Robert Morris (merchant)
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Robert Morris, Jr. (January 31, 1734 – May 8, 1806) was an American merchant and a signatory to the United States Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the United States Constitution. Morris was known as the Financier of the Revolution, because of his role in securing financial assistance for the American Colonial side in the Revolutionary War.
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Early life
Born on January 31, 1734 near Liverpool, England, Morris moved to live with his father, tobacco exporter Robert Morris, Sr., in Oxford, Maryland at the age of 13. The younger Morris enrolled in school in Philadelphia, but apparently learned little. In 1750, when he was 15, his father passed away, ironically as a result of being wounded by the wadding of a ship's gun that was fired in his honor.
At age 16 Morris was apprenticed to the shipping and banking firm of the wealthy Philadelphia merchant Charles Willing. After Willing's death four years later, 20-year-old Morris became the partner of Charles's son, Thomas Willing. The partnership of Willing, Morris, and Company (later known by various other names) lasted until 1793. The firm's business of importation, exportation, and general banking made it one of the most prosperous in Pennsylvania, and as a result Morris became both wealthy and influential in Philedelphia.
Public career
Before the Revolutionary War
The Stamp Act of 1765-1766 affected Morris's business due to its dependence on imports. In 1775, Morris began his public career by serving on a local committee organized to protest the Stamp Act. Although he remained loyal to Britain, he believed that the new laws constituted taxation without representation and violated the colonists' rights as British citizens. [Link title]
Before the Revolution Britain controlled the port of Philadelphia. The British Crown wanted to encourage the slave trade and enrich the King's friends. At the same time, During the Seven Years' War, the usual supply of indentured servants was not available because those people were conscripted to fight in Europe. Morris was a junior partner in Willing, Morris & Co when they sent out one of their ships on a slave trading voyage. They didn't carry enough to be profitable, and after a second trip their ship was captured by French privateers. They lost money in the business. Later they both supported the non-importation agreements that marked the end of the slave trade into Philadelphia. As time went on Morris tried to tax the slave trade, and to lay a head tax on the slaves payable by the owner. His efforts were not appreciated by the Southerners who then proceeded to fight all his measures.
Morris was elected to the Pennsylvania Council of Safety (1775-1776), the Committee of Correspondence, the Provincial Assembly (1775-1776), and the Pennsylvania legislature (1776-1778).
Morris was also elected to represent Pennsylvania in the Second Continental Congress from 1775 to 1778.
In 1775 the Continental Congress contracted with Morris's company to import arms and ammunition.
Morris was Chairman of the Secret Committee where he devised a system to smuggle war supplies from France a year before Independence was declared.
He served with John Adams on the committee that wrote the Model Treaty. The Model Treaty incorporated his long held belief in Free Trade. It was an outgrowth of his trading system, and acted as the basis for the Treaty with France.
He served on the Marine and Maritime Committees and sold his best ship, The Black Prince, to the Continental Congress. It became The Alfred, the first ship in the Continental Navy. A captain who sailed for his company became the Captain of the Alfred. He was John Barry.
Morris used his extensive international trading network as a spy network and gathered intelligence on British troop movements. One of his spies sent the information that allowed the Americans to defend Fort Moultrie near Charlestown, South Carolina.
On July 1, 1776, Morris voted against the Declaration of Independence, and he declined to vote when the document was adopted on July 4, 1776. On August 2 of the same year however, Morris signed the Declaration.
During the War
During the Revolutionary War, in December 1776, Morris stayed in Philadelphia when the rest of Congress ran away to Baltimore. He managed to borrow $10,000 to pay Washington’s troops. This helped to keep the Army together just before the battles of Trenton and Princeton.
In March 1778 Morris signed the Articles of Confederation as a representative of Pennsylvania.
Morris's great wealth increased thanks to privateers that seized the cargo of English ships during the war. Morris owned many of the privateer ships, and also helped to sell off the English spoils as they came into port.
Immediately after serving in the Congress Morris served two more terms on the state legislature, from 1778 to 1781. While he was in the Pennsylvania Assembly Morris worked to restore checks and balances to the state constitution, and to overturn the religious test laws. During this time Thomas Paine, Henry Laurens, and others criticized him and his firm for alleged war profiteering. A congressional committee acquitted Morris and his firm on charges of engaging in improper financial transactions in 1779, but his reputation was damaged after this incident.
Morris joined a Merchants Association which supplied war materials to the troops when the state failed to act. Pennsylvania went bankrupt in 1780 due to the failure of state controlled markets and self-imposed embargos. Ultimately the state called on Morris to restore the economy. He did so by opening the ports to trade, and allowing the market to set the value of the currency.
In a unanimous vote, Congress appointed Morris to be Superintendent of Finance of the United States from 1781 to 1784. When Morris began this post the US was in a crisis. The British controlled the coast line from the sea, two major cities, and the western frontier. The treasury was in debt by $2.5 million and public credit had collapsed. Congress resultingly gave Mr. Morris great power and allowed him to continue his profitable private endeavors while serving in a related public office.
Three days after becoming Superintendent of Finance Morris proposed the establishment of a national bank. This led to the creation of the first financial institution chartered by the United States, the Bank of North America, in 1782. The bank was funded in part by a significant loan Morris had obtained from France in 1781. The initial role of the bank was to finance the war against Britain.
