1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:14,120 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly 3 00:00:14,200 --> 00:00:17,880 Speaker 1: Frye and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. I don't know how 4 00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:20,439 Speaker 1: I came across this one. I found it on a 5 00:00:20,480 --> 00:00:22,160 Speaker 1: scrap of paper shoved into a book and went I 6 00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:24,279 Speaker 1: should follow up on I love it when that happened. 7 00:00:25,400 --> 00:00:29,080 Speaker 1: It happens a shocking amount of time with me. My 8 00:00:29,120 --> 00:00:31,319 Speaker 1: life is just post its. I don't know what to 9 00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:34,080 Speaker 1: tell you mineor often the notes app on my phone 10 00:00:34,360 --> 00:00:36,960 Speaker 1: and I, oh, yeah, weird stuff in there and think, 11 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:40,080 Speaker 1: what is that? Oh yeah, And sometimes I'll abbreviate it 12 00:00:40,120 --> 00:00:42,440 Speaker 1: in a way I never can recover what it meant 13 00:00:42,479 --> 00:00:45,280 Speaker 1: in the first place, such as life. But this one 14 00:00:45,479 --> 00:00:49,120 Speaker 1: I found so. Robert Morris is who we're talking about today, 15 00:00:49,159 --> 00:00:52,800 Speaker 1: and he's one of the lesser mentioned founding fathers of 16 00:00:52,840 --> 00:00:56,360 Speaker 1: the United States, and when he is mentioned, he's called 17 00:00:57,000 --> 00:01:01,160 Speaker 1: the financier of the Revolutionary War. He did wield a 18 00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:04,160 Speaker 1: great deal of power in the money dealings that enabled 19 00:01:04,200 --> 00:01:07,280 Speaker 1: the Continental Army to take on Britain. But his story 20 00:01:07,319 --> 00:01:09,720 Speaker 1: is a lot more complicated than that, and it also 21 00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:13,080 Speaker 1: offers us a chance to examine the way that early 22 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:17,319 Speaker 1: US history, which we often get talked about in a 23 00:01:17,480 --> 00:01:22,320 Speaker 1: very grandiose kind of way, and you know, idealistically, is 24 00:01:22,360 --> 00:01:26,120 Speaker 1: really mired in a lot of messy dealings and questionable judgment. 25 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:30,360 Speaker 1: So Robert Morris was born in January of seventeen thirty 26 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:35,240 Speaker 1: four in Liverpool, England. What date in January is almost 27 00:01:35,319 --> 00:01:40,039 Speaker 1: hilariously different from source to source. His father was Robert 28 00:01:40,040 --> 00:01:44,480 Speaker 1: Morris Senior, and his mother was Elizabeth Murfitt Morris. Yes, 29 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:48,600 Speaker 1: I literally saw everything from January first to January thirty first, 30 00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:51,360 Speaker 1: and pick a number in between. I saw at least 31 00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:55,400 Speaker 1: six different ones. I'm not even joking. In seventeen thirty seven, 32 00:01:55,560 --> 00:01:58,640 Speaker 1: when Morris was either thirteen or fourteen, he traveled to 33 00:01:58,680 --> 00:02:02,000 Speaker 1: the North American Colony. At that point, his father was 34 00:02:02,040 --> 00:02:05,080 Speaker 1: already living in Oxford, Maryland and making a living as 35 00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:09,440 Speaker 1: a tobacco agent. Efforts to get Robert enrolled in school 36 00:02:09,600 --> 00:02:13,640 Speaker 1: did not go particularly well. It seems that the teenage Morris, 37 00:02:13,680 --> 00:02:16,400 Speaker 1: who was by all accounts really quite smart, was not 38 00:02:16,480 --> 00:02:20,120 Speaker 1: a great student and he found school tedious. So at 39 00:02:20,120 --> 00:02:23,120 Speaker 1: the age of sixteen, his father decided to send him 40 00:02:23,120 --> 00:02:26,720 Speaker 1: to Philadelphia to become an apprentice at the mercantile house 41 00:02:26,760 --> 00:02:30,760 Speaker 1: of Charles Willing. Not long after Robert's moved to Philadelphia, 42 00:02:30,840 --> 00:02:35,520 Speaker 1: his father died and Morris inherited his estate. He stayed 43 00:02:35,560 --> 00:02:39,120 Speaker 1: with Charles Willing, though, and he continued to work. Several 44 00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:42,680 Speaker 1: years later, Charles Willing also died, and at that point 45 00:02:42,800 --> 00:02:46,720 Speaker 1: Robert and willing son Thomas Willing, who had become good friends, 46 00:02:47,160 --> 00:02:51,560 Speaker 1: formed their own partnership. In seventeen fifty seven, the shipping 47 00:02:51,600 --> 00:02:55,639 Speaker 1: firm of Willing Morrison Company was founded, and this company 48 00:02:55,800 --> 00:02:59,720 Speaker 1: imported and exported, and because this was the mid eighteenth 49 00:02:59,720 --> 00:03:03,400 Speaker 1: century in North America, that meant that they were involved 50 00:03:03,440 --> 00:03:07,440 Speaker 1: in the triangle of trade and thus slavery. So keep 51 00:03:07,440 --> 00:03:10,200 Speaker 1: that in mind. We're not going to talk about it more, 52 00:03:10,240 --> 00:03:12,000 Speaker 1: but it is a cornerstone of the wealth that he 53 00:03:12,040 --> 00:03:15,880 Speaker 1: eventually builds. By the seventeen sixties, Morris had made a 54 00:03:16,120 --> 00:03:19,799 Speaker 1: very nice fortune for himself, but he, like all other 55 00:03:19,880 --> 00:03:22,919 Speaker 1: businessmen in the colonies, was about to see a loss 56 00:03:22,919 --> 00:03:26,600 Speaker 1: of revenues as a result of a historically significant tax 57 00:03:27,320 --> 00:03:30,320 Speaker 1: And this was a significant moment that was a major 58 00:03:30,440 --> 00:03:33,680 Speaker 1: catalyst for unrest in the colonies, and ultimately was one 59 00:03:33,720 --> 00:03:35,960 Speaker 1: of the things that led to the revolution, So we're 60 00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:37,680 Speaker 1: going to give it a little bit of time here. 61 00:03:38,480 --> 00:03:41,880 Speaker 1: On March twenty second, seventeen sixty five, the British government 62 00:03:41,960 --> 00:03:45,600 Speaker 1: passed the Stamp Act. This act was described as quote 63 00:03:45,720 --> 00:03:48,920 Speaker 1: an Act for granting and applying certain stamp duties and 64 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:52,920 Speaker 1: other duties in the British Colonies and plantations in America, 65 00:03:53,280 --> 00:03:57,360 Speaker 1: towards further defraying the expenses of defending, protecting, and securing 66 00:03:57,400 --> 00:04:00,840 Speaker 1: the same, and for amending such parts of the several 67 00:04:00,920 --> 00:04:04,120 Speaker 1: Acts of Parliament relating to the trade and revenues of 68 00:04:04,160 --> 00:04:08,360 Speaker 1: the said colonies implantations, as direct the manner of determining 69 00:04:08,440 --> 00:04:13,720 Speaker 1: and recovering the penalties and forfeitures therein mentioned. The Stamp 70 00:04:13,760 --> 00:04:17,320 Speaker 1: Act was the first time Parliament decided that business and 71 00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:21,240 Speaker 1: legal interests in the colonies were to be directly taxed 72 00:04:21,320 --> 00:04:24,520 Speaker 1: in the interest of funding a standing army on the 73 00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:31,680 Speaker 1: North American continent. In addition to business and legal papers, almanacs, newspapers, cards, 74 00:04:31,760 --> 