4. Aaron Burr
Marquis de Lafayette was not an American, but because he felt strongly about the American cause, he chose to volunteer. In gratitude, many American privateers did the same in favor of the French after the French Revolution. They used their private vessels and their own funds to support the French against the British without backing from the United States government. Naturally, the British did not like this, and they tried to pressure President Washington into stopping American citizens from going to war at their own expense and on their own initiative. The passage of The Neutrality Act was a British-backed ploy to prevent Americans from volunteering as individuals in foreign wars when the United States was at peace. This caused a lot of trouble for all succeeding generations of Americans who tried to follow in the footsteps of Marquis de Lafayette and help their neighbors gain freedom from the European empires that had a stranglehold over the Americas. One such person with plans to help Mexicans gain freedom from Spain was Aaron Burr.
Burr had served with distinction in the Revolutionary War as a young man. He was known for his bravery in carrying the body of General Richard Montgomery to safety after he fell in battle in Quebec. He served on George Washington’s staff, put down a rebellion at Valley Forge, and took part in the Battle of Monmouth.
After serving one term as Vice President of the United States under Thomas Jefferson, Burr decided to mount a private expedition to help liberate Mexico from Spain. Unfortunately, he was betrayed by the Spanish spy General James Wilkinson, who accused him of treason, and Jefferson, believing this, had Burr arrested and confiscated all his boats and arms. After Burr was found not guilty of treason, but guilty only of violating the Neutrality Act, because he mounted a private war against Spain. The United States government never returned the private arms that had been looted from Burr. Despite Burr’s failure to conquer Mexico, all the subsequent American filibusters who went on to liberate Texas were following in his footsteps. Texas would never have become an American state had it not first become the Republic of Texas in contravention of the Neutrality Act.
