Notable people · Politician · Abolitionist · Lawyer
Thomas Morris
A Bethel lawyer who served in the U.S. Senate from 1833 to 1839 and spoke against slavery there. His party expelled him in 1840 and he became a Liberty Party leader and its 1844 vice-presidential nominee.
At a glance
- Born
- 1776-01-03
- Died
- 1844-12-07
- Known as
- Politician, Abolitionist, Lawyer
- Organizations
- Liberty Party
Life story
Thomas Morris was born in Berks County, Pennsylvania, in 1776 and died in Bethel, Ohio, in 1844. He served in the Ohio House and Senate and briefly, in 1809, as an Ohio Supreme Court justice.
He was elected U.S. Senator in 1833 as a Jacksonian Democrat. His anti-slavery speeches cost him his seat in 1839, and in January 1840 the Democratic Party expelled him; delegates said he should be cut away like a rotten branch.
He became a leader of the Liberty Party in Ohio and in 1844 was the vice-presidential nominee with James G. Birney. They came third, behind James K. Polk and Henry Clay. Historian Eric Foner calls him the first political martyr of the anti-slavery cause and says he helped open Salmon P. Chase's eyes to the political power of slavery.
Timeline
- 1776-01-03: Born in Berks County, Pennsylvania (PA) source
- 1809: Briefly a justice of the Ohio Supreme Court (OH) source
- 1833: Seated as U.S. Senator (to 1839) (Washington, DC) source
- 1839: Loses Senate seat over his anti-slavery stand source
- 1840-01: Expelled from the Democratic Party source
- 1844: Liberty Party vice-presidential nominee source
- 1844-12-07: Dies in Bethel (Bethel, OH) source
What Thomas is known for
- U.S. Senator from Ohio 1833-1839
- Early anti-slavery voice in the Senate
- Liberty Party vice-presidential nominee, 1844
Honors and things named for them
- Called 'the first political martyr of the anti-slavery cause' by historian Eric Foner
Ohio places
Where Thomas Morris was born, lived, worked and is remembered, with the ZIP code, town and county pages for each.
- Lived: Bethel, Clermont County ZIP 45106 · Bethel · Clermont County
- Born: Berks County, Pennsylvania, Berks (Pennsylvania) County
- Worked: Bethel, Clermont County ZIP 45106 · Bethel · Clermont County
Further reading
Sources
Confidence. Medium: the main facts were confirmed, but some details (often an address or ZIP code) were not.
- Wikipedia: Thomas Morris birth Berks County PA; death in Bethel; Senate 1833-39; expelled 1840; Liberty Party; Foner quote; Bethel law practice 1804 from search snippet only (not used)