00:04:35,159 Speaker 1: and even dice or taxed. From the point of view 75 00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:38,279 Speaker 1: of Britain, the seven years were with France, which ended 76 00:04:38,279 --> 00:04:42,360 Speaker 1: in seventeen sixty three, had depleted the military. Both financially 77 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:46,479 Speaker 1: and in terms of landholdings and power, and as Britain 78 00:04:46,480 --> 00:04:48,560 Speaker 1: saw it, there was a need for an army to 79 00:04:48,640 --> 00:04:52,560 Speaker 1: occupy North America and to defend against any other attacks 80 00:04:52,680 --> 00:04:56,560 Speaker 1: that might incur further losses and weakening of Britain's North 81 00:04:56,600 --> 00:05:01,120 Speaker 1: American position. But from the color colonial point of view, 82 00:05:01,279 --> 00:05:04,679 Speaker 1: this was an instance where Britain was taxing them without 83 00:05:04,720 --> 00:05:07,760 Speaker 1: any agreement to such a law on their part, a 84 00:05:07,839 --> 00:05:11,599 Speaker 1: case of no taxation without representation in terms of the 85 00:05:11,600 --> 00:05:15,720 Speaker 1: colonies being frustrated because the colonies didn't have anyone representing 86 00:05:15,760 --> 00:05:20,200 Speaker 1: them in Parliament. There were colonial assemblies that the colonists 87 00:05:20,279 --> 00:05:23,960 Speaker 1: viewed as their governing bodies, whereas the British government claimed 88 00:05:24,200 --> 00:05:28,200 Speaker 1: that British citizens living in North America had virtual representation. 89 00:05:29,040 --> 00:05:32,480 Speaker 1: This disagreement about governance and the limits that the colonists 90 00:05:32,520 --> 00:05:35,600 Speaker 1: felt should be in place for Parliament's actions led to 91 00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:40,039 Speaker 1: massive protests, which is kind of an understatement. In some cases, 92 00:05:40,120 --> 00:05:43,240 Speaker 1: British officials were hanged in effigy in the colonies, and 93 00:05:43,320 --> 00:05:46,680 Speaker 1: in one instance the home of a British governor was ransacked. 94 00:05:47,600 --> 00:05:51,440 Speaker 1: Robert Morris protested the Stamp Act along with other merchants 95 00:05:51,440 --> 00:05:55,720 Speaker 1: who were very heavily hit by this act. These protests 96 00:05:55,760 --> 00:05:58,599 Speaker 1: did result in a repeal of the Stamp Act a 97 00:05:58,680 --> 00:06:01,520 Speaker 1: year after it had been passed, but it wasn't really 98 00:06:01,560 --> 00:06:06,159 Speaker 1: a victory. In its place, Parliament passed the Declaratory Act, 99 00:06:06,200 --> 00:06:10,160 Speaker 1: which stated that British Parliament had jurisdiction over the colonies 100 00:06:10,200 --> 00:06:14,800 Speaker 1: and could pass legislation and governance of them. Yeah, okay, 101 00:06:14,839 --> 00:06:16,920 Speaker 1: you got us this time, but now we're putting things 102 00:06:16,920 --> 00:06:18,720 Speaker 1: in place that make it okay for us to do 103 00:06:18,760 --> 00:06:22,280 Speaker 1: it again. Later at the end of the seventeen sixties, 104 00:06:22,400 --> 00:06:25,359 Speaker 1: Robert got married to a woman named Mary White. She 105 00:06:25,520 --> 00:06:29,039 Speaker 1: was the daughter of a prominent Philadelphia couple, Colonel Thomas 106 00:06:29,080 --> 00:06:32,560 Speaker 1: and Esther White. Mary was twenty and she had grown 107 00:06:32,640 --> 00:06:35,200 Speaker 1: up in high society, and it really made all the 108 00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:37,599 Speaker 1: sense in the world that she would marry the successful, 109 00:06:37,960 --> 00:06:41,719 Speaker 1: thirty five year old Morris. The couple eventually had seven 110 00:06:41,839 --> 00:06:45,960 Speaker 1: children together. In seventeen seventy five, Morris served in the 111 00:06:45,960 --> 00:06:49,960 Speaker 1: Pennsylvania State Assembly. One of the other representatives during that 112 00:06:50,040 --> 00:06:54,320 Speaker 1: time was Ben Franklin. Morris was vice president of the 113 00:06:54,360 --> 00:06:58,919 Speaker 1: Pennsylvania Committee of Safety. That committee was tasked with ensuring 114 00:06:59,040 --> 00:07:04,200 Speaker 1: the state's litia was supplied and fortified. That included acquiring 115 00:07:04,360 --> 00:07:08,480 Speaker 1: arms and building forts along the Delaware River. Then, in 116 00:07:08,600 --> 00:07:12,280 Speaker 1: late seventeen seventy five, Morris was selected by the Pennsylvania 117 00:07:12,360 --> 00:07:16,760 Speaker 1: legislature to serve in the Continental Congress, So just in 118 00:07:16,800 --> 00:07:19,280 Speaker 1: case you do not know that it was the governing 119 00:07:19,320 --> 00:07:22,720 Speaker 1: body established to govern the colonies as a whole and 120 00:07:22,800 --> 00:07:27,160 Speaker 1: give a galvanized organization structure under which the various colonies 121 00:07:27,160 --> 00:07:30,880 Speaker 1: could negotiate with Britain, and once the war began, it 122 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:34,760 Speaker 1: was also there to coordinate their efforts. The seventeen seventy 123 00:07:34,760 --> 00:07:37,880 Speaker 1: five Continental Congress that Morris joined was the second one, 124 00:07:37,960 --> 00:07:41,560 Speaker 1: the first had been in seventeen seventy four. Morris was 125 00:07:41,600 --> 00:07:44,840 Speaker 1: a member of the Congress's Secret Committee, which got weapons 126 00:07:44,880 --> 00:07:49,720 Speaker 1: and ammunition for the Continental Army from sources abroad, and 127 00:07:49,960 --> 00:07:53,880 Speaker 1: estimated two million dollars was spent by the Secret Committee 128 00:07:53,960 --> 00:07:57,400 Speaker 1: from the years seventeen seventy five to seventeen seventy seven, 129 00:07:58,080 --> 00:08:01,880 Speaker 1: and Morris's firm, Recis sived about half a million dollars 130 00:08:01,920 --> 00:08:06,280 Speaker 1: of it as contractors in overseas trade. He was also 131 00:08:06,360 --> 00:08:10,320 Speaker 1: part of the Secret Correspondence Committee, which, as its name suggests, 132 00:08:10,720 --> 00:08:13,760 Speaker 1: involved reaching out to other countries on the download to 133 00:08:13,800 --> 00:08:17,960 Speaker 1: make alliances. At this point, the Revolutionary War had been 134 00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:20,720 Speaker 1: under way for about eight months, beginning in the spring 135 00:08:20,760 --> 00:08:24,880 Speaker 1: of seventeen seventy five at Lexington and conquered in Massachusetts. 136 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:29,480 Speaker 1: Coming up, we'll talk about Morris's beliefs regarding independence for 137 00:08:29,520 --> 00:08:32,560 Speaker 1: the Colonies, but first we will pause for a sponsor break. 