The Treason Trial of Aaron Burr: Law, Politics, and the Character Wars of the New Nation (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781107022188)

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.

Author: R. Kent Newmyer
ISBN-10: 1107022185
ISBN-13: 9781107022188
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Language: English
Published: 09/24/2012
Pages: 242
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.00lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.20w x 0.80d
Award: Langum Prize for Historical Literature - Honorable Mention

Review Citation(s):
Choice 04/01/2013