Editing Elbridge Gerry (section)

==American Revolution==
[[File:Ann Thompson Gerry.jpg|thumb|[[Ann Gerry|Ann Thompson]]]]

Gerry was elected to the provincial assembly, which reconstituted itself as the [[Massachusetts Provincial Congress]] after Governor [[Thomas Gage]] dissolved the body in October 1774.<ref>Billias, p. 46</ref> He was assigned to its [[Committee of safety (American Revolution)|committee of safety]], responsible for ensuring that the province's limited supplies of weapons and gunpowder did not fall into British hands. His actions were partly responsible for the storage of weapons and ammunition in [[Concord, Massachusetts|Concord]]; these stores were the target of the British expedition that sparked the start of the [[American Revolutionary War]] with the [[battles of Lexington and Concord]] in April 1775.<ref>Billias, p. 49</ref> (Gerry was staying at an inn at Menotomy, now [[Arlington, Massachusetts|Arlington]], when the [[British Army]] marched through on the night of April 18.)<ref>Billias, p. 52</ref> During the [[Siege of Boston]] that followed, Gerry continued to take a leading role in supplying the nascent [[Continental Army]], something he would continue to do as the war progressed.<ref>Billias, pp. 55–56</ref> He leveraged business contacts in France and Spain to acquire not just munitions, but supplies of all types, and was involved in the transfer of financial subsidies from Spain to Congress.  He sent ships to ports all along the American coast and dabbled in financing [[privateer]]ing operations against British merchant shipping.<ref>Billias, pp. 124–30</ref>

Unlike some other merchants, there is no evidence that Gerry profiteered directly from the hostilities. He spoke out against [[price gouging]] and in favor of [[price controls]], although his war-related merchant activities notably increased the family's wealth.<ref>Billias, pp. 56, 123</ref> His gains were tempered to some extent by the precipitous decline in the value of [[Banknote|paper currencies]], which he held in large quantities and speculated in.<ref>Billias, pp. 134–35</ref>

Gerry served in the [[Second Continental Congress]] in [[Philadelphia]] from February 1776 to 1780, when matters of the ongoing war occupied the body's attention. He was influential in convincing several delegates to support passage of the Declaration of Independence in the debates held during the summer of 1776; John Adams wrote of him, "If every Man here was a Gerry, the Liberties of America would be safe against the Gates of Earth and Hell."<ref name="SenateBio" /> He was implicated as a member of the so-called "[[Conway Cabal]]", a group of Congressmen and military officers who were dissatisfied with the performance of General [[George Washington]] during the [[Philadelphia campaign|1777 military campaign]].  However, Gerry took Pennsylvania leader [[Thomas Mifflin]], one of Washington's critics, to task early in the episode and specifically denied knowledge of any sort of conspiracy against Washington in February 1778.<ref>Billias, pp. 76–77</ref>

[[File:John Trumbull - John Adams - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|left|[[John Adams]], who held Gerry in high regard; 1793, by [[John Trumbull]]]]

Gerry's political philosophy was one of [[Limited government|limited central government]], and he regularly advocated for the maintenance of [[civilian control of the military]]. He held these positions fairly consistently throughout his political career (wavering principally on the need for stronger central government in the wake of the 1786–87 [[Shays' Rebellion]]) and was well known for his personal integrity.<ref>Billias, pp. 140, 152, 192</ref> In later years he opposed the idea of political parties, remaining somewhat distant from both the developing Federalist and Democratic-Republican parties until later in his career.  It was not until 1800 that he formally associated with the Democratic-Republicans in opposition to what he saw as attempts by the Federalists to centralize too much power in the national government.<ref>Billias, p. 105</ref>