138 00:08:42,280 --> 00:08:45,720 Speaker 1: From the time the Revolutionary War had become a likely 139 00:08:45,880 --> 00:08:49,839 Speaker 1: outcome of the conflict between Britain and the Colonies, Robert 140 00:08:49,920 --> 00:08:52,560 Speaker 1: Morris was kind of in a unique position in terms 141 00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:57,160 Speaker 1: of his ideology. He didn't actually want the colonies to 142 00:08:57,240 --> 00:09:00,600 Speaker 1: form a new nation. He did, however, want them to 143 00:09:00,600 --> 00:09:03,600 Speaker 1: have a lot more autonomy to govern themselves as they 144 00:09:03,640 --> 00:09:07,200 Speaker 1: saw fit, rather than being subject to laws enacted from 145 00:09:07,200 --> 00:09:10,559 Speaker 1: across the Atlantic, and of course, the big sticking point 146 00:09:10,559 --> 00:09:15,280 Speaker 1: for him was taxes. When the Second Continental Congress was 147 00:09:15,320 --> 00:09:18,640 Speaker 1: to vote on the issue of independence, Morris sat out 148 00:09:18,640 --> 00:09:22,040 Speaker 1: the vote and stayed home that day. He knew that 149 00:09:22,080 --> 00:09:24,920 Speaker 1: he was in a very tiny minority, but he was 150 00:09:24,960 --> 00:09:29,400 Speaker 1: also entirely willing to abide by the results of the vote. 151 00:09:29,440 --> 00:09:33,319 Speaker 1: For a while, Morris thought a reconciliation between the Colonies 152 00:09:33,360 --> 00:09:36,680 Speaker 1: and Britain might be possible, but he eventually saw that 153 00:09:36,720 --> 00:09:40,920 Speaker 1: it would just never happen. He signed the Declaration of Independence, 154 00:09:41,040 --> 00:09:44,880 Speaker 1: but his name doesn't exactly jump out, in part because 155 00:09:44,920 --> 00:09:48,400 Speaker 1: it sits to the right of John Hancock's famously very 156 00:09:48,520 --> 00:09:52,800 Speaker 1: large signature. Morris is quoted as saying, of this shift 157 00:09:52,840 --> 00:09:56,280 Speaker 1: to supporting independence, quote, I am not one of those 158 00:09:56,320 --> 00:09:59,880 Speaker 1: politicians that run testy when my own plans are not adopted. 159 00:10:00,440 --> 00:10:02,440 Speaker 1: I think it is the duty of a good citizen 160 00:10:02,520 --> 00:10:06,320 Speaker 1: to follow when he cannot lead. He also stated that 161 00:10:06,400 --> 00:10:09,319 Speaker 1: it is quote the duty of every individual to act 162 00:10:09,360 --> 00:10:12,360 Speaker 1: his part in whatever station his country may call him 163 00:10:12,360 --> 00:10:17,160 Speaker 1: to in hours of difficulty, danger and distress, and Morris 164 00:10:17,320 --> 00:10:20,000 Speaker 1: was all in when it came to supporting the Continental 165 00:10:20,120 --> 00:10:23,800 Speaker 1: Army and the independence fight. He helped the militia in 166 00:10:23,840 --> 00:10:26,960 Speaker 1: the colonies by leveraging his business success to aid in 167 00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:30,720 Speaker 1: the cause. Through his company, he was able to import 168 00:10:30,760 --> 00:10:35,040 Speaker 1: weapons and gunpowder to give to the revolutionary forces. Morris 169 00:10:35,120 --> 00:10:38,200 Speaker 1: also sold the ships from his company's fleet to the 170 00:10:38,200 --> 00:10:42,400 Speaker 1: Continental Navy. As the war played out, his own business 171 00:10:42,480 --> 00:10:47,400 Speaker 1: interests became progressively more entangled with that of the colonial government. 172 00:10:48,200 --> 00:10:52,760 Speaker 1: That raised some eyebrows, though Given that Morris was making 173 00:10:52,840 --> 00:10:56,440 Speaker 1: money by selling assets to the revolutionaries, people started to 174 00:10:56,520 --> 00:11:02,240 Speaker 1: accuse him of profiteering, most prominently Thomas Paine. Those accusations 175 00:11:02,240 --> 00:11:05,240 Speaker 1: were bolstered by Morris's contracts that he had taken out 176 00:11:05,240 --> 00:11:08,719 Speaker 1: with privateers who went after British ships in the Atlantic. 177 00:11:09,320 --> 00:11:12,199 Speaker 1: That seems like he's doing a great thing for the colonies. 178 00:11:12,240 --> 00:11:15,240 Speaker 1: But as part of those deals Morris was also getting 179 00:11:15,240 --> 00:11:18,600 Speaker 1: to keep a lot of what was seized. Writing for 180 00:11:18,640 --> 00:11:21,960 Speaker 1: the William and Mary Quarterly in nineteen thirty four, E. 181 00:11:22,120 --> 00:11:25,600 Speaker 1: James Ferguson wrote of Morris quote, another advantage of his 182 00:11:25,720 --> 00:11:29,160 Speaker 1: office was the use of government money to float his 183 00:11:29,400 --> 00:11:33,760 Speaker 1: private enterprises. How much he converted to his own use 184 00:11:33,880 --> 00:11:38,319 Speaker 1: is impossible to know, for if private ventures were successful, 185 00:11:38,440 --> 00:11:42,160 Speaker 1: money could be replaced, and a misapplication of funds would 186 00:11:42,280 --> 00:11:45,720 Speaker 1: very likely leave no trace. It should be said also 187 00:11:45,880 --> 00:11:49,360 Speaker 1: that in the normal course of events, there were occasions 188 00:11:49,400 --> 00:11:52,360 Speaker 1: when a public officer would owe the government money and 189 00:11:52,440 --> 00:11:55,520 Speaker 1: for a time have the benefit of government funds to 190 00:11:55,720 --> 00:11:59,560 Speaker 1: finance his private trade. At other times, perhaps the government 191 00:11:59,640 --> 00:12:03,920 Speaker 1: might own him money. However, it is clear that Morris 192 00:12:04,000 --> 00:12:09,080 Speaker 1: took an improper advantage of his position. He diverted at 193 00:12:09,160 --> 00:12:13,000 Speaker 1: least eighty thousand dollars to his own purposes and did 194 00:12:13,080 --> 00:12:16,840 Speaker 1: not replace it. Yeah, and a lot of that happens 195 00:12:16,880 --> 00:12:19,040 Speaker 1: in a role that we're about to talk about. But 196 00:12:19,600 --> 00:12:22,160 Speaker 1: from the beginning there were people going like, what is 197 00:12:22,240 --> 00:12:27,240 Speaker 1: Robert Morris doing exactly? What? How is this working? But 198 00:12:27,320 --> 00:12:31,320 Speaker 1: Morris's work in politics continued to be related almost entirely 199 00:12:31,360 --> 00:12:36,600 Speaker 1: to finances even after the profiteering accusations had begun. During 200 00:12:36,640 --> 00:12:40,320 Speaker 1: his involvement in the Revolutionary government, Morris was deeply involved 201 00:12:40,360 --> 00:12:44,480 Speaker 1: and influential in how the Continental Congress raised money and 202 00:12:44,520 --> 00:12:47,360 Speaker 1: how that money was spent, specifically when it came to 203 00:12:47,440 --> 00:12:52,280 Speaker 1: military action. He is often described, with some level of debate, 204 00:12:52,600 --> 00:12:56,000 Speaker 1: as having almost single handedly managed the finances of the 205 00:12:56,040 --> 00:13:00,800 Speaker 1: revolutionaries from seventeen eighty one to seventeen eighty before he 206 00:13:00,920 --> 00:13:04,920 Speaker 1: was Superintendent of Finance, a job created under the Articles 207 00:13:04,920 --> 00:13:08,920 Speaker 1: of Confederation. This was a new role created to see 208 00:13:08,920 --> 00:13:11,880 Speaker 1: to the ongoing needs of funding for the war effort 209 00:13:11,960 --> 00:13:15,760 Speaker 1: and to fix some serious problems. Morris was very good 210 00:13:15,760 --> 00:13:19,640 Speaker 1: friends with George Washington, and Washington offered Morris the role 211 00:13:19,679 --> 00:13:24,160 Speaker 1: of Secretary of Treasury, but Morris turned it down. This 212 00:13:24,280 --> 00:13:27,640 Speaker 1: new job as superintendent didn't have a lot of oversight. 