Robert Morris became a partner in the Philadelphia firm of Willing, Morris and Company in 1757. The firm also participated in the slave trade, an aspect of his career that qualifies later celebrations of his contribution to American independence. He entered revolutionary politics while initially favoring reconciliation rather than a complete break with Britain.

As a delegate to the Continental Congress, Morris opposed the timing of independence but accepted the decision and signed the Declaration. He worked on commercial, marine, and financial committees, arranging supplies and credit for the war effort. His business connections helped obtain resources when Congress lacked reliable revenue. Public and private transactions overlapped, provoking accusations of profiteering; congressional investigations did not establish the principal charges against him.

Appointed superintendent of finance in 1781, Morris sought to restore confidence in government credit. He curtailed expenditure, reorganized purchasing, pressed states to meet their obligations, and used personal credit as well as public funds. He helped establish the Bank of North America, which received a congressional charter and opened in 1782. Its loans and notes assisted the government, though the bank attracted objections from opponents of concentrated financial power.

Morris helped finance the final major campaigns of the Revolution, including the movement of American and French forces toward Yorktown. His work depended on French assistance, loans, other officials, and cooperation from merchants; he did not personally finance the entire war. After peace, he advocated stronger national taxing authority, but Congress's weakness under the Articles of Confederation frustrated his efforts. He left the superintendent's office in 1784.

A Pennsylvania delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787, Morris signed the Constitution and supported ratification. He served in the United States Senate from 1789 to 1795. Meanwhile, Morris pursued increasingly ambitious land speculation, including projects linked to the new national capital. Heavy borrowing, uncertain land values, and failed sales ruined his finances. Confined for debt in Philadelphia from 1798 to 1801, he spent his final years in reduced circumstances and died in 1806. His career joined a major contribution to revolutionary finance with the risks and inequalities of early American commercial expansion.