gouverneur morris (1752–1816) - bill of rights institute · i. background homework ask students...

84 Founders and the Constitution: In Their Own Words—Volume 2

Gouverneur Morris(1752–1816)

In adopting a republican form of government,I not only took it as man does his wife, forbetter, for worse, but what few men do with

their wives, I took it knowing all its bad qualities.

—Gouverneur Morris, 1803

IntroductionThough James Madison has been given the title, “Father of the Constitution,” a case could bemade that Gouverneur Morris was second in importance only to the Virginian in shaping thefinal version of the document. Morris spoke more often (173 times) than any other delegateat the Constitutional Convention of 1787. Though he was often on the losing side of issuesand was not a political theorist on the level of Madison, Morris was a leader of the nationalistbloc at the Convention that ultimately carried the day. In addition, it was the native NewYorker who actually crafted much of the language of the United States Constitution.

Assigned to the Committee of Style as debate at the Philadelphia Convention drew to aclose, Morris was given the task of wording the Constitution by the committee’s members.Through phraseology, Morris attempted to enhance the power of the federal government.Most significantly, Morris’s choice of the words, “We the people,” for the beginning of thefamous Preamble helped to define the American nation as a single entity, created by thepeople, not the states. This argument would later be used by John Marshall and AbrahamLincoln to assert the supremacy of the federal government over the states.

Troubled by the War of 1812, sectional differences, and evidence of national weakness,Morris lent support in the last few years of his life to a movement to establish a separateconfederacy encompassing New England and New York. It was perhaps an unexpectedepilogue to the life of a man who had done so much to promote a strong Union twenty-fiveyears earlier.

Relevant Thematic Essay for Gouverneur Morris• Limited Government

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In His Own Words:GOUVERNEUR MORRIS

AND THE PREAMBLE TO THE

U.S. CONSTITUTION

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Standards

CCE (9–12): IA1, IA3, IIA1, IIA2, IIIB1NCHS (5–12): Era III, Standards 3A, 3BNCSS: Strands 2, 5, 6, and 10

MaterialsStudent Handouts

• Handout A—Gouverneur Morris(1752–1816)

• Handout B—In His Own Words:Gouverneur Morris and thePreamble to the U.S. Constitution

Additional Teacher Resources

• Preamble Cards• Answer Key

Recommended Time

One 45-minute class period.Additional time as needed forhomework.

OverviewIn this lesson, students will learn about GouverneurMorris. They should first read as homework HandoutA—Gouverneur Morris (1752–1816) and answer theReading Comprehension Questions. After discussing theanswers in class, the teacher should have students answerthe Critical Thinking Questions as a class. Next, theteacher should introduce the primary source activity,Handout B—In His Own Words: Gouverneur Morrisand the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution, in whichMorris explains the purposes of the new U.S. government.

There are Follow-Up Homework Options that askstudents to find articles illustrating the U.S. governmentfulfilling the purposes explained in the Preamble, or toperform a close reading of the Preamble. Extensions asksstudents to compare Morris’s wording to other proposedversions of the Preamble.

ObjectivesStudents will:

• explain Gouverneur Morris’s role in theNewburgh Conspiracy.

• understand Morris’s contributions at theConstitutional Convention and his responsibilitiesin drafting the Constitution’s final wording.

• understand the way Morris’s strengths as well asshortcomings enabled him to contribute to hiscommunity and country.

• analyze the purposes of government set forth inthe Preamble.

• evaluate the ways modern U.S. government fulfillsthose purposes of government.


I. Background HomeworkAsk students to read Handout A—Gouverneur Morris (1752–1816) and answer theReading Comprehension Questions.

II. Warm-Up [10 minutes]A. Review answers to homework questions.B. Conduct a whole-class discussion to answer the Critical Thinking Questions.C. Ask a student to summarize the historical significance of Gouverneur Morris.