213 00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:30,760 Speaker 1: Morris had a great deal of freedom to do whatever 214 00:13:30,840 --> 00:13:35,040 Speaker 1: he deemed necessary to write the finances of the fledgling nation, 215 00:13:36,080 --> 00:13:39,559 Speaker 1: and that lack of oversight was something Morris had negotiated 216 00:13:39,600 --> 00:13:42,480 Speaker 1: as part of agreeing to take the job. He had 217 00:13:42,520 --> 00:13:46,080 Speaker 1: initially been asked to become the superintendent in seventeen eighty, 218 00:13:46,200 --> 00:13:50,320 Speaker 1: but he didn't accept right away. He had two specific 219 00:13:50,400 --> 00:13:53,560 Speaker 1: conditions that had to be agreed to before he would 220 00:13:53,559 --> 00:13:56,720 Speaker 1: assume the role. For one, he wanted to be able 221 00:13:56,760 --> 00:13:59,880 Speaker 1: to fire anyone he wished within the Treasury, with no 222 00:14:00,200 --> 00:14:04,480 Speaker 1: approvals needed from anyone else. And two, he wanted to 223 00:14:04,520 --> 00:14:08,240 Speaker 1: be able to maintain all of the various business connections 224 00:14:08,280 --> 00:14:13,440 Speaker 1: he had in his private business. After accepting the position, 225 00:14:13,720 --> 00:14:16,320 Speaker 1: Morris wrote a letter to George Washington in which he 226 00:14:16,360 --> 00:14:19,320 Speaker 1: assured him that it was his goal to ensure that 227 00:14:19,360 --> 00:14:22,280 Speaker 1: the General had provisions for his army. We have a 228 00:14:22,280 --> 00:14:25,080 Speaker 1: few quotes coming up from Robert Morris, and I will 229 00:14:25,120 --> 00:14:29,760 Speaker 1: say as a writer, he's a little convoluted, so just 230 00:14:29,880 --> 00:14:32,200 Speaker 1: know that going in. But he wrote to Washington in 231 00:14:32,240 --> 00:14:35,160 Speaker 1: this instance quote be assured that it shall be my 232 00:14:35,280 --> 00:14:38,520 Speaker 1: study to guard you as much as possible against the 233 00:14:38,600 --> 00:14:42,240 Speaker 1: distress and perplexity that arise from want of provisions, etc. 234 00:14:43,080 --> 00:14:46,080 Speaker 1: And if the several legislatures will only do their part 235 00:14:46,080 --> 00:14:48,920 Speaker 1: with vigor, I shall have the strongest hopes of putting 236 00:14:48,960 --> 00:14:51,000 Speaker 1: a much better face on our money to affairs in 237 00:14:51,040 --> 00:14:54,400 Speaker 1: a short time. But without their aid, the wheels will 238 00:14:54,440 --> 00:14:58,960 Speaker 1: go heavily round. I shall therefore apply them closely in 239 00:14:59,080 --> 00:15:02,360 Speaker 1: order to bring about changes gradually. I have advertised for 240 00:15:02,440 --> 00:15:07,200 Speaker 1: contracts to supply rations to the troops, artificers, and prisoners 241 00:15:07,440 --> 00:15:10,000 Speaker 1: that are now in this city, or which may happen 242 00:15:10,040 --> 00:15:12,560 Speaker 1: to be here from time to time between this and 243 00:15:12,600 --> 00:15:16,480 Speaker 1: the first January next. And he also outlines in this 244 00:15:16,600 --> 00:15:20,400 Speaker 1: letter his plan for sort of juggling the obligations of 245 00:15:20,440 --> 00:15:23,920 Speaker 1: these various contracts, which offers a glimpse into the way 246 00:15:23,960 --> 00:15:27,920 Speaker 1: that Morris thought about money, and specifically about transactions. So 247 00:15:28,400 --> 00:15:30,840 Speaker 1: be warned this is an especially wild and run on 248 00:15:30,960 --> 00:15:34,600 Speaker 1: sentence quote. I believe it may not answer so well 249 00:15:34,680 --> 00:15:37,480 Speaker 1: to contract for rations to be delivered at the main 250 00:15:37,680 --> 00:15:41,160 Speaker 1: army as to make one contract for bread, another for 251 00:15:41,200 --> 00:15:45,520 Speaker 1: fresh beef, another for salted meat, another for rum, vinegar 252 00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:49,480 Speaker 1: and salt, etc. Because by dividing these contracts, I can 253 00:15:49,520 --> 00:15:53,960 Speaker 1: oblige each contractor to allow convenience in time of payment 254 00:15:54,240 --> 00:15:57,040 Speaker 1: for certain part of the supplies. And it is most 255 00:15:57,080 --> 00:16:00,720 Speaker 1: consistent with demonstrated ideas to divide things of this kind 256 00:16:01,040 --> 00:16:04,920 Speaker 1: amongst a number of freemen rather than permit anyone to 257 00:16:05,040 --> 00:16:08,200 Speaker 1: grasp all the advantages that may arise from the contract. 258 00:16:08,440 --> 00:16:11,080 Speaker 1: And there is no danger of prices rising so as 259 00:16:11,120 --> 00:16:15,400 Speaker 1: to create artificial scarcity under the management of several contractors, 260 00:16:15,720 --> 00:16:18,880 Speaker 1: because they will all be actuated by one principle that 261 00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:23,440 Speaker 1: operates effectually against that kind of competition which raises prices. 262 00:16:23,480 --> 00:16:26,600 Speaker 1: Whereas a number of purchasers who have no other rule 263 00:16:26,680 --> 00:16:29,760 Speaker 1: for their government than a desire to obtain what they want, 264 00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:33,280 Speaker 1: never fail to raise prices by the measure they pursue, 265 00:16:33,760 --> 00:16:37,040 Speaker 1: even though they mean to serve the public. Ever, so well, 266 00:16:37,840 --> 00:16:40,480 Speaker 1: basically like we're going to have an easier time juggling 267 00:16:40,480 --> 00:16:42,600 Speaker 1: a bunch of people and moving our money around that 268 00:16:42,680 --> 00:16:48,520 Speaker 1: way than actually having one contract. Morris did work diligently 269 00:16:48,720 --> 00:16:52,120 Speaker 1: to deliver on his promise of getting Washington the resources 270 00:16:52,160 --> 00:16:55,920 Speaker 1: he needed. The movement of the Continental Army from New 271 00:16:56,000 --> 00:16:59,800 Speaker 1: York to Yorktown led by George Washington was made possible 272 00:16:59,800 --> 00:17:04,800 Speaker 1: by Morris's fundraising. That fundraising came in several forms, one 273 00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:09,199 Speaker 1: borrowing from France, two requisitioning from the States. In the 274 00:17:09,320 --> 00:17:12,760 Speaker 1: Articles of Confederation adopted in seventeen seventy seven, there was 275 00:17:12,800 --> 00:17:15,920 Speaker 1: a provision for Congress to request money from the States, 276 00:17:15,960 --> 00:17:18,919 Speaker 1: but the states didn't have to kick in any money. 277 00:17:19,040 --> 00:17:21,520 Speaker 1: It was strictly a request and not a command. So 278 00:17:21,560 --> 00:17:24,320 Speaker 1: the first thing Morris did in his new role was 279 00:17:24,400 --> 00:17:28,040 Speaker 1: to try to establish a war debt tax. That didn't 280 00:17:28,040 --> 00:17:30,600 Speaker 1: make it through Congress. All the states but Rhode Island 281 00:17:30,640 --> 00:17:33,080 Speaker 1: agreed to it, but they needed a unanimous vote for 282 00:17:33,119 --> 00:17:35,840 Speaker 1: the tax to be levied. Still, though, he did reach 283 00:17:35,840 --> 00:17:38,159 Speaker 1: out to the states to get them to pony up 284 00:17:38,200 --> 00:17:42,240 Speaker 1: as much as possible, and then three Morris himself when 285 00:17:42,280 --> 00:17:44,880 Speaker 1: funding came up shorts. That was when he reached into 286 00:17:44,920 --> 00:17:48,159 Speaker 1: his own pocket to make up the gap. So this 287 00:17:48,280 --> 00:17:50,800 Speaker 1: may sound like kind of a wild concept, right, a 288 00:17:50,800 --> 00:17:55,520 Speaker 1: public official paying from his personal coffers to finance military action. 289 00:17:56,320 --> 00:17:59,560 Speaker 1: But for Morris, the fight for independence had become very 290 00:17:59,680 --> 00:18:03,960 Speaker 1: much about money and commerce. In that letter to Washington 291 00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:06,639 Speaker 1: that we quoted a moment ago, he also relays some 292 00:18:06,760 --> 00:18:12,040 Speaker 1: information like really detailed information about specific market values of items, 293 00:18:12,080 --> 00:18:14,800 Speaker 1: and the ways in which Morris watched such things. And 294 00:18:14,840 --> 00:18:17,560 Speaker 1: then he told Washington, quote, I would not take up 295 00:18:17,560 --> 00:18:20,320 Speaker 1: your time with this detail, only for the sake of 296 00:18:20,320 --> 00:18:23,480 Speaker 1: this one observation, which I think should be impressed on 297 00:18:23,560 --> 00:18:26,159 Speaker 1: the minds of all persons in power, and which I 298 00:18:26,240 --> 00:18:30,400 Speaker 1: believe exactly coincides with your sentiments. It is that commerce 299 00:18:30,440 --> 00:18:34,560 Speaker 1: should be perfectly free, and property soundly secured to the owner. 