Mercy Otis Warren was a political writer and propagandist of the American Revolution. In the eighteenth century, topics such as politics and war were thought to be the province of men. Few women had the education or training to write about these subjects. Warren was the exception. During the years before the American Revolution, Warren published poems and plays that attacked royal authority in Massachusetts and urged colonists to resist British infringements on colonial rights and liberties. During the debate over the U.S. Constitution in 1788, she issued a pamphlet, written under the pseudonym, "A Columbian Patriot," that opposed ratification of the document and advocated the inclusion of a Bill of Rights. In 1790, she published a collection of poems and plays under her own name, a highly unusual occurrence for a woman at the time. In 1805, she published one of the earliest histories of the American war for independence, a three- volume "
History of the Rise, Progress, and Termination of the American RevolutionHistory of the Rise, Progress, and Termination of the American Revolution is a book by Mercy Otis Warren. It was published in three volumes, totalling 1,317 pages. Her magnum opus, the book covers the whole Revolutionary period, from the Stamp Act to the events leading to the writing and...
". This was also the first history of the Revolution authored by a woman. Although an exceptional woman herself, Warren was not a feminist in the modern sense. She believed in women's intellectual equality with men, but did not promote the cause of women's political rights.
Early Life
Mercy Otis was the 3rd child of 13 children and first daughter born to Colonel James Otis (1702–1778) and Mary Allyne Otis (1702–1774) in
West Barnstable, MassachusettsWest Barnstable is a village or section in the northwest part of the City of Barnstable, Massachusetts. Once devoted to agricultural pursuits, West Barnstable now is largely residential.-Natural features:...
. Mary Allyne was a descendant of
MayflowerThe Mayflower was the ship that transported the English Separatists, better known as the Pilgrims, from a site near the Mayflower Steps in Plymouth, England, to Plymouth, Massachusetts, , in 1620...
passenger
Edward DotyEdward Doty was a Mayflower passenger, a signer of the Mayflower Compact, and a permanent settler of Plymouth Colony. His surname sometimes appears as Doten, Dotey, or Day....
. James Otis, Sr., was a farmer, merchant, and attorney, who served as a judge for the
Barnstable CountyBarnstable County is a county located in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, consisting of Cape Cod and associated islands. As of the 2010 census, the population was 216,902...
Court of Common Pleas and later won election to the
Massachusetts House of RepresentativesThe Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from single-member electoral districts across the Commonwealth. Representatives serve two-year terms...
in 1745. He was an outspoken opponent and leader against British rule and against the appointed colonial governor, Thomas Hutchinson. The Otis children were "raised in the midst of revolutionary ideals". Although Mercy had no formal education, she studied with the Reverend Jonathan Russell while he tutored her brothers in preparation for Harvard College. One of her brothers was the noted patriot and lawyer
James OtisJames Otis, Jr. was a lawyer in colonial Massachusetts, a member of the Massachusetts provincial assembly, and an early advocate of the political views that led to the American Revolution. The phrase "Taxation without Representation is Tyranny" is usually attributed to him...
, who is credited with the quote "
taxation without representation is tyranny"No taxation without representation" is a slogan originating during the 1750s and 1760s that summarized a primary grievance of the British colonists in the Thirteen Colonies, which was one of the major causes of the American Revolution...
", the principal slogan of the American Revolution.
Marriage
In 1754, Mercy Otis married James Warren, a prosperous merchant, farmer and son of the sheriff of Plymouth County, Plymouth, Massachusetts. He was a Harvard graduate and colleague of her brother. He was a descendant of the
MayflowerThe Mayflower was the ship that transported the English Separatists, better known as the Pilgrims, from a site near the Mayflower Steps in Plymouth, England, to Plymouth, Massachusetts, , in 1620...
passenger Richard Warren. After settling in Plymouth, James inherited his father's position as sheriff and Mercy bore him five sons, James (1757–1821), Winslow (1759–1791), Charles (1762–1784), Henry (1764–1828), and George (1766–1800).
Her husband James had a very distinguished political career. In 1765 he was elected to the
Massachusetts House of RepresentativesThe Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from single-member electoral districts across the Commonwealth. Representatives serve two-year terms...
, eventually he became speaker of the House and President of the
Massachusetts Provincial CongressThe Massachusetts Provincial Congress was a provisional government created in the Province of Massachusetts Bay early in the American Revolution....
