Gerry, Elbridge

GERRY, ELBRIDGE. (1744–1814). Signer. Massachusetts. Born on 17 July 1744 in Marblehead, Massachusetts, Gerry graduated from Harvard in 1762 and joined the family shipping business. Returning to Harvard to get his master's in 1765, he spoke out against British injustices in a college paper. As a merchant and businessman, he soon became wealthy and entered public life in 1772 as a representative in the general court. He met and came under the influence of Samuel Adams at this time, and also served on the Committee of Correspondence, writing the circular letter sent to the other provinces. In 1774 he was elected to the Massachusetts provincial congress, and was active over the next two years in the Committee of Safety and in gathering militia supplies, particularly when enforcement of the Boston Port Bill made Marblehead a leading port of entry. He was chairman of the Committee of Supply until 25 January 1776, when he was sent to the Continental Congress. There he sat on the financial and militia supply committees. He was an early advocate of independence and an eager signer of the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation.

Alarmed by continuing inflation, Gerry proposed measures to halt the currency depreciation and served with Robert Morris on a committee to examine George Washington's plans for the 1777–1778 winter campaign. Their report showed dissatisfaction with the commander's vigor, and Gerry was an avowed supporter of General Thomas Conway. Gerry was not in favor of the French alliance. He supported Arthur Lee, believing that Benjamin Franklin had been corrupted by his stay in France. In 1780, as chairman of the treasury committee, he antagonized Benedict Arnold by examining his financial accounts. In February 1781 he resigned from Congress, charging that personal privilege and states' rights had been infringed upon. He then spent his time in trade and privateering.

Gerry was called to the state senate twice as joint representative, but accepted a seat in the lower house only. He returned to Congress in 1783 and was active in the peace negotiations with Great Britain. After the war, he worked to abolish the standing army and the Order of the Cincinnati, both of which he saw as posing a threat to republican government. In November 1785 he left Congress and took a seat in the Massachusetts legislature. Although he had been opposed to a strong Federal government, he reversed himself after Shays's Rebellion, 1786–1787, persuaded him that the country was on the verge of anarchy. He sat in the Federal Constitutional Convention and followed an erratic course, proposing and opposing almost at will. He refused to sign the Constitution, largely because it lacked a bill or rights, but supported Washington's government while serving in the House of Representatives from 1789 to 1793.

In 1797 President John Adams sent Gerry to France as part of a special peace mission. When Talleyrand's agents (known as X, Y, and Z) demanded bribes, the other two emissaries, John Marshall and Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, went home. Gerry stayed behind and, in Adams's view, made peace possible through his continued negotiations. After several unsuccessful bids for governor, he was elected to that office in 1810 on the Republican ticket, and was re-elected in 1811. This term brought about the "Gerrymander Bill" of 1812, which redistricted the state in such a way as to create Republican senators in excess of the party's voting strength and which created one district that had a salamander-like shape on the map (thus "gerrymander:" Gerry plus salamander). Although the act worked with spectacular success to elect 29 Republican senators and only 11 Federalists, despite nearly equal votes for the two parties, Gerry himself was defeated. Gerry, who favored war with Britain, was elected Madison's vice-president in the 1812 election. He died in Washington on 23 November 1814.

SEE ALSO Massachusetts Provincial Congress.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Billias, George A. Elbridge Gerry: Founding Father and Republican Statesman. New York: McGraw-Hill 1976.

Gerry Papers. Massachusetts Historical Society: Boston, Mass.

                            revised by Michael Bellesiles