Men Who Helped Shape the Constitution

Gouverneur Morris--Born into a family of wealth and privilege in New York, Morris moved to Philadelphia shortly after the outbreak of Independence because he thought his financial and political ambitions would be better served there. Only Madison spoke more often in the Convention, and Morris's contributions to the debate--always on the side of creating a vigorous, national government--were forceful, eloquent, but occasionally bombastic. As Chair of the "Committee of Style," Morris supplied some of the necessary "polish" to the Constitution.

James Wilson--Like Madison, Pennsylvania's James Wilson lacked those attributes of charm or oratorical eloquence that were the traditional marks of an eighteenth century gentleman, but like his Virginia counterpart, he made up for those deficiencies by the sharpness of his mind and the depth of his knowledge of law and political theory.   

Roger Sherman--"the oddest shaped character I ever remember to have met with, He is awkward, un-meaning, and unaccountably strange in his manner." Thus observed William Pierce of Georgia. But Sherman would be in the thick of every important debate in the Convention--whether on the   subject of the apportionment of representation in the legislature, the powers of the chief executive, or on the thorny subject of slavery--and he would play a crucial role in key compromises on all of those issues.    

Charles Pinckney--the young delegate from South Carolina combined in his character high intelligence, eloquence, and an over-riding vanity that caused him to claim, falsely, that he was the youngest man present in the Convention. He would also claim, with greater plausibility but nevertheless excessive grandiosity, that he, not Madison, was the true "author" of the Constitution. Pinckney would play a key role in writing into the Constitution important protections for the institution of slavery.