History 404: US Constitution Seminar

Gouverneur Morris was a delegate from Pennyslvania who participated in the Second Constitutional Convention. Richard Beeman introduces Morris in his book, Plain, Honest Men: The Making of The American Consitution, as an intelligent and oratorically gifted man. Born into wealth and prestige, Morris studied law as a young man and eventually found himself working for the wealthy and powerful Robert Morris. Gouverneur Morris was known for being a charmer and ladies man, whose eloquence, intelligence, and wit made him both a natural speaker and formidible opponent on the floor of the Convention (51).

Morris was one of the most vocal delegates and also one of the most opinionated. He argued tenaciously for a strong and supreme national government and emphasized the need for a single, powerful executive (56). Beeman claims that Morris was one of the men most instrumental in forming the executive branch that is the American presidency. Morris was a committed nationalist and was insistent that the Articles of Confederation be done away with as they were irreparably insufficient. He was unwavering in his views that a strong government be installed and that even a system of federalism would not be enought to adequately manage the new United States.

Beeman presents Gouverneur Morris in a way that I found curious. Beeman says that Morris was the second most vocal member of the Convention behind Madison, but he says comparably little about him. Beeman specifically notes that Morris was known for his “oratorical pyrotechnics” but also seems to imply that Morris was more of a conversational speaker and less of a logical, argumentative figure like Madison or Wilson (51). He describes Morris as tending towards “recklessness,” and describes him as having a “mercurial” temperment and cites William Pierce as describing him as “fickle and inconsistent” (48-9, 109). Beeman’s descriptions make it seem like Morris was vocal and opionated speaker, but that he didn’t have the kind of logic or genius ideas that Madison presented.

Frank Harmon Garver wrote an article entitled “The Constitutional Convention as a Deliberative Assembly” that paints Morris as a great orator who argued fiercely for his viewpoints. Garver make sit clear that Morris was adamant that the country must be united nationally, even threatening the smaller states on occasion (415). Morris was unhappy with the small states refusal to agree to proportional representation and did not hold back his opinions about them.

Elbridge Gerry was an important figure in the Constitutional Convention, best known for his undying skepticism of centralized government power.  It was this skepticism that ultimately led him to not sign the Constitution on September 17, 1787. Gerry’s biographer even said that “suspicion was the weakest trait of his mind” and that he could “sniff the tyranny in every tainted breeze.” (Morison 10)

After attending Harvard and obtaining both a bachelors and a masters degree, Gerry returned home to Massachussets to be a part of the family fishery business but still managed to retain a hefty interest in politics. As a result,  Gerry was elected to the Massachussets Provincial Congress in 1774 where he used his merchant skills to supply the military with whatever they needed. In doing this, he rose to fame and was elected to the Continental Congress in 1776 where “he continued to collect military supplies, but now on a national level, acting in both a private and public capacity” (American National Biography).

Following Shay’s Rebellion, Gerry decided to attend the Constitutional Convention in 1787 believing that a strong federal government was necessary to prevent future civilian uprisings.  However, Gerry still feared a government that resembled the British monarchical system in any way.  Ultimately, Gerry did not sign the Constitution in 1787 believing that a Bill of Rights was a necessary addition that would secure the personal liberties of the American people. However, he also “believed ordinary citizens of America were too gullible, and that their votes could be too easily manipulated.” (Beeman 129) In this way, this made Gerry a very “middle of the road” politician favoring neither centralized power nor state sovereignty. “Gerry joined Madison in riducling the idea that state sovereignty was somehow sacred” (Beeman 182) as a result of his experience during Shay’s Rebellion in which he witnessed and ultimately feared mass uprising and general anarchy. He also believed that should the Constitution be put into effect, the central government would have too much military power. However, regardless of his skeptic attitude, he was a generally well-respected figure of the Constitutional Convention. While his physical presence could best be described as “nervous and birdlike”  he was still known as “a gentelman in principles and manners.” (Beeman 112) Whatever Gerry lacked in physical demeanor, he made up for with his perseverance in creating a newer, better government. Colleague John Adams notes that “if every man here was a Gerry, the Liberties of America would be safe against the Gates of Earth and Hell” (Morison 14).

Courtesy of Wikipedia

One of the biggest advocates for the “small states” during the Constitutional Convention, William Paterson is most remembered for his stern opposition of Edmund Randolph’s proposed Virginia Plan which called for proportional representation in the “national” legislature. Born in Ireland, Paterson’s family immigrated to America and settled in Princeton, New Jersey. While his father was a moderately successful storekeeper, Paterson displayed his natural intelligence at an early age entering the College of Princeton when he was fourteen.  Paterson pursued his master’s degree and studied law following his graduation. From the beginning of the American Revolution, Paterson was a staunch Patriot. He lived by a strict moral code that was displayed in most aspects of his political and private life. Paterson saw his reputation and prestige ascend to new heights at the outbreak of war. His law practice became incredibly sought out after his appointment as Attorney General of New Jersey in 1776. 

Appointed as one of New Jersey’s delegates at the Constitutional Convention of 1787, Paterson remained relatively quiet during the first couple weeks except for his cryptic and sometimes animated note taking, especially during Edmund Randolph’s proposed Virginia Plan on May 29th. Paterson strongly believed that proportional representation in this new legislature would undermine the sovereign power of the states and the Articles of Confederation as a whole. On June 9th, Paterson spoke passionately in opposition, reminding the delegates not to overstep the boundaries that had brought them to the convention, to revise and enlarge the Articles of Confederation, not to completely scrap the document in its entirety. While Paterson supported a stronger central government, he felt that upholding the Articles of Confederation was the safest and maybe only way to ensure the equality of representation among the states. His proposed New Jersey plan protected the interests of the smaller states and directly countered the sweeping changes of the national government articulated in the Virginia Plan.

In Plain, Honest Men (2009), Richard Beeman claims that “Only one member of the Convention envisioned an American government, and a president, much like those we have today” (129).  That man, according to Beeman, was James Wilson.  Though he remains more obscure than Framers such as Madison, Franklin or Washington, Wilson was a pivotal figure in 1787.  A member of the Pennsylvania delegation, Wilson was originally from Scotland.  He came to the American colonies in 1765 at the age of twenty-three and soon found himself  studying under John Dickinson.  Wilson then settled in Carlisle where he worked as an attorney and became a participant in Pennsylvania politics.  He relocated to Philadelphia in the late 1770s and by the time of the Constitutional Convention he had become a prominent lawyer and advisor to Robert Morris and other leading figures in the Confederation government.  During the summer of 1787, Wilson argued strenuously for popular sovereignty and a single, strong president.  That is why Beeman identifies him as the most modern of the Framers.