Can Freedom Be Captured?
By Keith Clarke
14 April 2007
On July 11th 1804, they came across the Hudson River by boat or barge from Manhattan. Both armed with their .56 caliber dueling pistol, and seconds, they docked at present day Weehawken Cove. They proceeded to the famous dueling ledge along Weehawken, New Jersey. Pistols were loaded and the necessary paces were taken, then they turned and fired. In the end one was mortally wounded and died later the next day in a house on Jane Street, Lower Manhattan. The other, who was branded an assassin, fled to the south. He as indicted for murder, but was later acquitted.
You may ask who the two men were. I speak of none other than General Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury, and the Cornel Aaron Burr, the then sitting third Vice President of the U.S. Alexander Hamilton died in the duel. The Death Rock which he laid his head on after being shot by Burr was moved to its superior perch on Hamilton Avenue, along the Weehawken Palisades. Resting atop the Death Rock is a bronze head of Alexander Hamilton. The American Flag stands aloft.
As I stand on this picturesque cliff along the Hudson River, overlooking the great island of Manhattan, and next to me the notable statue of a great man, the question comes to mind after looking at the lofted flag; Can Freedom really be captured? Because no matter what the political or personal reasons of that famous duel, and no matter what contributions to the New Republic they made, it pales in comparison to the eradication, by the New Republic, of the Lenni Lenape Native Indians that inhabited the now famous Palisades.
All photos were taken with a Nikon D70s with a Tokina AF24-200 mm and Tokin AF 80-300 mm lens. My vantage point for these photos is Hamilton Avenue, Weehawken Palisades, New Jersey
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