Youth
Morris was born in Liverpool, England, on January 20, 1734. His parents were Robert Morris, Sr., an agent for a shipping firm, and Elizabeth Murphet; biographer Charles Rappleye concludes that

Rising tensions with Britain
In 1765, the Parliament of Great Britain imposed the Stamp Act, a tax on transactions involving paper that proved widely unpopular in British

Morris refocused on his trading concerns after leaving office as Superintendent of Finance, seeking especially to expand his role in the tobacco trade.

Morris was unable to pay his debts, and he remained in debtors' prison for three and a half years. Morris was released from prison in August 1801 after Congress passed its first bankruptcy legislation, the Bankruptcy Act of 1800 in part to get Morris out of prison. At

In early 1769, at age 35, Morris married 20-year-old Mary White, the daughter of a wealthy and prestigious lawyer and landholder. Mary gave birth to the couple's first of seven children in

Constitutional convention
After leaving office, Morris once again devoted himself to business, but state and federal politics remained a factor in his life. After the Pennsylvania

Historical reputation
Biographer Charles Rappleye writes that Morris "was too rich to be a folk hero, and the ultimate failure of his