{"id":18918,"date":"2026-09-17T00:30:50","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T04:30:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.statutesandstories.com\/blog_html\/?p=18918"},"modified":"2026-09-17T01:05:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T05:05:16","slug":"americas-first-historian-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.statutesandstories.com\/blog_html\/americas-first-historian-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"America’s First Historian – Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

America\u2019s First Historian<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Gouverneur Morris\u2019s Observations on the American Revolution<\/em> (Part 2)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A temple to freedom<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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In 1779 a newly released publication made headlines and attracted international attention. The Revolutionary War would continue to be waged for another four years, but the first draft of its history had already been written by Gouverneur Morris. Recognizing the importance of Morris\u2019s work, Observations on the American Revolution <\/em>(\u201cObservations<\/em>\u201d), Congress paid for the cost of copies to be distributed around the country.[1]<\/a> \u201cPublished according to a resolution of Congress,\u201d readers were advised that \u201cit was absolutely necessary that every inhabitant of the United States should be possessed of this valuable tract\u201d in order that they might \u201clook over the ground they have trodden during the present conflict.\u201d As discussed below, this work along with Morris\u2019s other scholarly pursuits entitle him to be properly recognized as America\u2019s first post-revolutionary historian.<\/p>\n

To promote the 122-page pamphlet, entire passages were reprinted in newspaper advertisements. The following concluding paragraph contains Morris\u2019s bold post-war vision and soaring declaration of American ideals. Notably, Morris\u2019s prose anticipated Emma Lazarus\u2019 famous inscription on the Statue of Liberty[2]<\/a> which reverberates across American history.<\/p>\n

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Gouverneur Morris is widely recognized as the \u201cpenman of the Constitution.\u201d While his work drafting the Preamble and final draft of the Constitution in 1787 has been cherished for generations, his other contributions to American history are easily overlooked. In 1779 Congress called upon Morris to draft an official history of the American Revolution. Morris\u2019s Observations <\/em>was an effort to combat British propaganda, rally public support, and survey the history of the first three years of the war.<\/p>\n

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This blog post is the second in a three-part series arguing that Gouverneur Morris has a rightful claim to be recognized as the first American[3]<\/a> historian post-independence from Britain. Indeed, Morris appears to have been the first author to use phrase \u201cthe American Revolution\u201d[4]<\/a> in print.[5]<\/a> While he was not an academic historian who taught or published in a formal university setting, he delivered well-regarded funeral orations for George Washington, Alexander Hamilton and George Clinton.[6]<\/a> Near the end of his life Morris lectured on a variety of historical topics, including the underlying question of \u201cWhat is history?\u201d[7]<\/a> While his detailed diaries were not published during his lifetime, it is clear that he was writing for posterity. In 1804 he became a trustee of Columbia College. It should thus not be surprising that Morris became the second President of the New York Historical Society in 1816.[8]<\/a><\/p>\n

Part 1<\/strong><\/a> <\/span>began by introducing Morris\u2019s long overlooked work. Part 1<\/strong> presented the case that Morris was the ideal choice to draft the first history of the American Revolution, as the \u201cforemost publicist\u201d of Congress.[9]<\/a> During his time in Congress Morris was called upon to draft \u201calmost if not all the publications of Congress of any importance,\u201d particularly those involving diplomatic relations.[10]<\/a><\/p>\n

Part 2<\/strong> below continues with a detailed analysis of the contents of Morris\u2019s Observations<\/em>. Short on details of specific battles, the work is less of a military history and more of a diplomatic and political history of the war as it was being fought. Morris\u2019 Observations<\/em> begins with a brief discussion of the establishment of the colonies, the adoption of the Stamp Act in 1765, its repeal in 1766, the Townsend Acts[11]<\/a> of 1767, and the Continental Association in 1774. Morris also summarizes various addresses to the inhabitants of colonial America and petitions to the King prior to independence, including the Olive Branch Petition[12]<\/a> in 1775, the accompanying Address to People of Great-Britain, various Congressional resolutions, and of course the Declaration of Independence.[13]<\/a> Morris also captures the back and forth war of words in 1778 between Congress and the British Carlisle Commission, which was largely Morris\u2019s handiwork.[14]<\/a> Links will be provided below to several of these historically significant primary sources.<\/p>\n

