To Secure the Blessings of Liberty: Selected Writings of Gouverneur Morris

10 • “An American” Letters on Public Finance for the Pennsylvania Packet (1780)

103 Partial drafts of several of the essays are in the Gouverneur Morris Papers, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University. Where discrepancies appear between a manuscript and the newspaper, I have used the manuscript reading. 1. The “Letters on Appreciation” appeared on January 20 (Letters 1 and 2) and January 25 (Letter 3); they were later published as a pamphlet. The pamphlet has sometimes been attributed to Morris [e.g., American Antiquarian Society of Early American Imprints, series I (Evans), no. 16820]. 2. Mintz, American Revolution, 155–56, and Clarence Ver Steeg, Robert Morris: Revolutionary Financier (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1954), 123–31. See also Kline, New Nation, 242–45. Robert Morris’s report, dated July 29, 1782, appears in the Journal of the Continental Congress on August 5, 1782 (Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789, ed. Gaillard Hunt [Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1914], 22:429–46). 10 • “An American” Letters on Public Finance for the Pennsylvania Packet (1780) Morris’s tenure in the Continental Congress ended in November 1779. He decided to stay in Philadelphia and establish his law practice there; he also embarked on a number of business ventures. But he did not give up his interest in public finance. The essays that follow were published in early 1780, partly in response to a set of “Letters on Appreciation,” published in the Pennsylvania Packet in January of that year.1 Max Mintz argues that the ideas Morris puts forward in these letters are the origin of some of the proposals that later appeared in Robert Morris’s “Report on the Public Credit.” That report, drafted by Gouverneur and submitted to the Continental Congress in July 1782, is arguably the most important document on public finance before Hamilton’s 1791 report of the same title.2 104 Pennsylvania Packet, or General Advertiser, February 17, 1780. Courtesy American Antiquarian Society. Parts of this letter are in items 812 and 815, Gouverneur Morris Papers, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University. FEbruary 17, 1780 To the INHABITANTS of AMERICA. MY COUNTRYMEN, A considerable time hath elapsed since I determined to publish a few sentiments on the finances of America, but was restrained by the epidemical madness of the times, which for certain causes not worth enquiring after, would hardly have borne with me. At present there appears to be a sincere desire of attending to reason from any quarter, and at present if ever plain honest reason appears necessary, for after the many unsuccessful efforts which have been made it is not rash to assert, that to draw forth the resources of our great country on free and equitable principles, is no easy task. The various opinions entertained, propagated and supported relative to your Paper Currency, differ so widely that they cannot all be right. Perhaps not one of them is strictly or entirely so. Unfortunately it happens on such occasions, and indeed on too many others, that mankind reason from their prejudices, their circumstances, and their interests. Thus in the most important affairs, like grown persons at the dancing school, we have much to unlearn, as well as to learn, before we can think and move with ease and grace. We must cast off our prejudices, rise above our circumstances and divest ourselves of a pitiful regard to our interests whether pecuniary or political. Hard task indeed! The writer of these papers pretends to no extraordinary virtue or abilities . He has thought on the subject and he meant to think consistently and uprightly, but he may be mistaken, he may be deceived, he may be unequal to the task he hath attempted, as he hath no ambition of a literary reputation, and no leisure to acquire it, ornaments of style are not to be expected. The actual state of America, differs from that of any other country, instances therefore drawn from former ages, or foreign nations, are not always applicable. General maxims ought for the same reason to be well considered. But with these salutary cautions, taking experience for our guide, and candor for our friend, let us crawl along in the search of truth, with a disposition to pardon human error in others, but suspect it “An American” Letters on Public Finance 105 3. Morris is probably referring to a series of “Essays on Free Trade and Finances” which appeared in the Pennsylvania Packet in late 1779 and early 1780. The third...