The Constitution’s Penman

BOOK REVIEW: The Constitution’s Penman: Gouverneur Morris and the Creation of America’s Basic Charter by Dennis C. Rasmussen (University Press of Kansas, 2023)

The Constitution stands as the foundation of the United States’ government and political system, a point on which all Americans can agree even as they dispute how the document should be interpreted. One key person who exerted a profound influence at the Constitutional Convention and on the final form of the Constitution remains relatively unknown. Although he may have done more to shape the Constitution than his better-known counterparts, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, Gouverneur Morris has been relegated to the rear ranks of the Framers. Fortunately, in The Constitution’s Penman, Dennis C. Rasmussen focuses his attention on Morris and rescues this fascinating figure from undeserved obscurity.

Rasmussen’s book is not a conventional biography; instead, the author emphasizes Morris’s role at the Constitutional Convention. The first chapter does provide a brief but thorough account of Morris’s life. Born into a wealthy New York family, Morris received an excellent education before embarking on a career as a lawyer and businessman. However, his life was not without difficulties. In 1766, at the age of fourteen, Morris’s right forearm was severely and permanently damaged when he was accidentally scalded by boiling water, and in 1780, a carriage accident resulted in the amputation of one leg below the knee. Despite these debilitating injuries, Morris continued to be both active and successful. At the outbreak of the Revolution he served in the New York Provincial Congress and played an important role in drafting the state constitution adopted in 1777, during which Morris overcame substantial opposition to secure religious toleration. He later served in the Continental Congress, and from 1781 to the end of the war he collaborated with Robert Morris (no relation) to stabilize American finances. Amid all these responsibilities, Gouverneur Morris found ample time to pursue his favorite personal pastime: engaging in a great many amorous relationships with women – regardless of their marital status.

Each succeeding chapter examines Morris’s ideas regarding an aspect of the Constitution and his success or failure in shaping the final document. The second chapter discusses Morris’s role at the Convention. Selected to represent Pennsylvania despite his avowed unwillingness to serve as a delegate, Morris addressed the Convention more than any other delegate. As a member of the five-person Committee of Style that produced the final draft of the Constitution, he was assigned the primary role in writing the document. In addition to composing the Constitution’s famous preamble, Morris condensed the twenty-three draft articles into seven, frequently rephrasing passages from the draft to clarify them. In a few cases, one being the creation of federal courts in addition to the Supreme Court, he used these revisions to make subtle changes in wording that reflected his own views.

Advertisement

Chapter 3 describes Morris’s nationalist views and advocacy of a strong central government, an opinion so strongly held that he described himself as representing the United States rather than Pennsylvania. He and his allies had some success in their effort to limit the power of the states, though they did not achieve all that Morris wished. In Chapters 4 and 5, Rasmussen addresses Morris’s vision of the roles of the Senate and House of Representatives. Because he believed that the House would advocate for the common people, Morris wanted senators to be appointed for life by the president, who would choose them from among the wealthiest citizens. Although this plan sounds elitist, Morris in fact hoped that by concentrating the influence of the rich in the Senate, it would allow the House to check their excessive ambitions, just as the Senate would protect wealth and property from the House. This would provide a balance between two opposing interests, so that legislation agreed upon by both bodies would advance the common good. Morris, however, failed to get the outcome he desired.

Regarding the presidency, Chapter 6 relates how Morris vigorously opposed the prevailing view of delegates that Congress should choose the president. Instead, he advocated direct election of the president by the people. When he saw that this could not be achieved, Morris helped craft the Electoral College because he believed that institution was as close as the delegates would go toward giving the people a role in choosing the chief executive. Morris also worked to endow the president with substantial powers, as Rasmussen describes in Chapter 6. Morris, like most Convention delegates, believed that George Washington would be chosen as the first president under the Constitution, and trusted him to exercise his authority judiciously. Yet Morris also understood that not all presidents would possess the abilities or character of Washington, so he sought to balance power between the executive and legislative branches of government so that neither could encroach on the other. Morris tried to grant the president an absolute veto over legislation, and what amounted to a lifetime term in office, but failed in these efforts.

Morris was more successful with his ideas for the federal judiciary. He succeeded in having a plan for the Senate to appoint federal judges replaced by presidential appointment, with the Senate’s advice and consent; and while his support of judicial review, allowing judges to overturn state and federal laws inconsistent with the Constitution, was never voted on by the Convention, the provisions in the Constitution that concerned the judiciary were sufficiently open-ended to allow the principle to become established later. His desire to create lower federal courts in addition to the Supreme Court was also eventually realized.

The one area where Morris failed to accomplish even part of his goal involved slavery. Morris staunchly opposed slavery, considering it incompatible with America’s founding principles, and he did all in his power to convince delegates to rid the United States of that institution. He encountered fierce opposition from Southern delegates, leading him to denounce slavery, along with the Three-Fifths Compromise that permitted Southern states to count three-fifths of their enslaved population toward representation in the House. At some points, Morris appeared willing to form the Union without the Southern states if they insisted on clinging to slavery. In the end, he lost his battle and reluctantly accepted the Convention’s determination on slavery. Rasmussen concludes the book with a discussion of Morris’s Preamble, an epilogue reviewing Morris’s Federalist political beliefs after the Constitution’s adoption, and an appendix containing three of Morris’s speeches given at the Convention.

Advertisement

The Constitution’s Penman is informative, solidly researched, and well written. The author succeeds in restoring Morris to his justly earned position at the forefront of the Constitution’s architects and does so in clear prose along with occasional flashes of humor. This book is highly recommended for everyone with an interest in the Revolutionary and Early National era, the Constitutional Convention, the Constitution itself, and the intent of the Framers. Even readers familiar with these topics will likely find new information and fresh insights in Rasmussen’s work.

PLEASE CONSIDER PURCHASING THIS BOOK FROM AMAZON IN HARDCOVER OR KINDLE.
(As an Amazon Associate, JAR earns from qualifying purchases. This helps toward providing our content free of charge.)