Gouverneur Morris was an early supporter of American independence and providedassistance to militiamen during some of the most difficult periods of the war.Appointed to the Committee of Style at the Constitutional Convention, Morris wasresponsible for the Constitution’s final wording. He twice served as our nation’srepresentative to France.

III. Context [5 minutes]Explain to students that Gouverneur Morris was in charge of editing the language of the Constitution and putting the document into final form. One of the mostsignificant tasks he faced was the opening of the Constitution, known as the Preamble.This section would set out the Constitution’s purpose and, therefore, the delegates’understanding of the purpose of government.

IV. In His Own Words [20 minutes]A. Before class, create “Preamble stations” in the classroom with a Preamble poster,

Preamble cards, and a box or basket.• Create Preamble Posters by enlarging each of the “cards” from the Preamble to

the United States Constitution and printing them on large paper. Arrangethem in order around the classroom. Place a desk underneath each poster.

• Make copies of each Preamble card in actual size for half the number ofstudents in the class.

• Below each Preamble Poster, place a stack of corresponding Preamble cards,along with a small basket or box.

B. Have students pair up and walk around the room and visit each Preamble stationin order.

C. Ask each pair to rewrite the phrase that appears on the Preamble Poster on aPreamble card.

D. For stations three through seven, have each pair brainstorm and write down ontheir card one or two examples of the U.S. government fulfilling that purpose. Thepair should then put their card in the basket before moving on to the next station.

E. Have students return to their seats once they have completed all the stations.Teacher should collect the baskets and put up an overhead of Handout B.

F. Read aloud to the class the rewritten versions of the first clause, and ask students forreaction. Write an agreed upon version of the first clause on the board or overhead.

G. Conduct a large group discussion about what government purposes are defined byclauses three through seven of the Preamble, and examples of how the U.S.government fills those purposes today. Use the examples students wrote at thePreamble stations to prompt discussion.

LESSON PLAN



V. Wrap-Up Discussion [10 minutes]Explain to students that one of the most important adjustments Morris made to theCommittee of Style’s version was changing “We the people of the states of NewHampshire, Massachusetts . . .” and so on, to simply “We the people of the UnitedStates.” Why was that change significant?

The Preamble names “the people” as the source of authority and power. Instead of creating agovernment of all the states, as some preferred, the wording of the Preamble helped to createa stronger central government since sovereignty came from the people directly. This wasarguably one of Morris’s nationalist goals. He defined all Americans as part of a unified group,rather than as residents of their individual states. (Tell students that Morris may also havebeen trying to gloss over the fact that some states may not have joined the union immediately,and that Rhode Island did not send any delegates to the Philadelphia convention.)

VI. Follow-Up Homework OptionsA. Ask students to find newspaper or Internet articles that illustrate today’s government

fulfilling the purposes of government set forth in the Preamble. Have them writea one-paragraph explanation for each article.

B. Ask students to perform a close reading of the Preamble, and interpret it as if it werea poem or a piece of literature. What effect does Morris’s diction [key word choicessuch as “ordain” and “establish” and others] have on the way the Constitution will beperceived? Consider other literary devices like rhyme, repetition, and alliteration.

VII. ExtensionsA. Have students contrast Morris’s wording of the Preamble with other proposed

language. What concerns do the following suggestions reflect? How did Morris’sversion differ from these suggestions?• James Madison suggested The objects of Confederation [are] common defence,

security of liberty, and general welfare.• Charles Pinckney defined the purposes of government as the common benefit

of the states, [and] their defense and security against all designs and leagues thatmay be injurious to their interests. . . .

• Robert Patterson offered: the preservation of the union.

Source: Brookhiser, Richard. Gentleman Revolutionary: Gouverneur Morris, The Rake Who Wrote theConstitution. New York: The Free Press, 2003.

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LESSON PLAN


Resources

PrintAdams, William Howard. Gouverneur Morris: An Independent Life. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003.Brookhiser, Richard. Gentleman Revolutionary: Gouverneur Morris, The Rake Who Wrote the Constitution.

