1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910809363803321

Autore

Newmyer R. Kent

Titolo

The treason trial of Aaron Burr : law, politics, and the character wars of the new nation / / R. Kent Newmyer [[electronic resource]]

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cambridge : , : Cambridge University Press, , 2012

ISBN

1-316-08984-3

1-139-56457-9

1-283-57514-0

1-139-55103-5

9786613887597

1-139-13548-1

1-139-55599-5

1-139-55228-7

1-139-54978-2

1-139-55474-3

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (xiv, 226 pages) : digital, PDF file(s)

Collana

Cambridge studies on the American Constitution

Disciplina

345.73/0231

Soggetti

Trials (Treason) - United States

Burr Conspiracy, 1805-1807

United States Politics and government 1783-1809

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Jefferson and Burr on the road to Richmond -- Jefferson and Marshall square off -- Legal theater in Richmond : Aaron Burr front-and-center -- Treason law for America : the lawyers grapple -- Judging the judge.

Sommario/riassunto

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.