Morris, Richard B

▪ American educator and historian

born July 24, 1904, New York City

died March 3, 1989, New York City

      American educator and historian, known for his works on early American history.

      He graduated with honours from the City College of New York (B.A., 1924) and then attended Columbia University (M.A., 1925; Ph.D., 1930). After teaching at City College of New York (1927–49), he taught history at Columbia (1949–73), becoming emeritus in 1973. From 1959 to 1961 he was chairman of the history department.

      Morris' output was enormous. He contributed articles to scholarly journals, edited or coedited numerous historical anthologies (e.g., The Spirit of ‘Seventy-Six [1958], with Henry Steele Commager; The Jeffersonians, 1801–1829 [1961], with James Woodress), and wrote books for children. He also edited the Encyclopedia of American History (1953; rev. ed. 1982). Virtually all of his works are concerned with colonial America and the causes, events, and significance of the Revolutionary War. Among his more notable books are Government and Labor in Early America (1946); The Peacemakers; The Great Powers and American Independence (1965), an authoritative and scholarly account of the multitude of diplomatic machinations involved in American independence; John Jay, the Nation, and the Court (1967); The Founding Fathers: A Fresh Appraisal (1974); and Dissertations in American Biography (1981). The American Revolution Reconsidered (1967), a detailed examination of the long-term effects of both the French and American revolutions, presents his theory that the American Revolution was the true social revolution, in comparison with the more ephemeral influence of the French Revolution.

* * *