Gouverneur Morris has a change of heart
Commentary
This event is unusual in the convention for the explicit change in position of Gouverneur Morris during the course of the debate. He makes his original position clear early on in the debate, suggesting he is against allowing the executive to be impeached because of concerns over its practicalities; he believes such a provision ‘will render the Executive dependent on those who are to impeach’.
However, others argue for the opposite position, on the basis that the executive may abuse his power, amongst other things. These arguments lead Morris to declare, in the latter stages of debate, that his ‘opinion had been changed by the arguments used in the discussion. He was now sensible of the necessity of impeachments, if the Executive was to continue for any time in office.’
This explicit change of heart is unusual in the context of a Convention where most, if not all, delegates seemed to have arrived with views on which positions they would support and which they should oppose. Although the most obvious assertions of pre-settled positions were through the Virginia and New Jersey plans, many others were entrenched in their views. For example, the idea of an Electoral College was raised multiple times by a handful of delegates over a prolonged period of time, notwithstanding the fact their proposals were negatived nearly every time (this suggestion was, of course, eventually adopted). Therefore, Morris’ actions here are particularly noteworthy in that he decided not to stick to his original position and in fact let himself be swayed by arguments in the convention, before explicitly stating that he had changed his mind.
The Virginia Plan as amended in Committee [Resolutions] - Ninth Resolution (Working Version): Impeachment Clause was debated
on 20 July 1787
Gouverneur Morris has a change of heart
Research Assistants' Commentary (1787 Constitutional Convention)
Cite as: Kat Howarth, ‘Gouverneur Morris has a change of heart’ in Research Assistants' Commentary (1787 Constitutional Convention), Quill Project at Pembroke College (Oxford, 2016), item 91.