[36] Warren, History of the Rise, Progress and Termination of the American Revolution, Vol. II, p. They saw a number of professional characters too ready to relinquish former opinions, and adopt new ones more congenial to the policy of courts, than to the maxims of a free people. These judicious men were solicitous that every thing should be clearly defined; they were jealous of each ambiguity in law or government, or the smallest circumstance that might have a tendency to curtail the republican system, or render ineffectual the sacrifices they had made, for the security of civil and religious liberty to themselves; they also wished for the transmission of the enjoyment of the equal rights of man to their latest posterity.
Her poems, plays, writings and quotes are what she used to voice her opinions about the Revolutionary War. Below you will find lists of interesting facts about the life of Mercy Otis Warren, written for kids and adults. 14.
[41] See, for example, ibid., Vol. II, pp. 630.
[22] Warren, History of the Rise, Progress and Termination of the American Revolution, Vol.
I, p. The plays were short, characterized by long speeches, and not aimed at entertaining an audience for an evening (the performance of plays was banned under Boston law). Despite the book’s success, her relationship with Adams deteriorated due to her critical portrayal of his role in the Revolution.
Mercy and James Warren’s gravestone at Burial Hill, Plymouth, Massachusetts.
Legacy and Death
Mercy Otis Warren died on October 19, 1814, at the age of 86, six years after her husband, James, passed away.
Jeffrey H. Richards and Sharon M. Harris (Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 2009), p. 57.
[10] Warren, The Adulateur, in Selected Works, pp.
It begins with the Stamp Act and continues through the adoption of the Constitution and the election of 1800, which signaled the ascendency of the Jeffersonian Republicans. Consistent with natural law, the principles of the Declaration had been put forth “under the awe of the Divine Providence,” which gives human beings a sense of their proper place and the obligations they owe the Creator and each other:
From the principles, manners, habits, and education of Americans, they expected from their rules, economy in expenditure (both public and private,) simplicity of manners, pure morals, and undeviating probity.It is certain, that truth, whether moral, philosophical, or political, shrinks not from the eye of investigation.
The ideas of royalty, or any thing that wore the appearance of regal forms and institutions, were generally disgusting to Americans, and particularly so to many characters who early came forward, and continued to the end of the conflict, stedfast in opposition to the crown of Britain.
631.
[44] Warren, History of the Rise, Progress and Termination of the American Revolution, Vol. I, pp. As she indicates in her introduction, Warren was “[c]onnected by nature, friendship, and every social tie, with many of the first patriots, and most influential characters on the continent.”24 Her home in Plymouth, Massachusetts, became a “breeding place” for the Revolution; it was situated in the thick of Revolutionary events, her husband was chosen for the Massachusetts Committee of Correspondence, and the Sons of Liberty passed in and out to plan their resistance to British interference.
In party politics, Warren sided with the Jeffersonian Republicans, led by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, who were champions of yeoman farmers and concerned with the dominance of urban speculators, against the Federalist party of Alexander Hamilton.
Although her historical opus did not enjoy as much popularity as some of her other works did, Warren’s accurate and detailed History is the only Anti-Federalist account of the Revolution.
Republican government depends on civic virtue, on a devotion to fellow citizens and to country so deeply instilled as to be almost as automatic and powerful as the natural devotion to self-interest.38
Warren’s Providence
To maintain proper manners and republican principles, Warren advocated civic education and a firm attachment to religion.
These objections were not the result of ignorance; they were made by men of the first abilities in every state; men who were sensible of the necessity of strong and energetic institutions, and a strict subordination and obedience to law. Her father, a prominent farmer, attorney, and judge, was an outspoken critic of British rule and played an active role in local politics, serving as a representative in the Massachusetts House of Representatives and opposing the colonial governor, Thomas Hutchinson.
She felt they were a detriment to their country.