. He also served as paymaster to
George WashingtonGeorge Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
's army, for a time, during the
American Revolutionary WarThe American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
. Mercy Warren actively participated in the political life of her husband. The Warrens became increasingly involved in the conflict between the American colonies and the British Government. Their home became a focal point of local politics where they hosted protest and strategy meetings for the
Sons of LibertyThe Sons of Liberty were a political group made up of American patriots that originated in the pre-independence North American British colonies. The group was formed to protect the rights of the colonists from the usurpations by the British government after 1766...
, among whom was their friend,
John AdamsJohn Adams was an American lawyer, statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States...
. Like Mercy's father and brothers, the first patriots disliked the colonial governor. Mercy accordingly became a strong political voice with views on liberty, democracy and independence for the American colonies. She wrote, "every domestic enjoyment depends on the impaired possession of civil and religious liberty." Mercy's husband James encouraged her to write, fondly referring to her as the "scribbler" and she became his chief correspondent and sounding board.
Revolutionary writings and politics
Warren formed a strong circle of friends with whom she regularly corresponded, including
Abigail AdamsAbigail Adams was the wife of John Adams, who was the second President of the United States, and the mother of John Quincy Adams, the sixth...
,
Martha WashingtonMartha Dandridge Custis Washington was the wife of George Washington, the first president of the United States. Although the title was not coined until after her death, Martha Washington is considered to be the first First Lady of the United States...
and Hannah Winthrop. In a letter to
Catherine MacaulayCatharine Macaulay was an English historian.-Early life: 1731 – 1763:...
she wrote: "America stands armed with resolution and virtue; but she still recoils at the idea of drawing the sword against the nation from whence she derived her origin. Yet Britain, like an unnatural parent, is ready to plunge her dagger into the bosom of her affectionate offspring." Through their correspondence they increased the awareness of women's issues, were supportive, and influenced the course of events to further America's cause.
She became a correspondent and adviser to many political leaders, including
Samuel AdamsSamuel Adams was an American statesman, political philosopher, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. As a politician in colonial Massachusetts, Adams was a leader of the movement that became the American Revolution, and was one of the architects of the principles of American...
,
John HancockJohn Hancock was a merchant, statesman, and prominent Patriot of the American Revolution. He served as president of the Second Continental Congress and was the first and third Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts...
,
Patrick HenryPatrick Henry was an orator and politician who led the movement for independence in Virginia in the 1770s. A Founding Father, he served as the first and sixth post-colonial Governor of Virginia from 1776 to 1779 and subsequently, from 1784 to 1786...
,
Thomas JeffersonThomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
,
George WashingtonGeorge Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
and especially
John AdamsJohn Adams was an American lawyer, statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States...
, who became her literary mentor in the years leading to the Revolution. In a letter to James Warren, Adams wrote, "Tell your wife that God Almighty has entrusted her with the Powers for the good of the World, which, in the cause of his Providence, he bestows on few of the human race. That instead of being a fault to use them, it would be criminal to neglect them."
Prior to the
American RevolutionThe American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
, in 1772, during a political meeting at the Warren's home, they formed the Committees of Correspondence along with Samuel Adams. Warren wrote "no single step contributed so much to cement the union of the colonies". Since Warren knew most of the leaders of the Revolution personally, she was continually at or near the center of events from 1765 to 1789. She combined her vantage point with a talent for writing to become both a poet and a historian of the Revolutionary era. All Mercy Otis Warren’s work was published anonymously until 1790. She wrote several plays, including the satiric
The Adulateur (1772). Directed against Governor Thomas Hutchinson of Massachusetts, the play foretold the
War of RevolutionThe American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
.
In 1773, she wrote
The Defeat, also featuring the character based on Hutchinson, and in 1775 Warren published
The Group, a satire conjecturing what would happen if the British king abrogated the Massachusetts charter of rights. The anonymously published
The Blockheads (1776) and
The Motley Assembly (1779) are also attributed to her. In 1788 she published
Observations on the New Constitution, whose ratification she opposed as an Anti-Federalist. Mercy Otis Warren is among the most influential writers of the Revolutionary war.
Post-Revolutionary writings
In 1790 she published
Poems, Dramatic and Miscellaneous, the first work bearing her name. The book contains eighteen political poems and two plays. The two dramas,
The Sack of Rome and
The Ladies of Castille, deal with liberty, social and moral values that were necessary to the success of the new republic.
