Gouverneur Morris : Author, Statesman, and Man of the World

by James J. Kirschke

• ISBN13: 9780312241957
• ISBN10: 031224195X
• Format: Trade Book
• Copyright: 2005-11-29
• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
• More Book Details
• Purchase Benefits

Summary

A fierce, florid nationalist, Gouverneur Morris was the most colorful of Americas founding fathers. He financed and fought for American independence, witnessed firsthand the French revolution that followed, and brought his indomitable and outspoken presence to the table at the Constitutional Convention. There, he penned some of the most important and poetic sections of the Constitution, in the process creating the foundation of what Americans think of as democracy today. A decade in the making, this biography uses extensive eighteenth-century primary sources and recent scholarship to shed new light on Gouverneur Morris. In doing so, it places Morriss impressive achievements more fully in the context of his times and reveals how his independent spirit triumphed over accidents and reversals that would have crushed a lesser soul. It also examines Morriss writings and speeches in great detail and explores the major lines of influence that led Morris to give the Preamble of the Constitution of the United States the shape and content that govern and inspire us today.

Author Biography

JAMES J. KIRSCHKE is a professor of English at Villanova University, as well as a visiting lecturer in history at Vanderbilt University. In addition, he is a retired U.S. Marine captain and the author of several hisotry works including Henry James and Impressionism, Willa Cather and Six Writers from the Great War, and Not Going Home Alone: A Marin'e Story. He lives in Villanova, Pennsylvania.

Table of Contents

Personal Chronology: The Life of Gouverneur Morris	xi
Historical Time Line: The World of Gouverneur Morris	xv
Preface	xxi
Family Roots and Education	1	(18)
Early Legal Practice and New York Politics	19	(49)
Morris and the Continental Congress	68	(45)
The Office of Finance	113	(46)
The Constitutional Convention	159	(42)
In Europe	201	(47)
Senator from New York	248	(10)
In Retirement	258	(8)
Conclusion	266	(7)
Acknowledgments	273	(4)
Notes	277	(76)
Index	353