In 1780, he resigned from the Continental Congress over the issue and refused offers from the state legislature to return to the Congress.<ref>Billias, p. 101</ref> He also refused appointment to the state senate, claiming he would be more effective in the state's lower chamber, and also refused appointment as a county judge, comparing the offer by Governor [[John Hancock]] to those made by royally-appointed governors to benefit their political allies.<ref>Billias, p. 102</ref> He was elected a fellow of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] in 1781.<ref name="AAAS">{{Cite web |title=Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter G |url=http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterG.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116114129/http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/Chapterg.pdf |archive-date=January 16, 2014 |access-date=July 28, 2014 |publisher=American Academy of Arts and Sciences}}</ref>

Gerry was convinced to rejoin the Confederation Congress in 1783, when the state legislature agreed to support his call for needed reforms.<ref>Billias, p. 103</ref> He served in that body, which met in [[New York City]], until September 1785. The following year, he married Ann Thompson, the daughter of a wealthy New York City merchant who was 20 years his junior; his best man was his good friend [[James Monroe]].<ref name=SenateBio/><ref>Ammon, p. 61</ref> The couple had ten children between 1787 and 1801, straining Ann's health.<ref name="SenateBio">{{Cite web |last=Hatfield |first=Mark |title=Vice Presidents of the United States: Elbridge Gerry (1813–1814) |url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CDOC-104sdoc26/pdf/CDOC-104sdoc26.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019145506/https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/resources/pdf/elbridge_gerry.pdf |archive-date=October 19, 2012 |access-date=October 24, 2012 |publisher=Senate Historical Office}}</ref>

The war made Gerry sufficiently wealthy that when it ended he sold off his merchant interests and began investing in land.  In 1787, he purchased the [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]], estate of the last royal lieutenant governor of Massachusetts, [[Thomas Oliver (lieutenant governor)|Thomas Oliver]], which had been confiscated by the state.  This {{convert|100|acre|ha|adj=on}} property, known as [[Elmwood (Cambridge, Massachusetts)|Elmwood]], became the family home for the rest of Gerry's life.<ref name="Elmwood_NRHP">{{Cite web |title=National Register Nomination for Elmwood |url={{NHLS url|id=66000364}} |access-date=October 24, 2012 |publisher=National Park Service}}</ref> He continued to own property in Marblehead and bought several properties in other Massachusetts communities.  He also owned shares in the [[Ohio Company of Associates|Ohio Company]], prompting some political opponents to characterize him as an owner of vast tracts of western lands.<ref>Billias, p. 137</ref>

===Constitutional Convention===
Gerry played a major role in the Constitutional Convention held in [[Philadelphia]] during the summer of 1787.<ref>Billias, p. 158</ref> In its deliberations, he consistently advocated for a strong delineation between state and federal government powers, with state legislatures shaping the membership of federal government positions. Gerry's opposition to popular election of representatives was rooted in part by the events of Shays' Rebellion in western Massachusetts in the year preceding the convention. He also sought to maintain individual liberties by providing checks on government power that might abuse or limit those freedoms.<ref>Billias, pp. 153–54</ref>

He supported the idea that the [[United States Senate|Senate]] composition should not be determined by population; the view that it should instead be composed of equal numbers of members for each state prevailed in the [[Connecticut Compromise]]. The compromise was adopted on a narrow vote in which the Massachusetts delegation was divided, Gerry and [[Caleb Strong]] voting in favor.<ref>Billias, p. 178</ref> Gerry further proposed that senators of a state, rather than casting a single vote on behalf of the state, vote instead as individuals.<ref>Billias, p. 182</ref> Gerry was also vocal in opposing the [[Three-fifths Compromise]], which counted [[slavery in the United States|slaves]] as three-fifths of a person for the purposes of determining the number of each states' votes in the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] and the [[United States Electoral College|Electoral College]]. The Southern states wanted each slave to count as a full person, whereas the Northern states did not want them to count at all. Gerry asked, why should "blacks, who were property in the South", count toward representation "any more than the Cattle & horses of the North"?<ref>[https://www.aaihs.org/a-compact-for-the-good-of-america-slavery-and-the-three-fifths-compromise/ Black Perspectives: A Compact for the Good of America? Slavery and the Three-Fifths Compromise]</ref><ref>Billias, p. 168</ref> Gerry opposed slavery and said the constitution should have "nothing to do" with slavery so as "not to sanction it."<ref>Thomas III, William G., ''A Question of Freedom: The Families Who Challenged Slavery from the Nation’s Founding to the Civil War''. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. 2020, p. 35.</ref>

