On this day, Feb. 19, in 1807, former Vice President Aaron Burr was arrested in Alabama and charged with treason in a conspiracy to steal Louisiana Purchase lands. Burr, a Revolutionary War hero who served as vice president (1801-05) under Thomas Jefferson, had become a divisive figure for killing Alexander Hamilton in a famous duel three years earlier. Although Burr was charged with Hamilton’s death in New York and New Jersey, he was never tried. Burr fled south and west and eventually formed his own regiment of more than 200 men. Jefferson declared Burr a traitor, and he was arrested on charges of plotting to steal U.S. land to crown himself a king, or to declare an illegal war against Spanish possessions in Mexico. Burr was brought to trial in Richmond in a case presided over by Chief Justice of the United States John Marshall. Burr was acquitted and lived a reclusive existence until his death in 1836.