Gouverneur Morris was no ordinary Founding Father. His story seems tailor-made for an action-packed, bodice-ripping Netflix series.
Morris, whose family estate, Morrisania, lay in what is now the South Bronx, wrote the final draft of the U.S. Constitution and delivered some of the founding era’s most forceful denunciations of slavery.
On the Bowery Boys podcast, his name comes up again and again, whether we’re exploring the history of the Bronx or the creation of the Erie Canal.
New Yorkers may know him best for his late-in-life involvement in the Commissioners’ Plan of 1811, which established the visionary grid of streets and avenues that defines much of Manhattan today.
But you may also know Morris as the Founding Father with the wooden leg—or the one who was very popular with the ladies. He not only braved the American Revolution but also survived the French Revolution without losing his head.
Greg is joined on this week’s show by Scott S. Greenberger, author of The Forsaken Founder: Gouverneur Morris, the Unsung Patriot who Wrote the Constitution, Stood Up To Slavery and Survived the Reign of Terror, to reintroduce this fascinating figure and explore his distinctive contributions to American history and New York City.
LISTEN HERE: GOUVERNEUR MORRIS
We want to thank Scott S. Greenberger for joining Greg on the show today. His new book The Forsaken Founder (Simon & Schuster) is now in bookstores.
FURTHER LISTENING
Gouverneur Morris has been popping up on our podcasts from the very beginning! Here are a few of past episodes featuring Gouv:
Morrisania: The South Bronx and the old days of American aristocracy