300 00:18:35,080 --> 00:18:38,240 Speaker 1: The only exception that should be admitted our legal restraints, 301 00:18:38,240 --> 00:18:41,760 Speaker 1: on the first founded on such evident public utility as 302 00:18:41,800 --> 00:18:44,880 Speaker 1: convinces the community at large of their propriety, and such 303 00:18:44,920 --> 00:18:48,280 Speaker 1: restraints should continue no longer than the propriety is evident. 304 00:18:48,359 --> 00:18:51,520 Speaker 1: And on the last, the only exception should be as 305 00:18:51,560 --> 00:18:54,280 Speaker 1: to that part of property which is taken from all 306 00:18:54,359 --> 00:18:57,480 Speaker 1: with an equal hand by taxation. Kind of like, hey, 307 00:18:57,840 --> 00:19:00,280 Speaker 1: when we set up our government, keep your hands out 308 00:19:00,280 --> 00:19:05,240 Speaker 1: of a business. In seventeen eighty one, Morris established the 309 00:19:05,280 --> 00:19:08,960 Speaker 1: Bank of North America. This was an effort to stabilize 310 00:19:08,960 --> 00:19:11,359 Speaker 1: the economy, which was in the middle of what looked 311 00:19:11,359 --> 00:19:15,160 Speaker 1: like an endless inflation cycle, and to regulate the printing 312 00:19:15,240 --> 00:19:19,399 Speaker 1: of banknotes. As the war played out, Congress had issued 313 00:19:19,480 --> 00:19:22,040 Speaker 1: a lot of paper money as part of their fundraising, 314 00:19:22,080 --> 00:19:24,359 Speaker 1: and it meant that the new country they were trying 315 00:19:24,359 --> 00:19:28,280 Speaker 1: to establish was starting out with a really shaky financial picture. 316 00:19:28,960 --> 00:19:32,520 Speaker 1: But this bank plan of Morris's also got some side eye. 317 00:19:33,000 --> 00:19:36,439 Speaker 1: It was yet another instance where Morris, clearly a person 318 00:19:36,480 --> 00:19:39,440 Speaker 1: with a bias for action, kind of forged ahead while 319 00:19:39,480 --> 00:19:42,320 Speaker 1: other statesmen were standing around asking if this was actually 320 00:19:42,400 --> 00:19:46,560 Speaker 1: legal to do. But bigger than any questions posed about 321 00:19:46,600 --> 00:19:50,000 Speaker 1: the legality was the reality that there really did need 322 00:19:50,040 --> 00:19:53,560 Speaker 1: to be a bank, so the plan went ahead. This 323 00:19:53,800 --> 00:19:57,000 Speaker 1: was a privately owned bank run by the subscriber investors 324 00:19:57,040 --> 00:19:59,560 Speaker 1: who bought into it. So the idea was that in 325 00:19:59,640 --> 00:20:03,040 Speaker 1: lieu of tax income, which had been voted down, the 326 00:20:03,080 --> 00:20:06,439 Speaker 1: Bank of North America would provide money through the subscribers 327 00:20:06,480 --> 00:20:10,040 Speaker 1: to pay off the national debt. The bank also issued 328 00:20:10,040 --> 00:20:13,800 Speaker 1: its own national notes. The banknote situation in the seventeen 329 00:20:13,880 --> 00:20:18,000 Speaker 1: seventies had gotten really messy. Massachusetts had been the first 330 00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:21,480 Speaker 1: to start issuing banknotes, starting right after the Battle of 331 00:20:21,600 --> 00:20:26,520 Speaker 1: Lexington and conquered. These banknotes were bills issued against money 332 00:20:26,600 --> 00:20:30,080 Speaker 1: the colony would have in the future through a variety 333 00:20:30,119 --> 00:20:35,320 Speaker 1: of income streams, including taxes and levies. After Massachusetts started 334 00:20:35,359 --> 00:20:38,280 Speaker 1: doing it, so did the other colonies, and things rapidly 335 00:20:38,280 --> 00:20:40,560 Speaker 1: got out of hand as bills were issued at a 336 00:20:40,640 --> 00:20:44,880 Speaker 1: rate that just couldn't ever be backed up. But there 337 00:20:44,920 --> 00:20:48,840 Speaker 1: was ongoing need for war funding, so these bills continued 338 00:20:48,880 --> 00:20:52,320 Speaker 1: to be printed, though the glut in the market devalued 339 00:20:52,359 --> 00:20:56,240 Speaker 1: them and led to inflation. To compound the issue, Britain 340 00:20:56,320 --> 00:21:00,199 Speaker 1: started printing counterfeit notes and dropping them into circulation. In 341 00:21:00,240 --> 00:21:04,560 Speaker 1: North America. In seventeen seventy seven, the Continental Congress called 342 00:21:04,560 --> 00:21:08,879 Speaker 1: for the then states to stop issuing currencies. There was 343 00:21:08,920 --> 00:21:12,040 Speaker 1: a new system initiated in seventeen eighty, with the states 344 00:21:12,080 --> 00:21:15,280 Speaker 1: issuing their own notes, but as part of a larger 345 00:21:15,359 --> 00:21:20,240 Speaker 1: regulated system overseen by Congress, but that system wasn't embraced 346 00:21:20,320 --> 00:21:23,440 Speaker 1: because no one trusted notes at that point, even if 347 00:21:23,600 --> 00:21:28,480 Speaker 1: Congress backed the state issued currency. Estimates put the value 348 00:21:28,520 --> 00:21:31,800 Speaker 1: of currency in seventeen eighty at a fortieth of its 349 00:21:31,840 --> 00:21:36,679 Speaker 1: face value. So all of this was what Morris inherited 350 00:21:36,720 --> 00:21:39,639 Speaker 1: as a problem to solve, and it is why his 351 00:21:39,800 --> 00:21:43,320 Speaker 1: Bank of North America introduced notes that were intended for 352 00:21:43,520 --> 00:21:48,240 Speaker 1: nationwide circulation. Morris also called for the creation of a 353 00:21:48,359 --> 00:21:52,840 Speaker 1: National Mints, but Congress didn't prioritize that. It wasn't until 354 00:21:52,840 --> 00:21:56,800 Speaker 1: seventeen ninety two, eight years after Morris left the Superintendent 355 00:21:56,800 --> 00:21:59,840 Speaker 1: of Finance role, for the National Mint to be established 356 00:21:59,840 --> 00:22:04,840 Speaker 1: through the Coinage Act. Morris also reorganized the Treasury and 357 00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:10,359 Speaker 1: established much more robust reporting structures and schedules. Morris's team 358 00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:13,879 Speaker 1: gave regular monthly reports that were widely circulated to the 359 00:22:13,880 --> 00:22:17,959 Speaker 1: public via newspapers, so that there was both transparency and, 360 00:22:18,080 --> 00:22:21,439 Speaker 1: when needed, the opportunity for the public to see issues 361 00:22:21,480 --> 00:22:24,600 Speaker 1: and call them out. This was also a way to 362 00:22:24,720 --> 00:22:27,760 Speaker 1: ensure that states didn't renege on their agreements and that 363 00:22:27,840 --> 00:22:30,600 Speaker 1: they were paying enough money to help the war effort, 364 00:22:31,080 --> 00:22:33,800 Speaker 1: and so that the Treasury could rebuild the lost trust 365 00:22:33,800 --> 00:22:38,840 Speaker 1: in national finances. Robert Morris had plenty of critics, and 366 00:22:38,920 --> 00:22:42,200 Speaker 1: some of them believed he had done some shady things 367 00:22:42,240 --> 00:22:45,840 Speaker 1: while serving as Superintendent of Finance. We will talk about 368 00:22:45,880 --> 00:22:48,600 Speaker 1: that and some other trouble he got into after we 369 00:22:48,680 --> 00:22:52,359 Speaker 1: hear from the sponsors that keep stuffiness in history class going. 370 00:23:02,119 --> 00:23:05,760 Speaker 1: After Morris left the Superintendent of Finance job in seventeen 371 00:23:05,800 --> 00:23:09,679 Speaker 1: eighty four, there were ongoing concerns about the ways he 372 00:23:09,720 --> 00:23:12,680 Speaker 1: had handled things and whether or not he had maneuvered 373 00:23:12,760 --> 00:23:16,240 Speaker 1: aspects of the job to ensure his own wealth. On 374 00:23:16,359 --> 00:23:19,360 Speaker 1: June twentieth, seventeen eighty five, there was a resolution in 375 00:23:19,400 --> 00:23:24,800 Speaker 1: Congress to investigate Morris's conduct as Superintendent of Finances. At 376 00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:27,360 Speaker 1: the time, the resolution kind of sputtered because it would 377 00:23:27,359 --> 00:23:30,800 Speaker 1: have taken time and resources that were in short supply. 