Gouverneur Morris

***Gouverneur Morris***

**Gouverneur Morris** was the first Republic's President, a Founding Father of the Republic of the Green Mountains, and a signatory to the Articles of Confederation and the Green Mountain's Constitution. He wrote the Preamble to the United States Constitution and has been called the "Penman of the Constitution". While most Americans still thought of themselves as citizens of their respective states, Morris advanced the idea of being a citizen of a single union of states. He was also one of the most outspoken opponents of slavery among those who were present at the Constitutional Convention. And represented the Republic going into the first years of the nation.

Morris was born into a wealthy landowning family in what is now New York City. After attending King's College, now Columbia University, 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. He represented New York at the 1783 Constitutional Convention in which he advocated a strong central government. He served on the committee that wrote the final draft of the United States Constitution.

## Presidency

In 1784 following the signing of the Constitution, Gouverneur Morris would be nominated by the Federalist Party for the Presidential Election of 1784. Morris would win against Gerald Smith and Robert Johnson in the election, and would go on to be the first President of the Republic. Morris would largely shape the Presidency, he would work with Congress to pass the first 14 Amendments to the Constitution, would form the first Cabinet of the Republic and would support the Anti-Slavery Act of 1788 which would ban slavery nation wide in the Republic. Also under his first term Morris would oversee the Six Nations War, the first federally declared war, which would result in the death of his Vice President and War Hero, Ethan Allen. The war would end in a Republic Victory, all but ensuring his victory to a second term.

In 1788 Morris would once again be nominated by the Federalist Party for the Presidency, barely anyone had the will or want to face off against the President, but author of the Bill of Rights and Senator Arthur Fenner would through his hat in the ring for the Whig Party, and would lose in the Presidential Election of 1788. Morris's second term would be more eventful then his first, he would bring Maine into the union, would establish the first tariff, would work to pass the 15th Amendment, and would sign the Congressional Seats Act of 1789, which gave each state 1 House Seat per 50,000 People. Morris would also suffer a blow to warhawks in Congress after they declared war on the Washington Republic in the War of 1789. Morris would oversee the war, and with his Vice President, John Berkman, would end the war with few casualties with the exception of a few battles by young upstart Governor Henry Erler, who would invade the Washington Republic with an army of Maine Volunteers which would cause mass casualties on both sides, and directly lead to the death of Revolutionary War Hero, George Washington. Morris tired of politics and war decided to retire from the Presidency in 1792, not running for a reelection and starting a precedent of 2 term Presidencies. Though the Federalists would have a little bit of contention over the nomination in 1792, Vice President John Berkman and Former Vice President & President Pro Tempore Charles Carroll would strike a deal giving Berkman the Presidential Nomination and Carroll the Vice Presidential Nomination, Morris would endorse both of them, and in 1792 they would both win their respective races. Morris would retire from public life afterwards, occasionally making appearances at inaugurations and endorsements.