Alexander Hamilton’s son, Philip Hamilton, was killed in a duel on November 23, 1801. George I. Eacker was the shooter. This outcome devastated the Hamilton family.

The duel resulted from a speech that Eacker gave, in which he told his audience that Alexander Hamilton would forcefully take power from Thomas Jefferson, if he could. Some critics even compared Hamilton to Napoleon. Napoleon had made himself First Consul for life following the French Revolution. Philip Hamilton and his friend, Richard Price, confronted Eacker about his speech. This resulted in two duels. First Price and Eacker dueled with no injury but full honor restored. The following day Philip Hamilton was not so lucky.

Some interesting notes for you: Philip’s duel used the same pistols and the same location, Weehawken, as his father’s duel. The Democratic-Republicans called Hamilton America’s Napoleon, but they backed the French Revolution to a large degree. Napoleon would figure into United State’s politics a lot during this time. Thomas Jefferson bought the Louisiana Territory from him for $15 million, while Federalists like Hamilton expected Napoleon to attack America. At the time there was much debate over siding with England or siding with France. Federalists sided with England, they saw the Louisiana Purchase as Jefferson helping France fund the war against England.