He reveals the reason behind the duel, a culmination of political along with personal jabs at Burr's character by Hamilton. As a result of these truthful jabs, Burr challenged Hamilton. The duel took place in the plains of Weehawken where both men would defend their honor. Historically, people view Burr as the treacherous murderer while viewing Hamilton as a martyr in the duel. This outlook results from the belief that Hamilton went into the duel not intending to fire a shot and that Burr fired the first shot. However, Ellis believes that Hamilton respected his bargain of not firing at Burr and instead, fired his first shot into the trees. Burr, thinking that Hamilton fired at him, shot and killed Hamilton. .
In the second chapter, "The Dinner," Ellis exploits a secret compromise between Alexander Hamilton and James Madison in the scene of a dinner party hosted by Thomas Jefferson. Each member of the dinner arrived with different agendas. Hamilton, massively influenced by the failure of the Articles of Confederation, promoted a strong central government. He hoped to negotiate with Madison who currently blocked the passing of Alexander's fiscal program. The fiscal program, in Hamilton's eyes, would fix the economy and restore public credit. To Hamilton's surprise, Madison who was an advocate of similar ideas rejected the fiscal plan. Madison thought it would disenfranchise veterans by repaying spectators instead. His opposition to the plan preempted a switch in alliances by Madison to the side of Jefferson. Eventually, the negotiations resulted in a compromise where Madison would not speak out against Hamilton's fiscal plan and in return, the capital would be moved to a location near Madison's hometown, Virginia on the Potomac. Ellis considers the compromise to be one of the most defining in American history. .
Chapter three, "The Silence," deal with the possible closure of the slave trade brought up by Benjamin Franklin along with tow Quaker delegations.