Omar Bennett
Elbridge Gerry, born in Marblehead, Massachusetts, in 1744, was an American Founding Father, merchant, politician, and diplomat. He served as the fifth vice president of the United States under President James Madison from 1813 until his death in 1814. Gerry is generally remembered for his refusal to sign the United States Constitution, and for his role in the XYZ Affair. He was one of three delegates to vote against the ratification of the U.S. Constitution, citing concerns over the rights of private citizens and the power of the federal government. Despite this, he supported the Constitution after its ratification and helped draft the Bill of Rights.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | July 17, 1744 |
| Place of Birth | Marblehead, Massachusetts |
| Parents | Thomas Gerry and Elizabeth (Greenleaf) Gerry |
| Education | Harvard College |
| Profession | Merchant, Politician, Diplomat |
| Political Party | Democratic-Republican |
| Political Views | Republicanism, Anti-Federalist |
| Notable Contributions | Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, Bill of Rights, Gerrymandering |
| Refusal to Sign | United States Constitution |
| Reason for Refusal | Lack of Bill of Rights, Centralization of Power |
| Political Offices Held | Vice President, Governor of Massachusetts, Congressman |
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What You'll Learn
Elbridge Gerry's political career
Elbridge Gerry was an American Founding Father, merchant, politician, and diplomat. He was born on July 17, 1744, in Marblehead, Massachusetts, to a wealthy merchant family. Gerry received his academic training at Harvard and his political training from his mentor, Samuel Adams.
During the early 1770s, Gerry served in the colonial and Revolutionary legislatures. He vocally opposed British colonial policy in the 1760s and was active in organizing the resistance in the American Revolutionary War. He served in the Continental Congress from 1775 to 1780 and again from 1783 to 1785, where he signed the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation. In 1780, he resigned from the Continental Congress due to his opposition to the centralization of power in the national government by the Federalists.
Gerry was one of three men who attended the Constitutional Convention in 1787 but refused to sign the Constitution because it did not originally include a Bill of Rights. He believed in a limited central government and regularly advocated for the maintenance of civilian control of the military. After the Constitution's ratification, he was elected to the inaugural United States Congress, where he played a significant role in drafting and passing the Bill of Rights.
Gerry was also involved in foreign affairs. In 1797, President John Adams sent him, along with John Marshall and Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, to France on a mission to negotiate a treaty and settle long-standing disputes. However, the French agents demanded bribes, and the mission ended in failure, leading to censure from Federalist partisans.
Gerry served as governor of Massachusetts in 1810 and was re-elected in 1811. During his second term, he approved a controversial redistricting plan to benefit the Republican Party, which led to the coining of the term "gerrymandering." In 1812, he was elected as the fifth vice president of the United States under President James Madison, serving from 1813 until his death in 1814.
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Gerry's refusal to sign the Constitution
Elbridge Gerry, an American Founding Father, refused to sign the United States Constitution in 1787. He was one of only three delegates to vote against it, the others being George Mason and Edmund Randolph. Gerry's refusal was due to his concern about the convention's lack of authority to make such significant changes to the nation's system of government, and his worry that the constitution did not include enough federal features.
Gerry also believed that the constitution did not adequately protect the rights of private citizens. He was unhappy about the lack of enumeration of specific individual liberties, and generally opposed proposals that strengthened the central government and took power away from the states. Gerry was worried about the potential for a standing army, and the national power to tax revenue. He also opposed the popular vote, the three-fifths compromise, and slavery.
Despite his initial refusal to sign, Gerry did become more supportive of the Constitution after the Bill of Rights was added. He was actively involved in the drafting and passage of the Bill of Rights, successfully lobbying for the inclusion of freedom of assembly in the First Amendment, and helping to shape the Fourth Amendment protections against search and seizure.
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His role in the XYZ Affair
Elbridge Gerry is remembered for his refusal to sign the United States Constitution and his role in the XYZ Affair, which was a diplomatic episode involving a confrontation between the United States and Republican France. The incident led to the Quasi-War.
In 1797, Gerry was a member of a diplomatic delegation to France, along with co-commissioners Charles Cotesworth Pinckney and John Marshall. The delegation was tasked with negotiating a solution to problems that threatened to break out into war. However, they were approached by three French agents, later identified as "X", "Y", and "Z" in published papers, who demanded substantial bribes before negotiations could continue. The commissioners refused and sought to engage Foreign Minister Talleyrand in formal negotiations, but he froze Pinckney and Marshall out of the talks, and they left France in April 1798. Gerry, who sought to leave with them, was threatened with war if he departed and so remained behind. He refused to make any further negotiations and left Paris in August.
Upon his return to the United States, Gerry was criticized by Federalists, who held him responsible for the breakdown of negotiations. Spurred by John Marshall's accounts of their disagreements, the Federalists attacked Gerry with bitterly harsh and partisan comments. This eventually led Gerry to join the Democratic-Republicans in 1800.
