Vital Statistics

Biography

Gouverneur Morris was the lion of the Constitutional Convention, a man whose voice boomed with conviction and whose pen flowed with unparalleled eloquence. He spoke more than any other delegate, his arguments shaping key aspects of the document. His lasting legacy, however, is as the 'Penman of the Constitution.' He was entrusted with taking the collection of resolutions and drafting them into their final, powerful form. The majestic Preamble—'We the People of the United States'—was his creation, a phrase that transformed a pact between states into a government of the people.