{{quote box|align=right|width=30%
|quote=Gerry's preference for a more highly centralized government throughout most of the Convention was not motivated by a desire for great social changes, but was intended rather to restrain such popular excesses as were evidenced in Shays's Rebellion.... [H]e defended popular rights when the people appeared to be threatened by some powerful interest groups, and he called for restraints on popular influence when the people seemed to be gaining the upper hand too much.
|source=—[[George Athan Billias]]<ref>Billias, p. 203</ref>}}

Because of his fear of [[demagogue]]ry and belief the people of the United States could be easily misled, Gerry also advocated [[indirect election]]s. Although he was unsuccessful in obtaining them for the lower house of Congress, Gerry did obtain such indirect elections for the Senate, whose members were to be selected by the state legislatures. Gerry also advanced numerous proposals for indirect elections of the President of the United States, most of them involving limiting the right to vote to the state governors and [[United States Electoral College|electors]].<ref>https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2006/spring/gerry.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170719195339/https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2006/spring/gerry.html |date=July 19, 2017}} "A Founding Father in Dissent, Elbridge Gerry Helped Inspire Bill of Rights in His Opposition to the Constitution". National Archives.</ref>

Gerry was unhappy about the lack of enumeration of any specific individual liberties in the proposed constitution and generally opposed proposals that strengthened the central government. He was one of only three delegates who voted against the proposed constitution in the convention (the others were [[George Mason]] and [[Edmund Randolph]]), citing a concern about the convention's lack of authority to enact such major changes to the nation's system of government and to the constitution's lack of "federal features."<ref>Billias, p. 159, 200</ref>  Ultimately, Gerry refused to sign because of concerns over the rights of private citizens and the power of the legislature to raise armies and revenue.<ref>Billias, pp. 199-201</ref>

===State ratification and Bill of Rights===
During the ratification debates that took place in the states following the convention, Gerry continued his opposition, publishing a widely circulated letter documenting his objections to the proposed constitution.<ref name="Billias209">Billias, p. 209</ref> In the document, he cites the lack of a Bill of Rights as his primary objection but also expresses qualified approval of the Constitution, indicating that he would accept it with some amendment.<ref>Billias, pp. 207–08</ref> Strong pro-Constitution forces attacked him in the press, comparing him unfavorably to the Shaysites. [[Henry Jackson (Continental Army general)|Henry Jackson]] was particularly vicious: "[Gerry has] done more injury to this country by that infamous Letter than he will be able to make atonement in his whole life",<ref name=Billias209/> and [[Oliver Ellsworth]], a convention delegate from Connecticut, charged him with deliberately courting the Shays faction.<ref>Billias, p. 212</ref>

One consequence of the furor over his letter was that he was not selected as a delegate to the Massachusetts ratifying convention<ref>Billias, p. 211</ref> although he was later invited to attend by the convention's leadership. The convention leadership was dominated by Federalists, and Gerry was not given any formal opportunity to speak. He left the convention after a shouting match with convention chair [[Francis Dana]].<ref>Billias, p. 213</ref> Massachusetts ratified the constitution by a vote of 187 to 168.<ref>Billias, p. 214</ref> The debate had the result of estranging Gerry from several previously-friendly politicians, including chairman Dana and [[Rufus King]].<ref>Billias, pp. 207–08, 213</ref>

===U.S. House of Representatives===
[[File:Alexander Hamilton portrait by Ezra Ames-cropped.jpg|thumb|Gerry supported the federalist economic policies of [[Alexander Hamilton]]]]

