page_title: Gouverneur Morris
section_title: Lawyer and merchant
hierarchical_section_title: Gouverneur Morris / Career / Lawyer and merchant
caption_attribution_description: Wooden leg of Gouvernour Morris mounted on stand ca. 1780. Oak, leather, metal: 42 1/2 x 14 1/2 in. ( 108 x 36.8 cm ). New-York Historical Society, Gift of Mrs. Frederick Menzies, 1954.148. Wikipedia Loves Art at the New-York Historical Society This photo of item # 1954.148 at the New-York Historical Society was contributed under the team name "the_adverse_possessors" as part of the Wikipedia Loves Art project in February 2009. New-York Historical Society The original photograph on Flickr was taken by _cck_—please add a comment to the original Flickr page whenever a use has been made on Wikipedia or another project. Project galleries on Flickr: this institution, this team
context_page_description: Gouverneur Morris was an American statesman, a Founding Father of the United States, and a signatory to the Articles of Confederation and the United States Constitution. He wrote the Preamble to the United States Constitution 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. He represented New York in the United States Senate from 1800 to 1803.
  Morris was born into a wealthy landowning family in what is now New York City. After attending King's College, he studied law under Judge William Smith and earned admission to the bar. He was elected to the New York Provincial Congress before serving in the Continental Congress. After losing re-election to Congress, he moved to Philadelphia and became the assistant U.S. superintendent of finance. He represented Pennsylvania at the 1787 Constitutional Convention, where he advocated a strong central government. He served on the committee that wrote the final draft of the United States Constitution.
context_section_description: In 1779, he was defeated for re-election to Congress, largely because his advocacy of a strong central government was at odds with the decentralist views prevalent in New York. Defeated in his home state, he moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to work as a lawyer and merchant.
  In 1780, Morris had a carriage accident in Philadelphia, and his left leg was amputated below the knee. 
  Despite an automatic exemption from military duty because of his handicap and his service in the legislature, he joined a special "briefs" club for the protection of New York City, a forerunner of the modern New York Guard.
caption: Wooden leg of Gouverneur Morris. New-York Historical Society.
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