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Good-humored and inspiring portraiture.Brookhiser calls a spade a spade -- he lauds Morris's strengths and deplores his weaknesses, showing the reader both without flinching. The charms of the book are: Brevity.Good use of quoted letters and diaries.
It's so funny -- most of my family knows I've been reading these biographies, so they'll ask me who I'm "doing" currently. Answering "Gouverneur Morris" has led to some vaguely nodded heads.
I've been reading biographies of the founders and histories of early America as a pet project for a couple of years. This biography is no exception.
It's ok -- I didn't know who the fellow was, either. I picked the book up because Brookhiser is dependably good.
Entertaining anecdotes. And the result is an honest and engaging portrait of a person that I would wish to know.
But there are truly 2 sides to every story as I discovered. Morris until a used book store clerk recommended it. I wasn't overly interested in reading about Mr. I enjoyed the book, finishing it in 3 or 4 evenings after work. I had just finished reading a book on Thomas Paine and wasn't feeling overly charitable toward Mr. Morris. For as thin as it is, it gave a good account of his life without overly obsessing about any particular events. Although not an in depth study, it was truly enjoyable nonetheless.
In addition, a few blocks north and east of 138th Street and Brook Avenue (roughly the middle of where in the Bronx that Morris's estate Morrisania once could be found) stands St. Why then is no other property included." "The admission of slaves into the representation when fairly explained comes to this: that the inhabitant of Georgia and South Carolina who goes to the coast of Africa and, in defiance of the most sacred laws of humanity, tears away his fellow creatures from their dearest connections and damns them to the most cruel bondages, shall have more votes in a government instituted for the protection of the rights of mankind than the citizen of Pennsylvania or New Jersey who views with a laudable horror so nefarious a practice." This voice during the American Constitutional Convention belonged to Gouverneur (his mother's maiden name) Morris. Ann's Church where this founding father now rests. (The details of many such efforts, I ought point out, are not especially delved into by Mr.
Then make them citizens and let them vote. Are they men. Four days later Morris produced a clear, simple document avoiding legislative repetitions as far as possible; in one instance drafting down 23 articles from the Committee of Detail into a much more concise 7. Argued an incredulous and sarcastic Morris at the time: "[Y]ou shall not take the man from the office, but you may take the office from the man; you shall not throw him overboard, but you may sink his boat under him; you shall not put him to death, but you may take away his life."The man who witnessed the French Revolution up close and personal (being a minister to France between 1792 & 1794, and resident in Europe until December 1798---see Melanie Randolph Miller's Envoy to the Terror: Gouverneur Morris and the French Revolution) knew a thing or two about the importance of power remaining balanced, or at least subject to some checks.
Besides his work on the American Constitution and his historically important published diary impressions from those tumultuous years he spent in France, "Morris performed two special services as a public man." In addition to the above Morris also "worked to plan a canal that should make it bloom. "Morris spoke 173 times at the Convention, more often than any other member, despite the fact that he missed all of June (while Madison, who attended every session spoke 161 times).So it wasn't very surprising when, on 8 September 1786, the convention selected a five man committee which in turn gave Morris, of of its members, the task of putting together a draft based on all the previous proceedings that summer. And he also wrote this which ought sound familiar: "We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." Thank Morris for the coinage of "We the People." Convention drafts previously referred to "We the People of the states." A most important distinction. Brookhiser: "When Gouverneur Morris changed 'We the people of the states' into 'We the people,' he created a phrase that would ring throughout American history, defining every American as part of a single whole. "Upon what principle is it that the slaves shall be computed in the representation.
Though Morris did have some sympathy for the predicament the Jeffersonians, in Morris's view, faced: "Time.seems about to disclose the awful secret that commerce and domestic slavery are mortal foes; and, bound together, one must destroy the other. I cannot blame Southern gentlemen for striving to put down commerce, because commerce, if it survives, will, I think, put them down.""Morris did not leave his country on paper," however. A handful of other men might have buffed the Constitution almost as smoothly, but he was the one who did it; a handful of New Yorkers pushed for the Erie Canal---he was one of the most eloquent and energetic. For the rest, he gave many hours of intelligent and industrious labor as a New Yorker, a financier, and a diplomat;" as well as having been a member of the Continental Congress, and one who was instrumental in reviving the Continental Army's supplies after visiting GW at Valley Forge and recognizing the urgent need for such. And he defended it later. Are they property. Brookhiser in this somewhat short book---inclining this reader to regret not having at least considered some of the more substantive examinations of Gouverneur Morris' life before choosing this one).With an injured arm and one leg, Morris evinced those who believed (as he did, in these words) "that the happiest mortals are those who have been taught, through some sad experience, the value of this world's goods." Like Hamilton, who came from nothing Morris was one who refused, in Mr.
Those three words may be his greatest legacy.""As Jefferson immortalized the Continental Congress's view of first principles, so Morris had applied his finish to the Constitutional Convention's view of fundamental law. Consider when Republicans "proposed a bill to disband the new federal courts" in 1801, notwithstanding that the Constitution provided for federal judges and expressly stated that such judges were not to be removed during good behavior. Brookhiser's words, "to be satisfied with airy ideals or soothing phrases" thanks, in part, "on the hard things each had seen in his life." (Interestingly, Morris delivered the eulogy at Hamilton's actual funeral in NY; and before that, gave the eulogy, also in NY, upon Washington's death).Postscript: Should you find yourself in Morrisania, or on Morris Avenue, or anywhere in the Morris Park section of the Bronx Borough of New York, perhaps even stopping at the Morris Park Bakery, pause a moment to reflect on the more important legacies of this founding father. (07Jun) Cheers
After reading "Gentleman revolutionary", I found I wanted more on the life of Gouverneur Morris. There are so many more that it would be impossible to mention them all in this short review.At least, Brookhiser gave us a taste of a seldom-discussed Founder with this short bio. Brookeiser's book just seemed to go by so darn quickly. But, I did, indeed, enjoy it.I find that we Americans have spent so much time venerating our top five Founders (Washington, Jefferson, Hamilton, Franklin and Madison/Adams tied for fifth) that we forget that it took hundreds of "founders" in that same era to midwife the country.What about Pinckney, John Jay, Winthrop, Richard Heny Lee, and, yes, Gouverneur Morris. Even though Brookhieser obviously loves his subject, which in some reviewers leads to problematic reporting, it is chock full of interesting if not salacious tidbits. ( He married a woman accused of murder, was quite the ladies man, and even some sources claim Morris to be a deist though he was officially an Episcopalian)Anyway, I hope to see Brookhiser do more on the Founders who are not household names.
I was really looking forward to reading this book. Maybe it's the writing.I just finished reading Ron Chernow's Alexander Hamilton bigoraphy, which is 3 times longer than this Morris bio. I was sorry when I finished it; I just did not want it to end. I'd read Brookhiser's short, concise bio on George Washington and enjoyed it very much.I was so disappointed with this book. Brookhiser gave me no sense as to the kind of man Gouverneur Morris really was. Just looking at the cover and reading the blurbs made me expect too much I guess. I am a nut for anything to do with the American Revolution. It was absolutely riveting.
Morris was known for 3 things: losing his leg, writing the Constitution, and scoring with the ladies. How could his life be turned into a snoozefest. I could not finish the Morris book fast enough; I ended up skipping pages here and there to get to Morris; he seems to be missing in his own biography. Very disappointing.
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