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Founding Father Gouverneur Morris Died From a Self-Inflicted Penis Injury
The American statesman gruesomely died by accident at his own hand
Modern medicine has seen its greatest advances in the past century or so, with ever improving techniques and knowledge. Prior to that, people were often on their own to treat themselves and sadly such experimentation often met with unsuccessful results. This includes Gouverneur Morris, an American founding father, who died as a result of a self-inflicted injury to his penis.
Morris was born to a wealthy New York family in 1752. He later moved to Philadelphia and worked as a lawyer, rising to prominent status. He represented Pennsylvania at the Constitutional Convention and signed both the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution- writing the former’s preamble. This earned him the nickname of “the Penman of the Constitution.” He later served as both a diplomat and Senator, spending years as a distinguished public servant for the United States.
He often showed himself to be more forward thinking than many of his peers, including his views on slavery. According to notes taken by James Madison, the lawyer was one of the few delegates to speak against bondage at the Convention. He argued:
“Upon what principle is it that the slaves shall be computed in the representation? Are they men? Then make them citizens and let them vote. Are they property? Why, then, is no other property included?
He went on to explain:
“The admission of slaves into the Representation when fairly explained comes to this: that the inhabitant of Georgia and South Carolina who goes to the Coast of Africa, and in defiance of the most sacred laws of humanity tears away his fellow creatures from their dearest connections and damns them to the most cruel bondages, shall have more votes in a Government instituted for protection of the rights of mankind, than the Citizen of Pennsylvania or New Jersey who views with a laudable horror, so nefarious a practice.”
Later in life, Morris was also instrumental in planning the Erie Canal and the layout of streets in Manhattan, which to the present day exist in the same way he helped mapped them out more than 200 years prior.
