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Elbridge Gerry was born in 1744. His father was a rich merchant who used to be a sea captain. His mom's father was a merchant as well. He was the third of twelve children in the family. After graduating from Harvard College in 1762, he worked with his two brothers in their father's shipping business in Marblehead, Massachusetts. Gerry felt strongly against the British and their unfair taxes in the colonies. He did a speech on his opinions on that topic which got him elected into the General Court of Massachusetts. Gerry was a follower of Samuel Adams. He wrote to Samuel in 1773: "I humbly conceive that the people ought... to be apprized of their Situation & to have the Opportunity of Choosing their Submission to Slavery, or of righteously supporting with their Lives, their Rights and Liberties." That could be translated into: 'I think our people should be informed and aware of their political situation and should be able to express opinions on British control over the colonies and choose how to protect their lives, rights, and liberties.' In 1774, Gerry joined the first provincial congress. He was on the council of safety with Samuel Adams and John Hancock. Gerry was also the chairman of the committee of supply. This job suited him, since most of his relatives were merchants. In 1775, when Gerry was in the second provincial congress, he went to an inn between the towns Cambridge and Lexington for a meeting of the council of safety. Unfortunately, British troops were at Lexington and Concord, and they were told about the meeting. The troops raided the inn, and Gerry barely escaped with his life. Early next year he moved to Philadelphia to join the Continental Congress, which was an assembly where one representative from each colony came to talk about Great Britain. He was Massachusetts' representative. On July 4, 1776, he signed the Declaration of Independence. Gerry was one of the four signers that represented Massachusetts Bay along with Samuel Adams, John Adams, and Robert Treat Paine. 55 people signed in all. In June 1777, he signed the Articles of Confederation. That document was about uniting the states, electing representatives for each state, what the Congress has power over, and what kinds of things they can decide. A few years after that, Elbridge Gerry got into an argument over the size and schedule of suppliers' salaries. Gerry was a supplier. Apparently, he did not get what he had wanted, because he left the Continental Congress for three years. During these years he did trade and privateered, which means he rode in a private ship that was armed against enemy warships. He also served in a lower house of the Massachusetts legislature. Although he left, he had still officially been a member of the Congress. He came back in 1783. He quit in 1786 to marry Ann Thompson. That same year he entered the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Next year, he became a delegate in the Federal Constitutional Convention. The convention had been established to write the Constitution. Gerry was active in the group, suggesting ideas and criticizing other ideas. However, when the Constitution was finished, he disliked it so much that refused to sign it. He thought it was dangerous because it did not represent the people very well, gave too much power to the legislative branch, and could create an oppressive judiciary. He said it was "full of vices". His reasons were listed in a long letter he sent to his legislature. The letter was published and titled, Observations on the New Constitution by a Columbian Patriot. Eventually, in 1789, Gerry announced his support for the Constitution, despite his earlier objections. He thought it could be all right if there were amendments. The amendments were the Bill of Rights, which was presented later in his life. After deciding to support the Constitution, he got elected into the First Congress. He stayed for four years. In 1793, he left Congress for the last time. He retired from active politics for four years. In 1797, John Adams sent Gerry, Charles C. Pickney and John Marshall on the XYZ mission to France. This mission was done to ensure peace between America and France, since they were in danger of getting into a war. It was too bad that this mission brought down his reputation. Gerry had been advised by a French minister named Talleyrand that he could further help to prevent war if he stayed in France. When Pickney and Marshall went back to America, Gerry stayed. He returned to America four months later after President John Adams wrote to call him back. When he got back home, Gerry was taunted by the Federalists, his political opponents. Every year from 1800 to 1803, he ran for governor and was defeated four times. Then, in 1810, he tried again as the Republican candidate. He won, and became the governor of Massachusetts. He was reelected in 1811. However, the next year, he supported a bill that allowed "gerrymandering". Gerrymandering means that electoral districts are set up so that one favored political party is always the majority in each district. The Federalists made up that term from Gerry's name and the shape of one of the districts he made, a salamander. He ran again that year, but the gerrymandering backfired. He failed to keep his office. The year after being defeated for governor for the last time, he was elected to be James Madison's vice president. He was still in office when, on November 23, 1814, he collapsed on the way to the Senate and died. He was 70 years old. William Pierce from Georgia was in the Constitutional Convention with Elbridge Gerry in 1787. He described him during a discussion in the Convention: "Mr. Gerry's character is marked for integrity and perseverance. He is a hesitating and laborious speaker but possesses a great degree of confidence and goes extensively into all subjects that he speaks on without respect to elegance or flower of diction. He is connected and sometimes clear in his arguments, conceives well, and cherishes as his first virtue, a love for his country. Mr. Gerry is very much of a gentleman in his principles and manners; he has been engaged in the mercantile line and is a Man of property." I think Elbridge Gerry was a great person. Not many people at all know who he was, but he really took part in making American government what it is now. |