Anti-Federalist forces nominated Gerry for governor in 1788, but he was predictably defeated by the popular incumbent [[John Hancock]].<ref>Billias, p. 215</ref> Following its ratification, Gerry recanted his opposition to the Constitution, noting that other state ratifying conventions had called for amendments that he supported.<ref>Billias, p. 207</ref> He was nominated by friends (over his own opposition to the idea) for a seat in the inaugural House of Representatives, where he served two terms.<ref>Billias, pp. 216, 243</ref>

In June 1789, Gerry proposed that Congress consider all of the proposed constitutional amendments that various state ratifying conventions had called for (notably those of [[Rhode Island]] and [[North Carolina]], which had at the time still not ratified the Constitution).<ref>Billias, p. 229</ref> In the debate that followed, he led opposition to some of the proposals, arguing that they did not go far enough in ensuring individual liberties.  He successfully lobbied for inclusion of [[freedom of assembly]] in the [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution|First Amendment]] and was a leading architect of the [[Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fourth Amendment]] protections against [[search and seizure]].<ref>Billias, p. 231</ref> He sought unsuccessfully to insert the word "expressly" into the [[Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Tenth Amendment]], which might have more significantly limited the federal government's power.<ref>Billias, pp. 233–34</ref>

He was successful in efforts to severely limit the federal government's ability to control [[State defense force|state militias]].<ref>Billias, p. 232</ref> In tandem with this protection, he had once argued against the idea of the federal government controlling a large [[standing army]], saying, "A standing army is like a standing member. It's an excellent assurance of domestic tranquility, but a dangerous temptation to foreign adventure."<ref name="Isaacson">{{Cite book |last=Isaacson |first=Walter |author-link=Walter Isaacson |url=https://archive.org/details/benjaminfranklin00isaa_0/page/456 |title=Benjamin Franklin: An American Life |date=2003 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |isbn=0-684-80761-0 |location=New York, NY |page=[https://archive.org/details/benjaminfranklin00isaa_0/page/456 456] |access-date=May 24, 2013}}</ref>

Gerry vigorously supported [[Alexander Hamilton]]'s reports on public credit, including the assumption at full value of state debts, and supported Hamilton's [[First Bank of the United States|Bank of the United States]], positions consistent with earlier calls he had made for economic centralization.<ref>Billias, pp. 223, 237</ref> Although he had speculated in depreciated Continental bills of credit (the [[IOU]]s at issue), there is no evidence he participated in large-scale speculation that attended the debate when it took place in 1790, and he became a major investor in the new bank.<ref>Billias, pp. 240, 242</ref> He used the floor of the House to speak out against aristocratic and monarchical tendencies he saw as threats to [[Republicanism in the United States|republican ideals]], and generally opposed laws and their provisions that he perceived as limiting individual and state liberties.  He opposed any attempt to give officers of the executive significant powers, specifically opposing establishment of the [[United States Department of the Treasury|Treasury Department]] because its head might gain more power than the president.<ref>Billias, p. 225</ref> He opposed measures that strengthened the presidency, such as the ability to fire [[Cabinet of the United States|Cabinet]] officers, seeking instead to give the legislature more power over appointments.<ref>Billias, p. 226</ref>

Gerry did not stand for re-election in 1792, returning home to raise his children and care for his sickly wife.<ref>Billias, p. 243</ref> He agreed to serve as a [[United States Electoral College|presidential elector]] for John Adams in the [[1796 United States presidential election|1796 election]].<ref>Billias, p. 245</ref> 

During Adams' term in office, Gerry maintained good relations with both Adams and Vice President [[Thomas Jefferson]], hoping that the divided executive might lead to less friction.  His hopes were not realized: the split between Federalists (Adams) and Democratic-Republicans (Jefferson) widened.<ref name="P51_52">Purcell, pp. 51–52</ref>