God Bless Aaron Burr - The Alternate History

1804

July 11

Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr duel because of a supposed slur that Hamilton had made about Burr. As the two turn towards each other Hamilton fires into the air while Burr aims directly at Hamilton. Just as he fires Burr sneezes and the bullet smashes into Alexander Hamilton's right shoulder. Hamilton is badly wounded and loses partial function in his right arm, but he survives after taking almost two months to recover.

August 14

Burr is arrested in New York City, but several days later Hamilton drops the charges and he is released.

September 29

Hamilton and Burr meet in Newark to discuss their feud. Although there are many ideological differences between the two they agree to disagree. This proves to be the beginning of a lasting relationship between the two in which they correspond through letters.

1805

April 7

Feeling very much that he has literally dodged the bullet and has a new lease on life, Hamilton decides to travel. He leaves for England later that month.
During his tour of the country, Hamilton is especially impressed with the inventions of Richard Trevithick, who had produced a steam-powered engine to haul ore out of mines along a set of metal rails. Inspired by these, Hamilton made the researching of industrial technology the focus of his trip. The submarine that Robert Fulton had built for Napoleon also impresses him.

November 2

Hamilton writes to several of his friends in Massachusetts and New York describing the relentless pursuit of technology that is occurring in England and France. He implores his friends to get involved in this development and he donates a large sum of money to help establish the American Academy of Science and Technology.