Part 3 (pending)<\/strong> will outline the similarities between Morris\u2019s Observations<\/em> and the Preamble of the Constitution. Part<\/strong> 3 <\/strong>will also discuss of the historical significance of Morris\u2019 Observations<\/em> and his vision for America after the war. Yet, Morris did not merely predict American greatness and expansion across the continent. Dating back to his remarkable \u201cOration on the Necessity for Declaring Independence\u201d in 1776, he also envisioned that America would become an \u201casylum from oppression\u201d and exalt \u201cthe dignity of mankind.\u201d[15]<\/a> This same humanistic imperative repeats three years later in his Observations,<\/em> when Morris called for America to become a temple to freedom and an \u201casylum to mankind\u201d for the \u201coppressed, the miserable and the poor of every nation and every clime.\u201d<\/p>\n

Part 3<\/strong> will continue with a discussion of the historiography of the America Revolution and a comparison of Morris\u2019s Observations<\/em> with subsequent histories of the Revolution. It is also appropriate to consider Morris\u2019s history lectures and his involvement as a trustee at Columbia and as an officer of the New-York Historical Society. Part 3<\/strong> will conclude with a discussion of Morris\u2019s diaries and the work of historian Emilie Mitran, which support the thesis Morris\u2019s fingerprints evidence the work of both a statesman and a historian.<\/p>\n

Overview of Morris\u2019 Observations<\/em><\/p>\n

Congress understood the importance of Observations<\/em>, printing 1,300 copies of the 122-page pamphlet.[16]<\/a> Today the 3,000 word monograph would be described as a Congressional white paper. \u201cThe publication was the nearest Congress ever came to issuing an official history of the revolution.\u201d[17]<\/a> In addition to providing a review of Anglo-American relations, Observations<\/em> was an effort to establish British culpability for the war, demonstrate American resolve, and confirm the inevitability of American independence.<\/p>\n

The first history of the American Revolution is generally understood to be David Ramsay\u2019s History of the Revolution in South Carolina<\/em> published in 1785 and his History of the American Revolution<\/em> published in 1787. Mercy Owen Warren, another early historian of the American Revolution, published her three-volume History of the Rise, Progress, and Termination of the American Revolution<\/em> in 1805. Published in 1779, Gouverneur Morris\u2019s Observations <\/em>predates these works as the first history of the Revolutionary War. In hindsight is should not be a surprise that Morris was selected for this task by his peers as his was \u201cthe pen most trusted\u201d by Congress.[18]<\/a><\/p>\n

These should be no doubt that Morris was engaged in the work of a historian when he wrote Observations<\/em>. None other than Thomas Paine considered the pamphlet to be a work of historical scholarship. In a full-page review, Paine explicitly described Observations<\/em> as drawing a \u201chistorical connection\u201d between the principal state papers in a \u201ccontinued chain.\u201d[19]<\/a> Interestingly, Paine was critical of Morris\u2019s omission of the battles of Trenton and Princeton. While Paine considered his other criticism \u201cimmaterial to the history,\u201d Paine was adamant that the addition of a half dozen pages \u201cmight have been employed\u201d to better advantage by laying the groundwork for Burgoyne\u2019s defeat at Saratoga.<\/p>\n

Morris\u2019s Observations<\/em> was written as momentum was shifting to the Americans following the French decision to join the war after the Battle of Saratoga. To be sure, Morris was not attempting to write an impartial or detailed historical account of the war. Nevertheless, Morris\u2019s Observations<\/em> reached back into colonial history to provide an overview of the underlying colonial grievances which gave rise to the conflict. As such, Morris was writing contemporary history intended for an international audience struggling to understand and justify the war effort on both sides of the Atlantic.[20]<\/a><\/p>\n

Remarkably, Gouverneur Morris wrote Observations<\/em> while serving as an active member of the Continental Congress. When a cash strapped Congress voted to pay[21]<\/a> for the publication of Morris\u2019s Observations<\/em>, it became the only \u201cofficial\u201d history of the war. Morris\u2019s Observations<\/em> is not only noteworthy for its early timing but also its official pedigree, having been written \u201caccording to a resolution of Congress.\u201d[22]<\/a> Congress was willing to dedicate scarce wartime funds for this project based on the recognition that America was waging both a defensive campaign against the Britain military and a public relations war with the British Carlisle Commission.<\/p>\n

Content of Morris\u2019s Observations<\/em><\/p>\n

In May of 1780 detailed newspaper advertisements heralded the new publication.[23]<\/a> As pictured below, the following events would be discussed pertaining to the American Revolution, along with what can be described as Morris\u2019s \u201cclever running commentary\u201d connecting together more than two dozen Congressional resolutions, petitions, declarations and other primary sources:[24]<\/a><\/p>\n