Robert Morris (entrepreneur)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Robert Morris Robert Morris signature.png

Robert Morris, Jr. (born January 31, 1734 near Liverpool , England , United Kingdom , †  May 8, 1806 in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , USA ) was a British-American entrepreneur. As a signatory to the Declaration of Independence , he is one of the Founding Fathers of the United States . He is also known as the “financier of the revolution” because of his role in securing the finances of the American colonial side in the American War of Independence .

Childhood and youth

At the age of 13, Morris moved to Oxford , Maryland with his father, tobacco exporter Robert Morris . He attended school in Philadelphia but learned little. His father died in 1750, Morris was just 15 years old, from an injury from the filling of a ship's cannon that was fired in his honor.

At 16, Morris became an apprentice in a mail-order and banking company owned by wealthy Philadelphia merchant Charles Willing. After Willing's death four years later, the 20-year-old Morris became a partner of his son Thomas Willing. The partnership of Willing, Morris and Company lasted (later under various other names) until 1793. The company's import, export and banking business made it one of the most prosperous in Pennsylvania. Thus, Morris became both wealthy and influential in Philadelphia.

Public career

Before the American War of Independence

The Stamp Act of 1765/66 affected Morris' business because of its reliance on imports. In 1775, Morris began his public career working on a local committee that organized the protest against the Stamp Act. Although he remained loyal to the British, he believed that the new laws established no-say taxation and violated the colonists' rights as British citizens.

Before the American independence movement, the British controlled the port of Philadelphia. The British Crown wanted to revive the slave trade and make the king's friends richer. At the same time, during the Seven Years' War , help from wage laborers was not available because these people had been obliged to fight in Europe. Morris was a junior partner at Willing, Morris & Co. when they sent one of their ships out on a slave trade mission. They didn't have enough cargo to be profitable and on a second voyage, their ship was hijacked by the French . They lost money in their business. Later both supported the import ban agreements that marked the end of the slave trade to Philadelphia. At the time, Morris was trying to tax the slave trade and levy a poll tax on each slave that was payable by the slave owner. These efforts were not at all appreciated by the southerners, who subsequently tried to combat all of his efforts.

Morris was elected to the Security Committee, Correspondence Committee, Provincial Assembly for the period 1775-1776, and the Pennsylvania Legislature for the period 1776-1778. From 1775 to 1778 he was an elected representative of Pennsylvania in the Second Continental Congress . In 1775 the Continental Congress hired Morris' company to import arms and ammunition. Morris became chairman of the secret committee, where a year before the declaration of independence he devised a system for smuggling war equipment from France. Together with John Adams he worked on the committee that wrote the model contract . Morris' firm belief in free trade flowed into the model contract. It was a by-product of his trading system and served as the basis for the treaty with France. He served on the naval and shipping committees and sold his best ship, The Black Prince, to the Continental Congress. It was renamed "The Alfred" and became the first ship of the Continental Navy. A captain who sailed for Morris' company became the captain of the Alfred: John Barry .

Morris used his extensive international trade network as a spy network, gathering classified information on British troop movements. One of his spies sent information that allowed the Americans to hold Fort Moultrie near Charleston .

On July 1, 1776, Morris voted against the Declaration of Independence and abstained when the document was adopted on July 4, 1776. However, on August 2 of the same year, Morris signed the statement.

During the war

During the Revolutionary War , December 1776, Morris stayed in Philadelphia when the rest of Congress fled to Baltimore . He arranged for $ 10,000 on loan to pay for George Washington's troops. This helped hold the army together briefly from the battles of the Battle of Trenton and Battle of Princeton . In March 1778, Morris, representing Pennsylvania, signed the Articles of Confederation .

Morris's great fortune grew thanks to privateers that confiscated the cargo from English ships during the war. Morris owned many privateers and also helped monetize the English booty that arrived in port.

Soon after serving in Congress, Morris served two terms, from 1778 to 1781 in the legislative assembly. While in Pennsylvania Parliament, Morris worked to build collateral and scrutiny into the state constitution, and to abolish religious scrutiny rights. At the time, Thomas Paine , Henry Laurens, and others criticized him and his company for allegedly war enrichment. A congressional committee acquitted Morris and his company on unfair financial transactions in 1779, but his reputation has been damaged since then.

Morris joined the Association of Merchants, which supplied the troops with war materials when the state failed to act. Pennsylvania went bankrupt in 1780 because the state failed to control the markets and self-imposed embargoes. Ultimately, the state called in Morris to restore the economy. He did this by opening the ports to trade and allowing the market to determine the value of the currency.

In a unanimous vote, Congress named Morris Superintendent of Finance of the United States for the years 1781 to 1784. When Morris took office, the United States was in crisis. The British controlled the coastline by sea, as well as two important cities and the western border. The Treasury was $ 2.5 million in debt and the public credit had collapsed. Congress therefore gave Morris great power and allowed him to continue his profitable private ventures while he was in public office.

Three days after becoming superintendent of finance, Morris recommended the establishment of a national bank. This led to the establishment by the United States of the first financial institution, Bank of North America, in 1781. The bank was founded in part on a significant loan that Morris obtained from France in 1781. The bank's initial role was to fund the war against Britain.

