . . . Peace treaty with England (Amiens) in March 1802, with Turkey in June 1802 . . . flawed peace treaty with England because there was no opening up of France for trade with England, infuriating the English who thought peace would mean trade. . . tourism, though--Brits come to Paris and admire Napoleon . . . British liberals enamored . . . Napoleon "consul for life" . . . lots of unsettled territories, Switzerland being the largest . . . Industrialization much greater in England than France . . . France in 1802 is about the same as England in 1780 as a manufacturing center . . . Napoleon is basically Anglophobic, complaining of any art work that celebrates English victories being shown in Louvre . . . peace unraveling . . . by 1803 . . .  War May 18, 1803! . . . Louisiana Territory sold, advantageous to both parties.  France gets money; USA gets land.  France avoids possible war with ...