MORRIS, ROBERT (1734-1806). An eminent American financier and one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Ile was bon] at Liverpool, England. January 31. 1734. At the age of fourteen he Was sent to Ameriea and plJcc-ll in the counting house of Charles Willing, it rich Philadelphia merchant. whose partner he lie(11111. in 1754, continuing as such until 1793. The firm of & Morris heeame one of the leading mere:1116h: establishments in Ameriea, and by the outbreak of the I;evohrtion;n-y War Molds had already winked a large fortune.
Although naturally averse to a rupture with Great Britain, he sacrificed his personal inter ests, signed the non-importation agreement of 1765, and served as a member of the citizens' committee that compelled the stamp distributer for Philadelphia practically to relinquish his office. In June, 1775, he became a member of the Pennsylvania Committee of Safety; in October of the same year he was elected to a seat in the Legislature of Pennsylvania (to which he mans reelected in 1776), and in November he was appointed by that body a delegate to the ('on tinental Congress. All three of these offices were held by him at the same time. As a mem ber of Congress be served on several important committees and signed the Declaration of Inde pendence, although he had opposed Lee's resolu tion of June 7th and absented himself from the Congressional hall on July 4th, when the final vote was taken. At the expiration of his term in Congress. in 1778, he was elected again to the State Legislature, hut on account of miscel laneous charges against him in connection with his mercantile operations. be failed of reelection in the following year. In October, 1780. how ever, he was returned to the Legislature for the fourth time. It was at this time that the for tunes of the Colonial Army reached their lowest ebb. Charleston had fallen; Cates had been de feated by Cornwallis; Arnold's treachery east gloom on the country. Munitions and supplies were sadly wanting, and Continental currency had depreciated until it was worth but little more than the paper on which it was printed. In this almost desperate situation. Congress resolved to supersede the old treasury board by a superin iVIlde/It of finance. Morris was chosen to the position February 20, 17S1, at a salary of 86000 a year. and received large over the finances of the Confederation. His chief pro
gramme was to relieve the situation by import duties, loans and subsidies from France, and to inaugurate a policy of retrenchment. He was unable, however, to carry out the first part of his scheme on account of the refusal of the States to confer the necessary power upon Congress for the laying of import duties. On several occasions lie succeeded in borrowing large sums on his per sonal credit, without which sonic of the im portant campaigns of the war would have been impossible. Thus the means which enabled Wash ington and Creene to carry out the campaign of 1781 were raised mainly by his exertions. In 1781. with the approval of Congress. be founded the Bank of North Ameriea. and be came a large stockholder in it. This institution became of great service to the American cause and was, to a certain extent, under the control of :Morris. Ile continued to bold the difficult and vexatious office of Superintendent of Finance until November. 1781. when he resigned it with a sense of relief. In the same year the Pennsyl vania Legislature had annulled the charter of the Imn k. and in order to obtain its rei:stablishment Morris secured an election to the Legislature in 1785 and succeeded in having the charter re newed in 1786. in the latter year lie was again elected to the Legislature, and in 1787 became a member of the Constitutional COB. vent ion at Philadelphia. Ile had the honor to WilShiligi Oil for the Presidency of the Convention. but did not take a prominent part in the proceeding. of that body. Upon the organ ization of the new Government, President Wash ington offered him the position of Secretary of the Treasury. Ile declined the offer and recom mended Alexander Hamilton, who was appointed. At the same time, however, he accepted a scat in the United States Senate, where he served with out special distinction until 1795. Unfortunate business speculations proved disastrous, and on February 16, 1798, lie entered a debt or's prison in Philadelphia, where he was confined until August 26, 1801. He died May 8, 1806. A short biography of Robert Morris has been written by W. G. Sumner (New York, 1892). A more comprehensive work by the same author is The Financier and the Finances of the American Revolution. (New York, 1891). Con sult also Bolles. !'he Financial Administration of Robert Morris (1878).