The forgotten Voice of Freedom
Hardly anyone remembers his name today. And yet Gouverneur Morris was one of the most important Architects of the American Constitution — the Man who coined the Words “We the People” and created the Term “United States.”
A brilliant man of Wit, Vision, and unwavering moral Clarity.
A staunch Opponent of Slavery, he not only shaped the Constitution but, more than 200 Years ago, warned of Corruption, Oligarchy, and how insufficient Education would inevitably erode Democracy.
A Voice sounding uncannily current.
And it is because of this precisely, that he was all but erased from collective Memory.
Because he was inconvenient.
Because he was too far ahead of his Time.
Because he refused to gloss over the moral Failures of his Contemporaries.
And because he — alone among the Founding Fathers — wanted Women and the Enslaved to be represented in the Constitution that would shape the Country.
Gouverneur Morris’ Historical Classification
Morris was born in 1752 in Morrisania, today’s Bronx, New York. His family had lived in America for Generations — wealthy, most of them loyalist in Leanings, and judiciary influential. From an early Age he proved himself a brilliant Speaker, gifted Writer, and sharp-minded Lawyer.
During the American War of Independence he stood firmly with the Revolution, delivered one of the first public Speeches in Favor of Independence, drafted key State Constitutions, and played a decisive Role in building and financing the young Nation.
1787 he attended the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. It was he who drafted the final Text of the Constitution and chose the famous opening Words
“We the People of the United States.”
With 173 Speeches, he was one of the most vocal Participants, warning passionately of the Dangers of Corruption, bought Democracy, and Oligarchy.
He condemned Slavery in the strongest Terms and argued that Women should be included and represented in the Constitution. In this, he stood alone among Men like George Washington and Benjamin Franklin — Slaveholders and Patriarchs.
1790 he traveled to Europe on Business and was later appointed American Minister to France at the Height of the Revolution. The only Foreign Envoy left to the Terror.
He survived. And along the way, saved many Lives and Legacies.
His Observations, Letters, and Speeches reveal a Mind that never shied from uncomfortable Truths and never betrayed his own Convictions.
His Weapon was the Pen, not the Sword.
That after his Return to America he set in Motion the Erie Canal, designed Manhattan’s world-famous Street Grid, and indirectly inspired the Invention of the Catheter almost fade into Footnotes beside his greater Legacy of the Humanities.
So how did Gouverneur Morris slip into Obscurity?
On this Blog, I want to retrieve him beyond Anecdotes and Myths, as the sensitive, emotional Man full of Empathy, Vision — and painful Relevance for our own Time.
A Champion and Hero the World could so desperately need.
“...for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs” — George Eliot