Gouverneur Morris: Author, Statesman, and Man of the World

A fierce, florid nationalist, Gourveneur Morris was the most colorful of America's founding fathers. He financed and fought for American independence, witnessed firsthand the French revolution that followed, and brought his indomitable and outspoken presence to the table at the Consitutional Convention. There, he penned some of the most important and poetic sections of the Constitution, in the process creating the foundation of what Americans think of as democracy today.
A decade in the making, this biography uses extensive 18th-century primary sources and recent scholarship to shed new light on Gouverneur Morris. In doing so, it places Morris's impressive achievements more fully in the context of his times and reveals how his independent spirit triumphed over accidents and reversals that would have crushed a lesser soul. It also examines Morris's writings and speeches in great detail and explores the major lines of influence that led Morris to give the Preamble and the Constitution of the United States the shape and content that govern and inspire us today.