New York: The Free Press, 2003.Kline, Mary-Jo. Gouverneur Morris and The New Nation, 1775–1788. New York: Arno Press, 1978.McDonald, Forrest. E Pluribus Unum: The Formation of the American Republic, 1776–1790. Reprint.

Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 1979.Mintz, Max M. Gouverneur Morris and the American Revolution. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1970.

Internet“The Constitutional Convention.” TeachingAmericanHistory.org. <http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org/

convention/>.“Gouverneur Morris, 1752–1816.” Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress. <http://bioguide.congress.gov/

scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=M000976>.“Gouverneur Morris.” U.S. Army Center of Military History. <http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/books/

RevWar/ss/morrisg.htm>.

Selected Work by Gouverneur Morris• Address to the People of the State of New York (1812)

LESSON PLAN



Slavery is the curse of heaven on the States where it prevails.

—Gouverneur Morris, 1787

Gouverneur Morris politely excused himself from the company of thebeautiful young lady. The woman was a wealthy widow who had welcomedMorris to dinner in her Philadelphia home after he had completedanother long day of work at the Constitutional Convention. Morrishad important work to do on this September evening of 1787. To himhad fallen the task of writing the final version of the Constitution. Heand his fellow delegates had labored throughout the hot summer onthe document, and now he had a mere few days to put their thoughtsinto final form.

Morris gripped his cane and bid farewell to his hostess. He walkeddown the streets of Philadelphia, using the cane to keep his wooden legfrom slipping out beneath him on the cobblestone streets. As Morriswalked, he pondered the phraseology of the Preamble to the Constitution.Should the opening words of the document list all the states individually as the creators of this new government? This was the suggestion of the convention’sCommittee of Style. No, Morris thought. He decided that he would begin theConstitution with the phrase, “We the People of the United States.” Morris smiled tohimself as he reached the boarding house where he was rooming. These words, he knew,would change everything.

BackgroundGouverneur Morris was born on January 31, 1752, at his family’s estate of Morrisiana inNew York. He was given his mother’s maiden name as his first name. (How Americanspronounced this French name is unclear, though it was likely “Gov-er-neer.”) Morrisentered King’s College (now Columbia University) of New York at age twelve. During avisit home, Morris’s right arm was badly burned when a pot of scalding water overturnedon him. The arm was badly crippled for the rest of his life.

In 1771, at the age of nineteen, Morris was admitted to the New York bar. He tookan interest in politics but hesitated to join the Patriot cause. An aristocrat, he worriedthat a revolution would lead to the breaking down of the social order. “The mob beginto think and to reason,” Morris said of his fellow Americans in 1774. “Poor reptiles!” Buthe eventually decided to align himself with the Revolutionary movement, hoping that hecould steer it away from radical paths.

Revolution and LossIn 1775, Morris was elected to New York’s Provincial Congress, an assembly organized bythe Patriots. Morris became a leading advocate of American independence, and he helpedwrite New York’s new constitution of 1777. The next year, Morris was sent to theContinental Congress. He served on a military committee and visited Valley Forge duringthe famous winter of 1777–1778. The sight of the suffering soldiers shocked Morris: “Theskeleton of an army presents itself to our eyes in a naked, starving condition, out ofhealth, out of spirits.” Morris soon became the soldiers’ champion in Congress.

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GOUVERNEUR MORRIS (1752–1816)

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Morris signed the Articles of Confederation in 1778. The following year he movedto Philadelphia and resumed his law practice. Shortly thereafter, Morris lost his left legafter a carriage accident in the city. His left ankle was caught in the turning spokes of amoving carriage’s wheel. Doctors amputated the leg just below the knee. The rumor wasthat Morris was fleeing a jealous husband at the time. Morris never denied that this wasthe case. In fact, he seemed to enjoy the story—true or not—since it added to hisreputation as a great lover.