378 00:23:31,480 --> 00:23:35,040 Speaker 1: But Morris himself continued to push for the investigation for 379 00:23:35,119 --> 00:23:38,040 Speaker 1: several years because with that one he was going to 380 00:23:38,080 --> 00:23:40,960 Speaker 1: be forever under suspicion, and he felt that he had 381 00:23:40,960 --> 00:23:44,960 Speaker 1: done nothing wrong. He wrote once again to George Washington 382 00:23:45,080 --> 00:23:50,360 Speaker 1: in seventeen ninety asking him to please get an investigation underway, writing, quote, 383 00:23:50,520 --> 00:23:54,880 Speaker 1: your memorialist, desirous of rescuing his reputation from the aspersions 384 00:23:54,920 --> 00:23:58,160 Speaker 1: thrown upon it, came in the month of October seventeen 385 00:23:58,200 --> 00:24:00,560 Speaker 1: eighty eight to the City of New York as well, 386 00:24:00,600 --> 00:24:03,679 Speaker 1: for the purpose of urging the appointment of commissions to 387 00:24:03,840 --> 00:24:07,760 Speaker 1: inspect his official transactions, as for that of procuring an 388 00:24:07,800 --> 00:24:11,800 Speaker 1: adjustment of the accounts which existed previous to his administration. 389 00:24:12,560 --> 00:24:15,840 Speaker 1: He was basically saying like, please check the receipts. Let's 390 00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:18,679 Speaker 1: have it all out in the open. In February of 391 00:24:18,720 --> 00:24:22,480 Speaker 1: seventeen ninety, a House committee made up of James Madison, 392 00:24:22,640 --> 00:24:27,280 Speaker 1: Theodore Sedgwick, and Roger Sherman got the referral for an investigation. 393 00:24:28,280 --> 00:24:31,080 Speaker 1: Because of this, Morris is sometimes said to be the 394 00:24:31,119 --> 00:24:35,880 Speaker 1: first subject of a Congressional committee investigation, but the extent 395 00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:40,120 Speaker 1: of that investigation is a little unclear. A statement made 396 00:24:40,119 --> 00:24:43,719 Speaker 1: by Madison in March of seventeen ninety indicated that quote 397 00:24:43,840 --> 00:24:48,480 Speaker 1: regular official examination has been already made into the transactions 398 00:24:48,480 --> 00:24:52,080 Speaker 1: of mister Morris as Superintendent of the Finances of the 399 00:24:52,200 --> 00:24:56,439 Speaker 1: United States, and that it is inexpedient to incur the 400 00:24:56,480 --> 00:24:59,720 Speaker 1: expense of a re examination by commissioners, as proposed by 401 00:24:59,760 --> 00:25:04,600 Speaker 1: the resolution of the Senate on that subject. The resolution 402 00:25:04,720 --> 00:25:07,080 Speaker 1: went on to a second committee, which looked at the 403 00:25:07,119 --> 00:25:10,919 Speaker 1: various receipts and accounts and determined that Morris hadn't done 404 00:25:10,960 --> 00:25:15,879 Speaker 1: anything wrong to his supporters. Yes, Morris did have money 405 00:25:15,880 --> 00:25:19,120 Speaker 1: coming in through some of his war deals, but he 406 00:25:19,200 --> 00:25:24,040 Speaker 1: was also losing money by personally financing things like arms purchases. 407 00:25:24,800 --> 00:25:28,040 Speaker 1: But though he was cleared of the profiteering charges. He 408 00:25:28,160 --> 00:25:33,480 Speaker 1: continued to have detractors who believed that he was a profiteer. Yeah, 409 00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:38,600 Speaker 1: his declaration of innocence by the Senate Committee didn't really 410 00:25:38,640 --> 00:25:41,960 Speaker 1: do much. The people that distrusted him continued to do so. 411 00:25:43,320 --> 00:25:45,840 Speaker 1: After the war ended, and during that period of time 412 00:25:45,920 --> 00:25:49,600 Speaker 1: when the accusations against him as a public official had intensified, 413 00:25:50,280 --> 00:25:52,919 Speaker 1: Morris initially actually kind of tried to go back to 414 00:25:52,960 --> 00:25:55,800 Speaker 1: his pre war life. He wanted to just get back 415 00:25:55,840 --> 00:25:58,840 Speaker 1: to his business affairs, but he was pulled back into 416 00:25:58,880 --> 00:26:02,840 Speaker 1: civic work as a Progressional delegate. In seventeen eighty seven, 417 00:26:02,920 --> 00:26:06,040 Speaker 1: Morris was part of the Constitutional Convention, where he worked 418 00:26:06,040 --> 00:26:10,199 Speaker 1: alongside other Founding Fathers in drafting the first US Constitution. 419 00:26:11,320 --> 00:26:14,960 Speaker 1: After the Constitution was created, Morris did not go back 420 00:26:14,960 --> 00:26:18,120 Speaker 1: to his business. He served as a Senator from seventeen 421 00:26:18,160 --> 00:26:21,280 Speaker 1: eighty nine to seventeen ninety five, and his focus as 422 00:26:21,280 --> 00:26:24,480 Speaker 1: a senator was actually keeping an eye on national finance, 423 00:26:24,680 --> 00:26:29,040 Speaker 1: lobbying for reform during the late seventeen hundreds, Morris made 424 00:26:29,080 --> 00:26:32,239 Speaker 1: a number of financial decisions that would come back to 425 00:26:32,320 --> 00:26:35,679 Speaker 1: bite him. For one, he sank a lot of money 426 00:26:35,720 --> 00:26:39,760 Speaker 1: into building his dream home. It was a mansion designed 427 00:26:39,840 --> 00:26:43,359 Speaker 1: by Pierre L'Enfant, who also designed the district of Columbia. 428 00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:47,359 Speaker 1: The lot he had for the home was near the 429 00:26:47,400 --> 00:26:50,359 Speaker 1: center of the city, and there was a degree to 430 00:26:50,440 --> 00:26:52,639 Speaker 1: which he was kind of hoping that he could flip 431 00:26:52,720 --> 00:26:56,480 Speaker 1: this as a location for the presidential residence when that 432 00:26:56,680 --> 00:27:00,320 Speaker 1: was still undecided. Once it became apparent that that was 433 00:27:00,359 --> 00:27:03,719 Speaker 1: not going to happen, he envisioned his own home and 434 00:27:03,760 --> 00:27:06,159 Speaker 1: he saw it as a structure that would become iconic 435 00:27:06,200 --> 00:27:09,080 Speaker 1: to the city. We will come back to the planned 436 00:27:09,160 --> 00:27:13,440 Speaker 1: mansion in just a moment. Morris also during this time, 437 00:27:13,560 --> 00:27:17,439 Speaker 1: shifted his business interests away from banking in trade and 438 00:27:17,520 --> 00:27:22,840 Speaker 1: put everything he had into real estate, specifically speculative real estate, 439 00:27:22,960 --> 00:27:28,159 Speaker 1: and he went big, purchasing a reported millions of acres 440 00:27:28,200 --> 00:27:31,800 Speaker 1: with no immediate plans for their use. There wasn't a 441 00:27:31,840 --> 00:27:34,560 Speaker 1: development plan and there were no buyers in place for 442 00:27:34,600 --> 00:27:37,040 Speaker 1: all of this property, and he went into debt to 443 00:27:37,119 --> 00:27:40,399 Speaker 1: make those purchases. While he had been in business with 444 00:27:40,480 --> 00:27:44,320 Speaker 1: a number of other speculators at various points in these acquisitions, 445 00:27:44,720 --> 00:27:47,040 Speaker 1: a lot of those other partners bowed out after a 446 00:27:47,080 --> 00:27:50,240 Speaker 1: certain point, so then Morris was on the hook for 447 00:27:50,359 --> 00:27:56,160 Speaker 1: ever greater amounts of debt. Meanwhile, his Philadelphia lot sat undeveloped. 