An interesting anniversary is coming up. July 11, 2004 will be the bicentennial of the duel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton. A fascinating event in American history, especially considering the fact that Aaron Burr was the sitting vice president at the time of the duel. Burr blamed Hamilton for his loss in a race for Governor of New York earlier that year and he challenged him to a duel. Burr's shot connected while Hamilton's did not, and Hamilton died the following day. Burr returned to Washington and served out the rest of his term as Vice President.
A related but relatively unknown fact: Hamilton's son, Phillip, also died in a duel, in 1801. A lawyer named George Eacker had made a speech attacking Alexander Hamilton and his son objected to it. A shouting match led to a challenge to a duel and Eacker shot Phillip Hamilton, who died the next day.
More interesting facts: Burr was the maternal grandson of Jonathan Edwards, the legendary Calvinist preacher, famous for his sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God". Burr was later arrested and charged with treason for an elaborate scheme to form a new nation in the Western US. He jumped bail and fled, but was intercepted again. He was subsequently acquitted of the treason charges, though historians generally agree that he was guilty.
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Your description of the duel, and Burr's later supposed conspiracy to commit treason, leave the wrong impression.
You wrote: "Burr blamed Hamilton for his loss in a race for Governor of New York earlier that year and he challenged him to a duel." I'm not sure that Burr blamed the loss on Hamilton, but even if he did that would not be cause for a duel. Hamilton publicly slurred Burr, and Burr twice demanded an apology before challenging Hamilton to a duel. Both men had served in the Revolutionary War and were long-time political rivals. The nature or Hamilton's slander is not known for sure; Gore Vidal and some historians believe Hamilton insinuated that Burr's relationship with his own daughter was not entirely wholesome. Burr was well-known as a marksman, and Hamilton's acceptance of the duel instead of simply apologizing speaks both of his hubris and fatalism.
President Jefferson authorized the expedition Burr undertook to start a war with Spain. When Burr attracted a larger militia than expected, and the whole thing started to look like a political bombshell, Jefferson called it off and Burr took the fall. There's no reason to think that Burr intended to commit treason against the United States; the land he set out to "conquer" was not U.S. territory at the time.