Rebecca Flynt
‘I Am Not a Cautious Man’: The Most Important Founding Father You’ve Never Heard Of
As our first and only disabled Founding Father, Gouverneur Morris of New York didn’t let the loss of a leg slow him down. He was an ardent Federalist, a passionate and outspoken Abolitionist, and a scandalous ladies man. A signer of the Articles of Confederation and a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, the peg-legged Founder spoke more than anyone else at the convention and played a vital role in the creation of the final document, including writing the Preamble. He succeeded Thomas Jefferson as the U.S. Minister to France and was a witness to the Reign of Terror. After returning from France, he would serve as a Senator, chair the Commission for the Erie Canal, and help design the street grid of Manhattan. A political ally and close friend of Alexander Hamilton, he would deliver the eulogy at his funeral and secure financial stability for his widow and young children. A confirmed bachelor until his fifties, Gouverneur would surprise everyone by marrying the daughter of a wealthy Virginia planter and cousin to Thomas Jefferson; a woman who had once been tried for murder with Patrick Henry and John Marshall acting as her defense attorneys! In this session, we will explore the many accomplishments of a man whose ideas were ahead of their time and discuss the reasons he is not more well-known today.
Rebecca Flynt is an author and storyteller with a passion for early American history. Her first novel, American Harlot, was published in 2024 and tells the story of the first major political scandal in American history from the point of view of the woman involved. Flynt enjoys speaking about the founding period and the early years of America at various educational, social, and civic organizations in her area and was a guest on an episode of historian Clay Jenkinson’s podcast Listening to America (formerly The Thomas Jefferson Hour), along with Dr. Linsey Chervinsky, entitled “Ten Things about Gouverneur Morris.” Her second novel, Upon Leaving Bizarre, tells the scandalous story of Nancy Randolph, who would go on to become the wife of Gouverneur Morris.
