Robert Morris Jr.
Robert Morris Jr. was born in the English port of Liverpool, moving to Maryland at the age of 13. Apprenticed to a Philadelphia merchant and banker, Morris eventually became a full partner with the banker’s son in 1757. The Willing, Morris and Company they formed was involved in the slave trade, both funding voyages of their own and handling the sale of slaves for other companies. To avoid paying the tariff on imported slaves demanded by the Pennsylvania legislature, the company docked its ships and unloaded their cargoes in Wilmington and other ports. Eventually Willing, Morris, and Company became extremely profitable, eliminating most of the slave trading and importing and exporting to other British colonies.
Morris was a port warden for the Port of Philadelphia when the ship Polly, carrying a cargo of tea, was denied access to Philadelphia. Polly’s captain brought the ship in anyway, and Morris led a meeting which released the captain from custody after he agreed to leave the port without unloading the tea. During the early days of the Revolutionary War Morris devised a system of secret trade with France and Spain, handling the financial aspects of the smuggling of war supplies. Morris provided the ships and the trade goods exchanged for flints, uniforms, and especially gunpowder. Morris also relied on his international trade contacts for information regarding British plans, which he forwarded to Washington via Congress.
On July 2, 1776 Morris, who had opposed independence while serving in the Continental Congress, agreed to abstain from voting, along with like thinker John Dickinson. Their absent votes allowed the critical support of Pennsylvania – then home of America’s largest city – in the cause of independence. Although Morris had personally opposed independence until the country was better prepared economically he signed the Declaration on August 2, 1776. Morris explained that he did so because, “…it is the duty of a good citizen to follow when he cannot lead.” When it came to financing the Revolution, Morris followed nobody.
He paid from his own pocket to support Washington’s army throughout the war, in addition to using his international trading network to generate additional funds. Morris at one time had over 250 ships engaged in trade and in privateering, leading to some politically opposed to him to accuse him of profiteering. A congressional investigation in 1779 cleared him of any wrongdoing, and the President of the Congress sent him a letter apologizing for the damage done to his reputation. How much of his own money was spent financing the war is difficult to accurately assess, it was likely more than 10 million pounds.
Morris attended the Constitutional Convention and was later asked by George Washington to be the first Secretary of the Treasury. Morris recommended Alexander Hamilton for the position. In the early days of the republic Morris started canal companies and speculated in western lands, which eventually led him to debtor’s prison and bankruptcy. One of the nation’s first bankruptcy laws was enacted specifically to release Morris from prison. He never recovered his losses from speculation and was never reimbursed for his expenses during the Revolution. Robert Morris, who personally funded most of the American Revolutionary war and signed the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, died in 1806.