Fellow Cooper Researchers: This is an excerpt on the precipitating event from the PBS summary of the program, which is found here: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/duel/peopleevents/pande17.html I think this is what you want, and it is quite appropriate to election day, although hopefully nothing so drastic will happen this time. <begin excerpt> On July 11, 1804, Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr met on the dueling grounds at Weehawken, New Jersey, to fight the final skirmish of a long-lived political and personal battle. When the duel was over, Hamilton would be mortally wounded, and Burr would be wanted for murder. (some text deleted). It was the New York governor's race of 1804, however, that pushed the two men to violence. In that election, Burr turned his back on the Republicans and ran as an independent. Burr believed that if he won, he would regain power. The prospect of Burr leading New York mortified Hamilton, who despised and mistrusted Burr completely. In early 1804, Hamilton tried to convince New York Federalists not to support Burr. Although Hamilton's campaign was probably not the deciding factor, the Burr campaign failed. Burr was crushed in the general election by Morgan Lewis, the Republican candidate, who was supported by George and DeWitt Clinton, powerful New York Republicans. The battle for New York had been a bruising one, but in the end, a relatively minor slight precipitated the Burr-Hamilton duel. In February, 1804, a New York Republican, Dr. Charles D. Cooper, attended a dinner party at which Alexander Hamilton spoke forcefully and eloquently against Burr. Cooper later wrote a letter to Philip Schuyler in which he made reference to a particularly "despicable opinion" Hamilton expressed about Burr. The letter was published in a New York newspaper the "Albany Register." <end excerpt> More on Cooper's letter is here: http://www-c.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/duel/peopleevents/pande15.html This is all part of a very long and educational site about "The Duel" which begins here: http://www-c.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/duel/peopleevents/index.html Best Regards, Janet Hunter ????>?????>Thomas Cooper, born 1733/5 (maybe Frederick Co VA) who married Sarah Anthony in 1762 in Bedford Co VA.