As superintendent of finance, Morris embarked on several reforms, including the reduction of the civil listing , a significant curb on government spending by introducing competing offers on contracts, streamlining accounting procedures, and requiring states to provide full support (money and supplies) to the Federation Government.

In 1779 and from 1781 to 1783, Morris organized supplies for Nathanael Greene's army . He took an active role in bringing George Washington from New York to Yorktown . He acted as quartermaster for this trip and provided $ 1,400,000 out of pocket to move the army. He was also a naval agent and coordinated working with the French Navy to bring Washington's army to the Battle of Yorktown . After Yorktown, Morris noted that the war had turned from a war of bullets to a war of finance.

Sometimes he took out loans from friends and risked his personal solvency by issuing promissory notes with his signature in order to buy goods such as military supplies. Morris's use of his personal fortune put his own business at risk. Morris later claimed that although he lost over 150 ships during the war, he ended up "roughly balanced".

While he was superintendent, Morris was assisted by his friend and assistant (and not related to him), Governor Morris . He proposed a national economic system in the document "On Public Credit". This served as the basis for Alexander Hamilton's plan, which was proposed under the same name much later.

On January 5, 1782, Morris drafted a document that was later submitted to the Continental Congress that proposed the establishment of a national mint and a decimal coin system. Even so, the United States Mint was not established until 1792, following further suggestions from Alexander Hamilton.

Further political career

Morris was elected to the 1787 Constitutional Congress. He arranged for Governor Morris and James Wilson to be brought to the committee. Both argued loudly for the prohibition of slavery during the Congress. His only significant act in that body was the nomination of his friend George Washington as its president.

Washington named Morris Treasury Secretary in 1789 , but Morris refused, proposing Alexander Hamilton in his place. He served as the United States Senator from 1789 to 1795. As a senator, he generally supported the Federalist Party and supported Alexander Hamilton's economic proposals.

Personal

On March 2, 1769, at the age of 35, he married 20-year-old Mary White. They had five sons and two daughters together. Morris was a supporter of the Episcopal Church in the USA .

Further life

Morris founded several canal construction companies, a steam engine company, and launched a hot air balloon from his garden on Market Street. He owned the iron mill in America. His ice house provided the template for what George Washington built near Mount Vernon . He sponsored the new Chestnut Street Theater, founded the horticultural society, and owned a lemon tree greenhouse.

He bought the bulk of western New York City. His son Thomas Morris established peace with the Six Nations, who had been on the side of the British during the War of Independence. Then Morris sold most of the area to the Holland Land Company . In 1794 he began building a villa on Chestnut Street in Philadelphia based on designs by Pierre L'Enfant .

North American Land Company share dated March 16, 1795, signed by Robert Morris

Morris later became deeply embroiled in unsuccessful land speculation with investments in the District of Columbia and bought over 6,000,000 acres (24,000 km² ) in the rural south. To finance the acquired land, he founded the North American Land Company with his partners James Greenleaf and John Nicholson . An expected loan from Holland never came about because Napoléon Bonaparte attacked Holland . The Napoleonic Wars ruined the market for American land and Morris' company collapsed.

Although he wanted to hide from the lenders by hiding in The Hills, his estate on Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, he was arrested and in the Prune Street Prison in Philadelphia from February 1798 until August 1801 debtors prison plugged. His unfinished mansion came to be known as "Morris's Folly". Marble from this house was purchased from Benjamin Latrobe and adorns buildings and monuments from Rhode Island to Charlestown, South Carolina.

Morris's financial failures affected the businesses of many other prominent federalists who had invested in his venture ( Henry Lee, for example ). Demagogues among Morris's political opponents used his bankruptcy and political power in Pennsylvania. Governor Thomas McKean was elected and honed the art of political patronage in America. McKean's party selected Pennsylvanian members to the electoral body for the 1800 election, helping Thomas Jefferson become president.

Congress passed the bankruptcy laws in part to get Morris out of jail. After his release, and due to poor health, Morris spent the rest of his life in retirement. He was supported by his wife, who had stood by him throughout the unfortunate period. Morris died in Philadelphia on May 6, 1806 and was buried in the family vault at Christ Church by his brother-in-law, William White, Bishop of Pennsylvania.

estate

Independence National Historical Park

Morris' portrait appeared on $ 1,000 banknotes from 1862 to 1863 and on Silver Certificates from 1878 to 1880 . Along with Alexander Hamilton and Albert Gallatin , Morris is seen as one of the most important founders of the US financial system. Morris and Roger Sherman were the only two people to sign all three of the United States' most important founding documents, the Declaration of Independence , the Articles of Confederation, and the US Constitution .

Together with Oliver Pollock , Morris is said to have played a role in the development of the dollar sign (" $ ").

Institutions named in honor of Morris:

literature

swell
Secondary literature
  • Clarence L. Ver Steeg: Robert Morris, Revolutionary Financier. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia 1954, ISBN 0-374-98078-0 .

Web links

  • Robert Morris in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
personal data
SURNAME Morris, Robert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Morris, Robert Jr.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British-American trader, one of the founding fathers of the United States
DATE OF BIRTH January 31, 1734
PLACE OF BIRTH near Liverpool , England
DATE OF DEATH May 8, 1806
Place of death Philadelphia , Pennsylvania