3 Gouverneur Morris Quotes

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"Gouverneur Morris" was an United States/American statesman, a Founding Fathers of the United States/Founding Father of the United States, and a native of New York City who represented Pennsylvania in the Philadelphia Convention/Constitutional Convention of 1787. He was a signatory to the Articles of Confederation. Morris was also an author of large sections of the Constitution of the United States and one of its signers. He is widely credited as the author of the document's Preamble to the United States Constitution/preamble, and has been called the "Penman of the Constitution." In an era when most Americans thought of themselves as citizens of their respective states, Morris advanced the idea of being a citizen of a single union of states.

His first name came from his mother, whose maiden name was Sarah Gouverneur from a Huguenot family that had first moved to Holland then to New Amsterdam. According to Abigail Adams, it was pronounced "governeur." A gifted scholar, Morris enrolled in 1764, at age 12, at King's College, now Columbia College of Columbia University in New York City. He graduated in 1768 and received a Master's degree in 1771.