Sold – Morris Informs the Governors of Resolutions For Financing the US Government

Elected to the Continental Congress in 1775, Morris participated on many of the committees involved in raising capital and provisions for the Continental Army. Early in 1776, he was given a special commission by Congress to raise funds for the conduct of the war. Later that year, with the Continental Army in a state of deprivation because of a shortage of capital, Morris loaned $10,000 of his own money to the government. These funds provisioned the troops who won the Battle of Trenton. Throughout the war he personally underwrote the operations of privateers which brought needed supplies and capital into the colonies. In 1781 he devised a plan for a national bank, the principal object of which was to supply the army with provisions. Congress approved, and it became the Bank of North America, an institution that brought stability to the colonial economy, facilitated continued finance of the war effort, and would ultimately establish the credit of the United States with the nations of Europe. At that time Morris was appointed by Congress as Superintendent of Finance, which placed him in a position similar to the Secretary of the Treasury today. He was responsible for public debts, expenditures and revenues, and indeed for the economy as a whole.

Letter Signed, Office of Finance, Philadelphia, February 12, 1783, to New Hampshire President (Governor) Meshech Weare. “I do myself the honor to enclose the copies of certain Acts & Orders of Congress of the 12th, 17th and 18th instant. I am to entreat that your Excellency will take the earliest opportunity of submitting them to the Legislature of your State.” Similar letters were sent to the other twelve state governors.

Of the Resolution referenced in the letter, that of January 12 authorized the establishment of duties on imports, and required that even if they were collected by the states, the monies should be provided to fund the federal government; that of the 17th specified that states would supply the federal government with funds for the common government, and that these would be drawn down on a percentage formula based on the assessed value of lands in each state; and that of the 18th required Morris’ department to prepare for Congress a comprehensive list of those employed on the national business, both at home and abroad, along with their salaries.