Morris had to use a wooden leg for the rest of his life. Neither this handicap nor hismangled right arm seemed to lessen his attractiveness to women, both married andunmarried.“Gouverneur Morris kept us in a continual smile,” recalled one young woman.

In 1781, Morris became the Assistant United States Superintendent of Finance.Lacking funds, he struggled to supply George Washington’s army during the Yorktowncampaign of 1781. Aggravated by Congress’ failure to support the troops, Morris beganto hint to some that the Continental Army itself might employ force if Congress did notact. In March 1783, the officers assembled at a barn in Newburgh, New York. Talk oftreason was in the air, as many officers whispered about marching on Philadelphia.Fortunately for the republic, Washington himself quelled the conspiracy by appearing atthe gathering.

Writing the ConstitutionIn 1787, Morris was chosen as part of Pennsylvania’s delegation to the ConstitutionalConvention. He was eager to replace the Articles of Confederation with a system thatconcentrated more power in the national government. Under the Articles, he said, “thefate of America was suspended by a hair.”

At the convention, Morris became a leader of the nationalist bloc. He advocated alifetime term for the president, a Senate appointed by the president, and a federalproperty qualification for voting. Though he lost on these and other issues, Morris spoke173 times during the convention, more than any other delegate. He was also the onlydelegate to make a lengthy speech against the institution of slavery.

Morris was appointed to the Committee of Style as the debates ended. The otherfour members of the committee gave Morris the task of editing the final language of theConstitution. Morris worked on the document for four days to fashion a concise andclear finished product. He also glossed the Constitution’s wording to enhance the powerof the new federal government. Most significantly, Morris began the Preamble with thephrase, “We the people,” to signal that the new government was not the creature of thestates but the work of the entire nation.

Paris, Retirement, and DeathMorris took no part in the ratification debates. He turned down an offer from AlexanderHamilton to co-author a defense of the Constitution, a series of essays that became TheFederalist Papers. After the adoption of the Constitution, Morris succeeded ThomasJefferson as ambassador to France. Morris showed personal courage by remaining at hispost during the bloody Reign of Terror. He was the only foreign diplomat to do so.

Morris returned to the United States in 1799. In 1809, he married a member of theprominent Randolph family of Virginia. In 1812, distressed by the United States’ waragainst Great Britain, Morris called for the secession of New York and New England


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from the Union. He wrote an Address to the People of the State of New York in which heargued for the legality of secession under the Constitution.

Morris lived long enough to see his plans for secession discredited. Four years afterthe failed secessionist proposal, Morris died at Morrisiana at the age of sixty-four.

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Reading Comprehension Questions

1. What two physical disabilities afflicted Morris?

2. What role did Morris play in the Newburgh Conspiracy of 1783?

3. What role did Morris play at the Constitutional Convention?

Critical Thinking Questions

4. What were Morris’s shortcomings as a human being? What were his strengths?

5. Did Morris’s justification of secession at the end of his life contradict hissupport of a strong central government at the Constitutional Convention?


Directions: For each clause of the Preamble, rewrite a version in your own words.

1. We the People of the United States,

2. in Order to form a more perfect Union,

3. establish Justice,

4. insure domestic Tranquility,

5. provide for the common defense,

6. promote the general Welfare,

7. and secure the Blessings of Liberty

8. to ourselves and our Posterity,

9. do ordain and establish this Constitutionfor the United States of America.


IN HIS OWN WORDS: GOUVERNEUR MORRISAND THE PREAMBLE TO THE U.S. CONSTITUTION

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11 084-093 Found2 Morris 9/13/07 11:18 AM 2

93Gouverneur Morris

PREAMBLE CARDS

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1. We the People of the

United States

2. in Order to form a more

perfect Union

3. establish Justice 4. insure domestic Tranquility

5. provide for the

common defense

6. promote the

general Welfare

7. and secure the Blessings

of Liberty

8. to ourselves and

our Posterity

9. do Ordain and establish

this Constitution for the

United States of America


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