In 1805, she had completed her literary career with a three-volume
History of the Rise, Progress, and Termination of the American RevolutionHistory of the Rise, Progress, and Termination of the American Revolution is a book by Mercy Otis Warren. It was published in three volumes, totalling 1,317 pages. Her magnum opus, the book covers the whole Revolutionary period, from the Stamp Act to the events leading to the writing and...
. President
Thomas JeffersonThomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
ordered subscriptions for himself and his cabinet and noted his "anticipation of her truthful account of the last thirty years that will furnish a more instructive lesson to mankind than any equal period known in history". The book's sharp comments on John Adams led to a heated correspondence and a breach in their friendship that lasted until 1812.
Death and legacy
Mercy Otis Warren died in October, 1814, at the age of 86. She is buried at Old Burial Hill, Plymouth, Massachusetts. The SS
Mercy Warren, a
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Liberty shipLiberty ships were cargo ships built in the United States during World War II. Though British in conception, they were adapted by the U.S. as they were cheap and quick to build, and came to symbolize U.S. wartime industrial output. Based on vessels ordered by Britain to replace ships torpedoed by...
launched in 1943, was named in her honor. In 2002, she was inducted into the
National Women's Hall of FameThe National Women's Hall of Fame is an American institution. It was created in 1969 by a group of people in Seneca Falls, New York, the location of the 1848 Women's Rights Convention...
in
Seneca Falls, New YorkSeneca Falls is a village in Seneca County, New York, United States. The population was 6,861 at the 2000 census. The village is in the Town of Seneca Falls, east of Geneva, New York. On March 16, 2010, village residents voted to dissolve the village, a move that would take effect at the end of 2011...
.
Further reading
- Cohen, Lester H. "Mercy Otis Warren: the Politics of Language and the Aesthetics of Self." American Quarterly 1983 35(5): 481–498. ISSN 0003-0678 Fulltext in Jstor
- Davies, Kate. Catharine Macaulay and Mercy Otis Warren: The Revolutionary Atlantic and the Politics of Gender. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.
- Davies, Kate, "Revolutionary Correspondence: Reading Catharine Macaulay and Mercy Otis Warren," Women's Writing: the Elizabethan to Victorian Period. 2006 13:1, 73–97.
- Ellis, Joseph J. The Passionate Sage: The Character and Legacy of John Adams. Norton, 1993. ISBN 0-393-31133-3
- Friedman, Lawrence J. and Shaffer, Arthur H. "Mercy Otis Warren and the Politics of Historical Nationalism." New England Quarterly 1975 48(2): 194–215. ISSN 0028-4866 Fulltext online at Jstor
- Gelles, Edith B. "Bonds of Friendship: the Correspondence of Abigail Adams and Mercy Otis Warren" Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society 1996 108: 35–71. ISSN 0076-4981
- Lane, Larry M. and Lane, Judith J. "The Columbian Patriot: Mercy Otis Warren and the Constitution." Women & Politics 1990 10(2): 17–32. ISSN 0195-7732
- Oreovicz, Cheryl Z. "Mercy Otis Warren (1728–1814)" Legacy 1996 13(1): 54–64. ISSN 0748-4321 Fulltext online at Swetswise
- Richards, Jeffrey H. Mercy Otis Warren. (Twayne's United States Authors Series, no. 618.) Twayne, 1995. 195 pp.; reviewed in William and Mary Quarterly 199666 54(3): 659–661. Fulltext of review in Jstor
- Stuart, Rubin, Nancy
Nancy Rubin Stuart is an award-winning author/journalist, the Executive Director of the Cape Cod Writers Center, a speaker for the New York Council for the Humanities and a board member of the Women Writing Women's Lives Seminar for the City University of New York Graduate Center.-Biography:Stuart...
. The Muse of the Revolution: The Secret Pen of Mercy Otis Warren and the Founding of a Nation. Beacon Press, 2008.
- Warren, Mercy Otis. The Rise, Progress and Termination of the American Revolution, Interspersed with Biographical, Political and Moral Observations. Ed. and Ann. by Lester H. Cohen (2 vols.) Liberty Classics, 1988 (modern reprint of orig. 1804 edition).
- Wood, Gordon S. "The Authorship of the Letters from the Federal Farmer" (in Notes and Documents). William and Mary Quarterly. 3rd Ser., Vol. 31, No. 2. (Apr., 1974), pp. 299–308.
- Zagarri, Rosemarie. A Woman's Dilemma: Mercy Otis Warren and the American Revolution. Harlan Davidson, 1995.
External links