When news of the dispatches and the hostile reaction in the United States reached France, Talleyrand enlisted Gerry's assistance in exposing the agents whose names had been redacted. In exchange, Talleyrand confirmed privately that the agents were in his employ and that he was interested in pursuing reconciliation. Gerry's exchanges with Talleyrand laid the groundwork for the eventual end to diplomatic affairs and military hostilities.
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His time as Vice President
Elbridge Gerry served as the fifth vice president of the United States from 1813 until his death in 1814. He was elected in 1812 on the Jeffersonian Republican ticket with James Madison, under whom he served as vice president.
Gerry was born in 1744 in Marblehead, Massachusetts, and graduated from Harvard College in 1762 before entering his father's business. He was a member of the Massachusetts legislature and General Court from 1772 to 1773 and served on a Committee of Correspondence. He was also a member of the Continental Congress from 1776 to 1780 and again from 1783 to 1785. During the American War for Independence, he served in the Second Continental Congress and signed the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation.
Gerry was one of three men who attended the Constitutional Convention in 1787 but refused to sign the Constitution because it did not originally include a Bill of Rights. He was an ardent supporter of the War of 1812 and, after the 1812 election, he was chosen by the party Congressional nominating caucus to be Madison's vice-presidential running mate. He took the oath of office at Elmwood in March 1813. During his time as vice president, the office was largely a sinecure, and his duties included advancing the administration's agenda in Congress and dispensing patronage positions in New England.
In 1813, while presiding over the Senate, Gerry, who was in ill health, refused to yield his chair at the close of the legislative session. This prevented William Giles, a senator from Virginia and an advocate of peace with Britain, from becoming president pro tempore of the Senate and thereby second in line to succeed the president under the Presidential Succession Act of 1792. Gerry suffered a haemorrhage of the lungs on his way to the Senate and died in 1814.
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His legacy and historical recognition
Elbridge Gerry is remembered for his refusal to sign the United States Constitution, and for his role in the XYZ Affair and his time as Vice President. He is also known for the use of his name in the word "gerrymander", a term still used to describe an irregularly shaped district created by legislative fiat to benefit a particular party, politician, or other groups. Gerry, as a member of a diplomatic delegation to France, was treated poorly in the XYZ Affair, in which Federalists held him responsible for a breakdown in negotiations. Gerry was nominated by the Democratic-Republican Party and elected as vice president in the 1812 election.
Gerry is also remembered for his role in the Constitutional Convention, which significantly impacted the document it eventually produced. He was also actively involved in the drafting and passage of the Bill of Rights as an advocate of individual liberties. He successfully lobbied for the inclusion of freedom of assembly in the First Amendment and was a leading architect of the Fourth Amendment protections against search and seizure. He also sought to insert the word "expressly" into the Tenth Amendment, which could have significantly limited the federal government's power.
Gerry is depicted in two of John Trumbull's paintings, the Declaration of Independence and General George Washington Resigning His Commission, which are on view in the rotunda of the United States Capitol. The upstate New York town of Elbridge is believed to have been named in his honour, as is the western New York town of Gerry. Gerry's Landing Road in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is located near the Eliot Bridge, and the area was known as Gerry's Landing during the 19th century. The Elbridge Gerry House in Marblehead, Massachusetts, is believed to be the house of his birth, and the Elbridge Gerry School in Marblehead is named after him.
Gerry's legacy as one of the Founding Fathers of the United States is also important, although he is not as well-known as some of his contemporaries. He shared the view that the Constitution they drafted was not perfect and that the government created under it would need to be carefully watched. He is also remembered as a merchant, politician, and diplomat, serving as the fifth vice president of the United States under President James Madison from 1813 until his death in 1814.
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Frequently asked questions
No, Elbridge Gerry did not sign the Constitution. He was one of three delegates to vote against the ratification of the U.S. Constitution in 1787. He opposed it because he believed it took away too much power from the states and gave too much power to the federal government. He also opposed the popular vote, the three-fifths compromise, slavery, and the lack of protection for individual rights.
Elbridge Gerry refused to sign the Constitution because he had concerns about the rights of private citizens and the power of the federal government. He wanted to see a Bill of Rights included, which would protect individual liberties. He also had issues with the treatment of slaves as freemen for representation purposes, the power of the Senate, and the threat of a standing army.
Yes, Elbridge Gerry did become more supportive of the Constitution after its ratification. He was elected to the inaugural United States Congress, where he helped draft and pass the Bill of Rights. He also successfully lobbied for the inclusion of freedom of assembly in the First Amendment and was a leading architect of the Fourth Amendment protections against search and seizure.
Elbridge Gerry was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 1787 and was one of the most active speakers during the final six weeks of the Convention, making 78 speeches. He also moved to create a Committee of Detail to "prepare and report a Constitution conformable thereto." He had a significant impact on the structure of the presidency, pushing for impeachment provisions and helping to reject an absolute presidential veto power.
