22 November 2008 DUEL! BURR AND HAMILTON'S DEADLY WAR OF WORDS , by Dennis Brindell Fradin and Larry Day (ill.), Walker, June 2008, 40p., ISBN: 9780802795830

"The best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call real America, being here with all of you hard working very patriotic, um, very, um, pro-America areas of this great nation."

-- Sarah Palin, vice presidential candidate, Greensboro NC

"Sing a song for America

Once she was a young girl with her heart on fire

Born in the dust of the magic of history

It all goes on yeah the dream goes on."

-- Paul Kantner Jefferson Airplane co-founder, San Francisco CA

My own northern California-based small town of Sebastopol is full of hard working Americans who have read and studied our country's living, sacred documents. I have lots of friends in this small town who are always up for thoughtful discussions about the hopes and ideals of America and how in the Twenty-first century we can continue to put to good use the Eighteenth century words and principles upon which our country was founded in order to make this a more perfect union. And we are not shy about participating in our democracy, including sometimes standing on our street corners downtown, holding signs that express our sentiments about a candidate or a position.

I love my country and I love to engage in such debates and demonstrations of sentiment.

"After the American Revolution began in 1775, Burr and Hamilton both fought heroically for independence."

Decades ago, back in the mid-Seventies, I was succeeding well enough in my classes at the University of Connecticut as I diligently pursued the business administration degree that my mother had instructed me to earn. (Just as she predicted, I have repeatedly put that business degree to good use.) But I was not particularly impassioned about anything going on in those lecture halls until I enrolled in my first Business Law class. This was a course where we frequently immersed ourselves in the legal precedents that have led logically to how and why business is conducted today under a particular system of laws. Such a course of study brought me right back to the fascination, enjoyment, and reverence for American history I have always held, going way back to when, as an emergent reader, my grandfather Rex Partington sat me down for a few days with a compilation of writings that was half my own weight and had me take notes on the Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson. (Today this particular autobiography is easily accessed online.)

"During the war, both men served as aides to George Washington. Because he was foreign born, Hamilton felt that others saw him as an outsider. He had a chip on his shoulder and quarreled with many people, including Washington. Even so, Washington was very fond of Hamilton and named him his chief aide. Burr was envious that Washington favored Hamilton. Washington thought Burr was a troublemaker and soon dismissed him from his staff."

Having sought out the advice from my Business Law professor, I enrolled at his suggestion in Constitutional History classes. And so it was that, while I had learned a little bit about the Federalist papers back in high school, I came to fully immerse myself in the words of Alexander Hamilton who, along with James Madison and John Jay, had in 1787 and 1788 penned the series of writings that provided the philosophical and motivational arguments for adoption of the proposed Constitution of the United States of America.

"Partly due to Hamilton's attacks, Burr was defeated. Jefferson was elected president, and Burr had to settle for becoming Vice President. When Burr found out about Hamilton's slurs against him, their secret fight became public."

To me, it has always been those who dealt with words and ideas -- such as Jefferson and Franklin and Hamilton -- who are so much fun to study and who are so central to gaining an understanding of what America is really all about. That Alexander Hamilton's life ended during his forties was clearly tragic for the nation in that it forever deprived us of the continued wisdom and perspective of one of the great minds behind the founding of America. Even back before I became familiar with Hamilton's writings, it just seemed so terrible that his life had ended in a duel. (Just think about how much more civilized life is in the Twenty-first century: Today he and Burr would have been dissing each other on competing cable talk shows and blogging scurrilous tidbits about one another online.)

"The next day Burr lost the election for governor. He was furious that Hamilton's name-calling had again played a major role in his defeat.

"Burr could have written a newspaper article blasting Hamilton or asked to meet with him to iron out their differences. Instead Burr sent Hamilton notes demanding that he apologize for his remarks -- or fight a duel.

"Hamilton could have apologized or arranged to meet with Burr to make peace. Instead he accepted Burr's challenge."

One of the benefits of great, nonfiction picture books for older readers is that they can turn us on to new topics and catch our interest without our having to invest more than a few minutes. The book should sell itself with its eye-catching cover featuring the extreme close-up perspective of being just behind Hamilton's coat and gun, as he faces Aaron Burr.

While we may not have an interest in reading at length about Alexander Hamilton or Aaron Burr before learning about their deadly altercation in DUEL! BURR AND HAMILTON'S DEADLY WAR OF WORDS, there will certainly be a few readers who are enticed to go on to learn all about the philosophy and writings of Alexander Hamilton thanks to Dennis Fradin and Larry Day's storytelling.

"Then they hear, 'Present!' -- the signal that they can aim and fire."

Or, perhaps, in a few years, a reader of DUEL! will be doing research for a project in American history and say to himself, "Oh yeah, that Vice President who shot his buddy while they were out hunting."

Err...whoops...no...That's a different Vice President-with-a-gun story...

Richie Partington, MLIS

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