448 00:27:56,520 --> 00:27:58,840 Speaker 1: He had managed to put a fence around it before 449 00:27:58,880 --> 00:28:02,080 Speaker 1: getting off involved, and then as things ramped up, he 450 00:28:02,160 --> 00:28:07,520 Speaker 1: started really hemorrhaging money. According to historian Ryan K. Smith, 451 00:28:07,520 --> 00:28:11,000 Speaker 1: who wrote the book Robert Morris's Folly, it was costing 452 00:28:11,200 --> 00:28:15,639 Speaker 1: Morris two one hundred and forty four dollars each month 453 00:28:15,720 --> 00:28:19,000 Speaker 1: to keep the workers going. There were rumors that the 454 00:28:19,080 --> 00:28:23,119 Speaker 1: project was plagued by issues and that Morris wasn't happy 455 00:28:23,160 --> 00:28:27,120 Speaker 1: with the design. Lamfont was paid nearly ten thousand dollars 456 00:28:27,200 --> 00:28:29,760 Speaker 1: over the course of several years for this project, but 457 00:28:29,880 --> 00:28:34,080 Speaker 1: the house made slow progress. The seventeen ninety three yellow 458 00:28:34,160 --> 00:28:38,800 Speaker 1: fever epidemic that swept through Philadelphia led Morris and Lamfont 459 00:28:38,840 --> 00:28:41,960 Speaker 1: to both leave the city, and that dragged the progress 460 00:28:42,120 --> 00:28:46,840 Speaker 1: farther and farther behind. Then, in seventeen ninety seven, a 461 00:28:47,000 --> 00:28:51,840 Speaker 1: serious financial crisis erupted. Morris and his business partners were 462 00:28:51,880 --> 00:28:54,440 Speaker 1: not the only people buying up land with the intention 463 00:28:54,560 --> 00:28:57,520 Speaker 1: of quickly flipping it or working with other investors to 464 00:28:57,640 --> 00:29:01,720 Speaker 1: develop it. A lot of people of means, recognizing that 465 00:29:01,760 --> 00:29:05,400 Speaker 1: a country in its infancy would only grow wanted to 466 00:29:05,440 --> 00:29:08,280 Speaker 1: get in on the potential for a huge financial payout 467 00:29:08,320 --> 00:29:12,320 Speaker 1: that such a moment might offer. As with any financial 468 00:29:12,320 --> 00:29:15,440 Speaker 1: panic or crisis, there were many factors involved, but the 469 00:29:15,480 --> 00:29:19,440 Speaker 1: two major ones in seventeen ninety seven were these. One, 470 00:29:19,800 --> 00:29:23,040 Speaker 1: the US credit system was still inflated, and there were 471 00:29:23,080 --> 00:29:25,880 Speaker 1: more loans out than could be backed up with real money. 472 00:29:26,560 --> 00:29:29,080 Speaker 1: A lot of loans were backed up with property in 473 00:29:29,200 --> 00:29:32,760 Speaker 1: areas that weren't yet developed, like farther out to the west, 474 00:29:33,080 --> 00:29:37,800 Speaker 1: and their potential value turned out to not be real. Two. 475 00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:40,760 Speaker 1: A lot of the speculation going on was carried out 476 00:29:40,840 --> 00:29:43,800 Speaker 1: with the assumption that foreign investors would come in and 477 00:29:43,840 --> 00:29:47,360 Speaker 1: buy land or develop it, thus boosting both the finance 478 00:29:47,400 --> 00:29:51,720 Speaker 1: of the speculators and the overall US economy, but that 479 00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:55,760 Speaker 1: didn't happen. The French Revolution took place in a Europe 480 00:29:55,760 --> 00:29:59,040 Speaker 1: that had already been depleted in many countries by loans 481 00:29:59,040 --> 00:30:02,560 Speaker 1: and expenses related to the revolutionary war that had just 482 00:30:02,640 --> 00:30:05,800 Speaker 1: played out in North America, and banks in Europe were 483 00:30:05,840 --> 00:30:09,240 Speaker 1: having their own problems. When the Bank of England put 484 00:30:09,280 --> 00:30:12,560 Speaker 1: a halt to any exchange of paper currency for coinage 485 00:30:12,600 --> 00:30:16,160 Speaker 1: in seventeen ninety seven, everything kind of crashed and the 486 00:30:16,200 --> 00:30:21,080 Speaker 1: speculation bubble in North America popped. Morris found himself deeply 487 00:30:21,200 --> 00:30:23,480 Speaker 1: in debt, with no money coming in to pay back 488 00:30:23,520 --> 00:30:25,840 Speaker 1: the various loans he had taken out. And when we 489 00:30:25,880 --> 00:30:30,320 Speaker 1: say deeply in debt, he had with business partner John Nicholson, 490 00:30:30,400 --> 00:30:34,240 Speaker 1: amassed ten million dollars in debt in their real estate 491 00:30:34,280 --> 00:30:38,880 Speaker 1: speculation that is not adjusted to today's currency value. There 492 00:30:38,960 --> 00:30:41,360 Speaker 1: was no way he would ever be able to repay this, 493 00:30:41,680 --> 00:30:44,680 Speaker 1: although he was constantly dancing and hustling to try to 494 00:30:44,680 --> 00:30:47,880 Speaker 1: come up with any money he could. By the end 495 00:30:47,880 --> 00:30:50,920 Speaker 1: of seventeen ninety seven, Robert and his wife Mary had 496 00:30:50,960 --> 00:30:55,120 Speaker 1: stopped appearing in public. Morris's personal crisis went from bad 497 00:30:55,240 --> 00:30:59,520 Speaker 1: to worse as his creditors took legal action, desperately hoping 498 00:30:59,560 --> 00:31:03,960 Speaker 1: to save themselves from collapse. Unable to pay his many loans, 499 00:31:04,040 --> 00:31:08,000 Speaker 1: in early seventeen ninety eight, Morris was sentenced to debtor's prison. 500 00:31:08,800 --> 00:31:12,200 Speaker 1: He was confined in the Prune Street Debtors Prison, which 501 00:31:12,280 --> 00:31:17,320 Speaker 1: sat next to the Walnut Street Prison. His mansion project ended, 502 00:31:17,480 --> 00:31:21,360 Speaker 1: and the unfinished home was nicknamed Morris's Bolly by the 503 00:31:21,400 --> 00:31:26,240 Speaker 1: citizens of Philadelphia. In prison, Morris was visited by a 504 00:31:26,360 --> 00:31:31,720 Speaker 1: range of prestigious friends, including George Washington, fellow founding father 505 00:31:31,880 --> 00:31:35,040 Speaker 1: Governor Morris stopped bi frequently and made arrangements so that 506 00:31:35,160 --> 00:31:38,000 Speaker 1: Robert's wife Mary would at least have a small pension 507 00:31:38,080 --> 00:31:43,120 Speaker 1: to live on. Throughout his confinement, Morris continued to negotiate 508 00:31:43,160 --> 00:31:45,720 Speaker 1: with his creditors, hoping that he could strike a deal 509 00:31:45,760 --> 00:31:49,760 Speaker 1: that would get him released. Then the Bankruptcy Act of 510 00:31:49,760 --> 00:31:53,960 Speaker 1: eighteen hundred, known more formally as a Bill to Establish 511 00:31:54,000 --> 00:31:57,600 Speaker 1: and Uniform System of Bankruptcy throughout the United States, was 512 00:31:57,720 --> 00:32:02,480 Speaker 1: passed that offered the possibility of a release. This Act, 513 00:32:02,640 --> 00:32:07,000 Speaker 1: which was applied to merchant debtors, only allowed those debtors 514 00:32:07,040 --> 00:32:09,880 Speaker 1: to be discharged from prison if two thirds of their 515 00:32:09,920 --> 00:32:14,000 Speaker 1: creditors agreed to it. The Act enabled Morris to declare 516 00:32:14,080 --> 00:32:17,160 Speaker 1: bankruptcy and get out of debtors prison. He was released 517 00:32:17,160 --> 00:32:20,280 Speaker 1: in eighteen oh one. Morris was one of the most, 518 00:32:20,280 --> 00:32:23,880 Speaker 1: if not the most high profile speculators to land in prison, 519 00:32:24,080 --> 00:32:27,320 Speaker 1: so it looks on first glance as though this law 520 00:32:27,440 --> 00:32:31,760 Speaker 1: was created just to spring him, and while benefiting Morris 521 00:32:31,840 --> 00:32:33,960 Speaker 1: might have been a motivator, he was one of a 522 00:32:34,040 --> 00:32:37,200 Speaker 1: lot of prominent men who had gotten into similar trouble. 