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WIP

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Sally Hemings 💙

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That's SO cool you're majoring in history at UVA! That's my dream school!!! Do you plan on being a historian when you graduate?

That's the plan, at least! I'd love to go into historical preservation and interpretation, but I truly have no idea where I'll actually end up. In full, I'm double majoring history and studio art, and minoring historical preservation...where those things will take me, I have yet to realize.

At the moment I've been focusing on grad school plans, to which I have a couple dream schools. I'll hopefully end up either here again, William & Mary, and/or Princeton 🙏🏽. I hope to make my way up to a PhD in history. I'm gonna be stuck researching these dead folk for the rest of my life and I think I'm quite alright with that.

(Also, UVA was my dream school too, wahoowa!!! It's an amazing school – administration is shit but the student body, city community, and faculty make it all worth it. I hope you get in whenever you apply, or if you've already applied :) If you want any tips for the application feel free to message me!)

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I wasn't aware of this one, so I'm trying to spread the word.

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balala

balala

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Sketch I might do more with later

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I literally don't want a job. I want to read for 4 days straight

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I swear, when it comes to the ‘Burr showed no remorse’ thing I am willing to fight the entire planet one by one. All the examples of ‘callousness’ are such obvious self-defence mechanisms. I mean, this is the guy who got queasy just *hearing* about a set of executions. Sorry, just felt the need to rant in a sympathetic inbox :)

I notice you’re also interested in Luther Martin. I am so here for Martin content. It is very frustrating being hyperfixated on AmRev in the UK without access to decent sources!

YES. His "callousness", his "coldness", his "heartless" behavior, every time a historian is discussing Burr in a negative light, they almost always misinterpret a likely trauma symptom or defense mechanism as some nefarious or malicious... It gets on my nerves.

I literally came across this the other day, regarding Martin's defense of Aaron Burr:

Scharf, J. Thomas. History of Western Maryland, 1882, p. 384

"The most heartless man the country ever produced." Are we talking about the same Burr...?

I could rant about it for days. Perhaps I will on here, someday. Give me fuel and I'll rant like crazy.

And, yes, I am interested in Luther Martin! I actually read a thesis on him yesterday by a past student at my university from during the 1940's while at our Special Collections. I took photos of the entire thing too, which I'll add to my history Google drive and give to anyone who wants it, but probably not circulate it any more than that. I didn't have enough time to fully read the entire thing, but it was really interesting! It helped me understand just how much the coping mechanisms back then varied and how destructive they could be for others and the self. I'd like to give all of those guys intensive therapy, stat.

It also reminded me not to take every interpretation as fact; The author made a really big claim that Luther Martin had a crush on Theodosia Burr Alston. Upon referencing what he cited for that (Blennerhassett's journal, and historians citing the same section of the journal), it was described to be an "idolatrous admiration" that both Martin and Blennerhassett shared for Theo. Additionally, Martin is quoted as saying this:

Obrecht, Everitt D., The Influence of Luther Martin in the Making of the Constitution of the United States, Maryland Historical Magazine, 1932, p. 181

Take that as you will, but I personally can't see that alluding to some crush that Martin would have on Theodosia. Protective and affectionate compassion for Theo? Yes. Strictly romantic? From direct evidence, it doesn't seem like such. Rather, I'd argue the opposite – he seems to deeply feel for Theo as Burr's daughter, and their relation to one another. For the admiration aspect of it, I mean.... How are you not going to admire her, by all accounts she was an impressive, stunning woman. I'd be fangirling (or have that "idolatrous admiration" as the olden folk said) as well.

That is just one of the many things I read about Martin, but it really stuck out to me because after every piece of misinformation I've had to challenge about Burr, I always make sure to check the direct evidence people are citing. Sometimes, these guys truly do just be saying shit.

Also, if you (or anyone 👀) ever need any access to academic journals, books, manuscripts, etc, just let me know. I can't imagine being so far away from the subject matter you're researching, it's one of the main reasons I chose university in Virginia, rather than my home state, Tennessee. I can access most things in person or online, and if my university doesn't give me access to something I'll ride up to the Library of Congress if I need to HAHAHA. Internet Archive tends to have so much though – the modern historian/hobby-historian's best friend!

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Today’s bugbear is the ‘Burr had no regrets about killing Hamilton’ thing. I want to slap his biographers and give them a crash course in basic humanning.

In the immediate aftermath of the duel, Burr tried to get to Hamilton twice, and had to be prevented by his second. He sent a frantic letter to Doctor Hosack asking about “the hopes which are entertained of his recovery”. He was certainly not calm about it.

His friend Commodore Truxton (or Truxtun), who hosted him a week after the duel, commented on how much “sorrow and regret” he showed, though by that time Burr was also being hounded out of New York by popular and political outcry, and definitely had some feelings about that as well. The letter in which he asks Theodosia not to criticise him because “I can’t just now endure it” is very uncharacteristic, though.

Later, he would poke fun at the murder charges he faced in NY and NJ. Much the same way as he poked fun at the duel after his return from Europe.

Yes, he did show defiance and mockery in response to mentions of Hamilton. But interpreting that as meaning that he was genuinely callous is naive at best. Burr was an intensely private person who avoided showing his feelings even to his friends. Even to himself, really, to judge from his European journals. He hated regrets and explanations and was known for remaining composed and positive in the most trying circumstances. His letters and journal forever show him using humour, including black humour, as a distraction.

Burr didn’t talk about Hamilton. Burr also didn’t talk about his grandson and daughter, whose deaths shattered him. So where, exactly, does that leave us?

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I feel like I'm losing years off of my life when I'm reading James Cheetham he's possibly the stupidest man from the founding era I've read

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Expanding a little on my tag where I said it's also weird being black in this community

Are there even after other black folk in the community? Or POC for that matter? Do they also sometimes feel alienated from the rest of the community? Or is that just a me feeling?

I think the deeper I get into the academic side of history the more difficult it becomes for me to return to online spaces for it. I get whiplash every goddamn time.

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I think the deeper I get into the academic side of history the more difficult it becomes for me to return to online spaces for it. I get whiplash every goddamn time.

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Why is the Burr/Troup pairing so rare in the fandom? Has nobody read those letters?!?

Or is it simply that Troup was the fat friend who lived to a ripe old age without ever doing anything dramatic, and people forget that fat people can be loved, or that undramatic people can feel deeply?

Burr didn't marry again until after Troup died I'm just sayin'...

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Happy 269th Birthday, Aaron Burr!