As Superintendent of Finance Morris instituted several reforms, including reducing the civil list, significantly cutting government spending by using competitive bidding for contracts, tightening accounting procedures, and demanding the federal government's full share of support (money and supplies) from the States.
Morris obtained supplies for the army of Nathanael Greene in 1779, and from 1781-1783.
He took an active role in getting Washington from New York State to Yorktown Virginia. He acted as quartermaster for the trip and supplied over $1,400,000 in his own credit to move the Army. He was also Agent of Marine and coordinated with the French Navy to get Washington's Army to the Battle of Yorktown (1781). After Yorktown Morris noted the war had changed from a war of bullets to a war of finances.
At times he took out loans from friends and risked his personal credit by issuing notes on his own signature to purchase items such as military supplies. Morris's use of his personal credit strained his own fortune. Morris later claimed that although he lost over 150 ships during the war he came out of it "about even."
During his tenure as Superintendent, Morris was assisted by his friend and assistant Gouverneur Morris (no relation). He proposed a national economic system in a document called "On Public Credit". This acted as the basis for Hamilton's plan of the same name submitted much later.
On January 15, 1782 Morris drafted a proposal that he later presented to the Continental Congress to recommend the establishment of a national mint and decimal coinage. However, the United States Mint was not established until 1792, after further proposals by Hamilton.
Later political career
Morris was elected to the Constitutional Convention in 1787. He managed to get Gouverneur Morris onto the committee and also James Wilson. Both argued forcefully for the abolition of slavery during the Convention.
His only significant role in that body was to nominate his friend George Washington as its president.
Washington appointed Morris Secretary of the Treasury in 1789, but Morris declined (suggesting instead Alexander Hamilton). He served as a United States Senator from 1789 to 1795. As Senator he generally supported the Federalist party and backed Hamilton's economic proposals.
Personal information
On March 2, 1769, at 35 years old, Morris married 20-year-old Mary White. Together they had five sons and two daughters.
Morris was an Episcopalian.
Later life
Morris founded several canal companies, a steam engine company, and launched a hot air balloon from his garden on Market Street. He had the first iron rolling mill in America. His ice house was the model for the one Washington put in at Mount Vernon. He backed the new Chestnut Street Theatre, started the Horticultural Society and had a green house with lemon trees in it.
He purchased essentially all of Western New York. His son Thomas settled the peace with the Six Nations, who had sided with the British during the Revolution. Then Morris sold most of the vast tract to the Holland Land Company.
In 1794 he began construction of a mansion on Chestnut Street in Philadelphia designed by Pierre Charles L'Enfant.
Morris was later heavily involved in unsuccessful land speculations, investing in District of Columbia, and purchasing over 6,000,000 acres (24,000 km²) in the rural south. An expected loan from Holland never materialized because Napoleon invaded Holland. The Napoleonic Wars ruined the market for American Lands and Morris's highly leveraged company collapsed.
Although he attempted to flee from creditors by hiding at The Hills, his country estate on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, he was arrested and imprisoned for debt in Prune Street prison in Philadelphia from February 1798 to August 1801. His unfinished mansion became known as "Morris's folly". Marbles from this house were purchased by Latrobe and adorn buildings and monuments from Rhode Island to Charlestown SC.
Morris's economic failure reduced the fortunes of many other prominent Federalists who had invested in his ventures {Henry Lee}. Demagogues among Morris's political adversaries used his bankruptcy to gain political power in Pennsylvania. Governor Thomas McKean was elected and refined the art of political patronage in America. McKean’s party then picked the Pennsylvania members of the electoral college for the election of 1800, and this helped Thomas Jefferson become president.
Congress passed the Bankruptcy Laws, in part, to get Morris out of prison.
After his release, and suffering from poor health, Morris spent the rest of his life in retirement. He was assisted by his wife, who had supported him throughout his misfortune. Morris died on May 8, 1806, in Philadelphia, and is buried in the family vault of Bishop William White, his brother-in-law, at Christ Church.
Legacy
Morris's portrait appeared on US $1000 notes from 1862 to 1863 and on the $10 silver certificates from 1878 to 1880. Along with Alexander Hamilton and Albert Gallatin, Morris is considered one of the key founders of the financial system in the United States. Morris and Roger Sherman were the only two people to sign the three significant founding documents of the United States, the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the U.S. Constitution.
Along with Oliver Pollock, Morris may have also played a role in the creation of the dollar sign ("$"); see Dollar.
Institutions named in honor of Morris include:
Mount Morris, New York, location of a large flood control dam on the Genesee River, was named in honor of Robert Morris.
A number of ships in the United States Navy have been named USS Morris for him.
A small town, Morrisville, PA, was named in honor of Robert Morris. A statue of him resides in the town square.
The Robert Morris Inn in Oxford, Maryland was also named after him.
Further reading
- Ferguson, James (editor): The Papers of Robert Morris 1781-1784 (9 volumes): University of Pittsburgh Press, 1978; (1995 reprint: ISBN 0822938863).
- Ver Steeg, Clarence L.: Robert Morris, Revolutionary Financier. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1954 (ISBN 0374980780).