523 00:32:37,880 --> 00:32:40,680 Speaker 1: There had actually been discussion of a Bankruptcy Act as 524 00:32:40,720 --> 00:32:43,400 Speaker 1: early as seventeen ninety two, but it did not get 525 00:32:43,440 --> 00:32:48,240 Speaker 1: prioritized until after the seventeen ninety seven crisis, and the 526 00:32:48,240 --> 00:32:51,040 Speaker 1: act didn't exactly sail through Congress. It passed by a 527 00:32:51,120 --> 00:32:54,880 Speaker 1: single vote. The eighteen hundred Act was intended to be 528 00:32:55,560 --> 00:32:59,160 Speaker 1: a piece of stopgap legislation to get the country through 529 00:32:59,200 --> 00:33:03,200 Speaker 1: the immediate problem of a lot of formerly wealthy and 530 00:33:03,280 --> 00:33:06,000 Speaker 1: powerful people being in debtors prison, and it had a 531 00:33:06,000 --> 00:33:09,160 Speaker 1: five year limit on it, but it did not even 532 00:33:09,280 --> 00:33:13,000 Speaker 1: last for five years. It was repealed after three. As 533 00:33:13,040 --> 00:33:16,600 Speaker 1: for Morris, he never returned to his former lifestyle, having 534 00:33:16,760 --> 00:33:21,280 Speaker 1: once been one of the wealthiest men on the continent. Instead, 535 00:33:21,360 --> 00:33:23,520 Speaker 1: he lived in a modest house on the outer edge 536 00:33:23,560 --> 00:33:27,440 Speaker 1: of Philadelphia with his wife Mary. He did actually try 537 00:33:27,440 --> 00:33:30,080 Speaker 1: to get back into business as a merchant and trader, 538 00:33:30,120 --> 00:33:32,680 Speaker 1: but he was already out of pace with those industries 539 00:33:33,080 --> 00:33:35,440 Speaker 1: and where they had progressed to while he was busy 540 00:33:35,960 --> 00:33:38,920 Speaker 1: doing politics and then being in prison, and he also 541 00:33:39,120 --> 00:33:43,040 Speaker 1: just had a shadow of distrust hanging over him. Morris 542 00:33:43,120 --> 00:33:47,000 Speaker 1: died on May eighth, eighteen oh six. Despite having been 543 00:33:47,160 --> 00:33:50,400 Speaker 1: really instrumental in the success of the revolutionaries and the 544 00:33:50,400 --> 00:33:52,840 Speaker 1: formation of the United States, and the end he was 545 00:33:52,920 --> 00:33:57,120 Speaker 1: relatively poor and largely forgotten. Although there is a good 546 00:33:57,160 --> 00:34:00,360 Speaker 1: bit of scholarship regarding his life today, he's generally not 547 00:34:00,560 --> 00:34:03,160 Speaker 1: one of the founding fathers who comes up a lot 548 00:34:03,200 --> 00:34:07,280 Speaker 1: when people invoke that phrase. And in wondering why, I 549 00:34:07,320 --> 00:34:11,759 Speaker 1: found this really wonderful quote by Ryan Smith, who we 550 00:34:11,840 --> 00:34:16,040 Speaker 1: quoted earlier, and who is a Virginia Commonwealth University history professor, 551 00:34:16,840 --> 00:34:21,200 Speaker 1: who talks about how Morris was supposed to be, you know, 552 00:34:21,280 --> 00:34:24,400 Speaker 1: this apex version of what it was to be a 553 00:34:24,480 --> 00:34:28,520 Speaker 1: moneyman in the New Country. But then he wrote quote instead, 554 00:34:28,719 --> 00:34:31,759 Speaker 1: he had this horrible crash that threatened to bring down 555 00:34:31,800 --> 00:34:35,279 Speaker 1: his peers. For a variety of reasons, people wanted to 556 00:34:35,360 --> 00:34:40,640 Speaker 1: forget Robert Morris and his role in the Revolution, which 557 00:34:40,719 --> 00:34:43,640 Speaker 1: is just a good example of how the stories we 558 00:34:43,719 --> 00:34:48,280 Speaker 1: tell ourselves about things like history and particularly like civic 559 00:34:48,320 --> 00:34:52,120 Speaker 1: pride get tweaked to leave out the uglier stuff and 560 00:34:52,160 --> 00:34:56,160 Speaker 1: the messier stuff. Right. But that is Robert Morris, who 561 00:34:56,200 --> 00:35:03,200 Speaker 1: I find ceaselessly fascinating and also so just kind of wild. 562 00:35:03,320 --> 00:35:06,239 Speaker 1: I have thoughts I have thoughts. Do you also have 563 00:35:06,360 --> 00:35:09,360 Speaker 1: listener mail? I do this listener mail came with some 564 00:35:09,360 --> 00:35:11,160 Speaker 1: of the cutest cat pictures of all time. That's all 565 00:35:11,200 --> 00:35:15,040 Speaker 1: you need to do, and it's about Ada Coleman, who 566 00:35:15,080 --> 00:35:17,080 Speaker 1: I love this from our listener page, who writes, Hello, 567 00:35:17,120 --> 00:35:20,120 Speaker 1: Holly and Tracy. Longtime fan of the show and loved 568 00:35:20,120 --> 00:35:22,760 Speaker 1: your most recent episode on Ada Coleman in the Savoy 569 00:35:22,800 --> 00:35:25,080 Speaker 1: American Bar. I have to share that we have our 570 00:35:25,120 --> 00:35:29,279 Speaker 1: own Gilbert and Sullivan tradition here in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, called 571 00:35:29,320 --> 00:35:31,840 Speaker 1: the Savoy Company. I also picked this because it related 572 00:35:31,880 --> 00:35:35,640 Speaker 1: to today's episode. Location wise, we are the oldest amateur 573 00:35:35,680 --> 00:35:38,600 Speaker 1: theater company in the world solely dedicated to the works 574 00:35:38,640 --> 00:35:42,480 Speaker 1: of Gilbert and Sullivan since Douley Kart's dissolution in nineteen 575 00:35:42,520 --> 00:35:45,120 Speaker 1: eighty two. We have been performing in Philly and the 576 00:35:45,160 --> 00:35:47,920 Speaker 1: surrounding area since nineteen oh one and often use the 577 00:35:47,960 --> 00:35:51,600 Speaker 1: Savoy Cocktail Book during our happy hours. Absolutely loved learning 578 00:35:51,640 --> 00:35:54,880 Speaker 1: more about Ada Coleman and of course some GNS history. 579 00:35:56,239 --> 00:35:58,840 Speaker 1: They have shows coming up. They're doing the Mikado this spring. 580 00:35:59,320 --> 00:36:01,640 Speaker 1: You can look for more information if you want it 581 00:36:01,680 --> 00:36:06,000 Speaker 1: on their website, which is Savoyd dot org. For pet 582 00:36:06,040 --> 00:36:10,080 Speaker 1: tax I'm sending pictures of my great Tabby Carlow, including 583 00:36:10,120 --> 00:36:13,640 Speaker 1: his studying of the Rudi Gore score and other genius work. 584 00:36:14,800 --> 00:36:16,520 Speaker 1: Thank you for the podcast. I always look forward to 585 00:36:16,560 --> 00:36:20,520 Speaker 1: a new episode. This cat is so cute I borderline 586 00:36:20,560 --> 00:36:22,359 Speaker 1: can't deal with it. One of them. He has on 587 00:36:22,520 --> 00:36:25,680 Speaker 1: an adorable outfit which is like one of those fabulous 588 00:36:26,080 --> 00:36:28,840 Speaker 1: pet costumes. That isn't really the cat wearing an outfit. 589 00:36:28,920 --> 00:36:32,000 Speaker 1: It's kind of draped over his shoulders, so in front 590 00:36:32,040 --> 00:36:34,960 Speaker 1: it looks like arms and a little cowboy person. Yeah, 591 00:36:35,000 --> 00:36:37,719 Speaker 1: it's so stinking cute, and he's so very cute. He 592 00:36:37,760 --> 00:36:39,800 Speaker 1: looks a lot like one of my best friend's babies. 593 00:36:40,280 --> 00:36:42,880 Speaker 1: So thank you, Paige, because I always need more kiddies 594 00:36:42,880 --> 00:36:46,160 Speaker 1: and kitties that can read or keep that one for sure. 595 00:36:47,480 --> 00:36:49,880 Speaker 1: If you would like to write to us, share your 596 00:36:49,880 --> 00:36:53,920 Speaker 1: pet pictures or your love of anybody we've talked about, 597 00:36:54,000 --> 00:36:56,000 Speaker 1: or you're dislike of them, that's also fine. You can 598 00:36:56,080 --> 00:36:59,279 Speaker 1: do that at History podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. If 599 00:36:59,280 --> 00:37:01,160 Speaker 1: you would like to describe to the show that is 600 00:37:01,200 --> 00:37:02,800 Speaker 1: as easy as pie, you can do it on the 601 00:37:02,840 --> 00:37:07,560 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app or anywhere you listen to your favorite shows. 602 00:37:11,440 --> 00:37:14,560 Speaker 1: Stuff you Missed in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 603 00:37:14,880 --> 00:37:19,520 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 604 00:37:19,640 --> 00:37:21,640 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.