Highlights of the life of Robert Morris:

• Signed the Declaration of Independence – 1776
• Signed the Articles of Confederation – 1781
• Signed the U.S. Constitution – 1787
• Orphaned at age 14
• Partner in a trading and shipping company at age 20
• Wealthiest person in the American colonies in 1776
• Represented Pennsylvania in the Continental Congress
• Established international trade with most European countries
• Personally funded Captain John Paul Jones naval operation
• Personally funded Washington’s action to cross the Delaware River and capture the British outpost in Trenton New Jersey
• Arranged funding and supplies for the American Revolutionary War 1776 – 1783
• Served as the Superintendent of Finance for Congress   1781 – 1783
• Established the first bank in the United States chartered by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
• Established the Bank of North America
• Purchased the home for use of President George Washington when the U.S. Capitol was in Philadelphia 1790 – 1800
• Recommended that President Washington appoint Alexander Hamilton as the first Secretary of the Treasury after Washington asked Morris to serve.
• Engaged in land speculation in the west and at one time owned most of the land in the west half of the State of New York
• Land speculation failures and other financial problems caused Robert Morris to be sent to Debtors Prison  1798 – 1801
• Died in virtual poverty – 1806
• Two universities are named in his honor: 
  • Robert Morris University – Pittsburg
  • Robert Morris University – Illinois

Not everything we know about our ancestor, Robert Morris, is positive.  He and an early business partner engaged for a short time in the slave trade.   He also owned slaves.   He was continually criticized by the Lee brothers of Virginia for the way he managed financing and secured supplies for the revolutionary war.  Morris conducted this activity by leading a secret committee that was authorized by the Continental Congress.  The committee’s actions were later audited and Morris’s actions were found to be above reproach.   It was not uncommon for Robert Morris to use is own credit and financial assets to repay public debts encountered during the revolution. Robert Morris has been largely omitted from the popular stories of our American Founding Fathers.   However, he was, at the time of the Revolutionary war, considered to be the “Financier of the Revolution.”  During the war there was no revenue source to fund the purchase of arms, uniforms, food, supplies and pay for the army.  It is commonly acknowledged that the war would likely have been lost without the creative financing endeavors of Robert Morris.