He served as United States Chargé d'affaires to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies from 1850 to 1853 and as Minister Resident to the Ottoman Empire from 1861 to 1870.

[3] Morris was elected as a Republican to the Thirty-fifth, Thirty-sixth, and Thirty-seventh Congresses and served until his resignation.

He was appointed Minister Resident to the Ottoman Empire by Abraham Lincoln[5] and served from June 8, 1861, to October 25, 1870.

[4] He wrote several books on his travels including Notes of a Tour through Turkey, Greece, Egypt, Arabia Petræa, to the Holy Land in 1842.

He was fluent in French, German and Italian,[1] and translated several books from German including Alfred De Besse's The Turkish Empire, Social and Political (1854); Theodor Mügge's Afraja, or Life and Love in Norway (1854); and Ferdinand Gregorovius' Corsica, Picturesque, Historical, and Social (1856).