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Signature. Robert Morris Jr. (January 20, 1734 – May 8, 1806) was an English-born American merchant, investor [2] and politician who was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He served as a member of the Pennsylvania legislature, the Second Continental Congress, and the United States Senate, and he was a signer of the Declaration ...
- More Than A Merchant
- A Reluctant Revolutionary
- Morris Becomes A One-Man Treasury
- Morris Becomes Subject of First Congressional Inquiry
- From Real Estate Speculation to Debtor’S Prison
Morris was born in Liverpool, England in 1734 and as a young teenager followed his father, a successful tobacco merchant, to the New World. Orphaned at age 16—his father was killed in a freak accidentinvolving a fly and a misfired cannon—Morris had only one year of formal education before he began apprenticing as a clerk in Philadelphia. “From a yo...
Morris was nominated as a delegate from Pennsylvania to the Second Continental Congress, but even with his staunch opposition to the Stamp Act and the Intolerable Acts, Morris didn’t initially support independence from Britain. He favored continued negotiations with Parliament rather than starting a war with the world’s greatest military power. Whe...
The War for Independence was a financial as well as a military struggle. The 1777 Articles of Confederation, the country’s first constitution, allowed Congress to request funds from the states, but didn’t require the states to comply. Troops went for months without pay while Congress begged the states and European allies for loans. On the brink of ...
While Morris put his own substantial fortune and resources on the line to supply food and weaponry for the war effort, he conducted much of the overseas trade through his own businesses, which earned handsome profits. But questions about that relationship lingered. After the Constitution was ratified and Morris was elected Senator from Pennsylvania...
After the dust-up with Congress, Morris left political life and returned to his original passion, making money. He had tremendous faith in the new nation and its ability to make his family richer than he had ever imagined. Morris got his hand in just about every industry and profit scheme. He built a factory town along the Delaware River in Pennsyl...
- Dave Roos
- 1 min
Jun 25, 2024 · Robert Morris (born Jan. 31, 1734, Liverpool, Merseyside, Eng.—died May 8, 1806, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.) was an American merchant and banker who came to be known as the financier of the American Revolution (1775–83). Morris left England to join his father in Maryland in 1747 and then entered a mercantile house in Philadelphia.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Mar 18, 2020 · Morris was born in Liverpool, England in January 1734 to Robert Morris, Sr, and a woman named Elizabeth. It appears young Robert was the product of an affair. His father’s business, that of a shipping broker, kept him away, and the boy was raised by his maternal grandmother. Morris Sr. established a successful merchant business exporting ...
Feb 14, 2020 · Early Life. Robert Morris, primary financier of the Revolutionary War, painted by Robert Edge Pine. Public domain image. Robert Morris was born on January 31, 1734 in Liverpool, England. In 1747, Morris moved to America to live with his father, who worked at a tobacco factory in Maryland. He was taught by a private tutor there, before he was ...
Dec 20, 2010 · Founding Father Robert Morris was a laissez-faire capitalist and subject of perhaps the first American congressional inquiry. In Robert Morris: Financier of the American Revolution, author Charles ...
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Robert Morris, American financier — sometimes called the Financier of the American Revolution — and a signer of the Declaration of Independence, was born in Liverpool, England, in 1734. He emigrated to America in 1747, entered a mercantile house, and in 1754 became a member of a prosperous firm, Willing, Morris & Co.
