Mercy Otis Warren

Mrs. James Warren (Mercy Otis), 1763

Portrait by John Singleton Copley, 1763

OTHER IMAGES

James Warren, 1763
James Otis, Sr., c. 1760
James Otis, Jr., 1755

QUICK FACTS
BORN:
14 September 1728 in Barnstable, Massachusetts
  DIED:
19 October 1814 in Plymouth, Massachusetts
Buried at Old Burial Hill in Plymouth with her husband, James.
AUTHOR OF

Plays

  • The Adulateur, 1772
  • The Defeat, 1772
  • The Group, 1775

History

  • The Rise, Progress and Termination of the American Revolution, Interspersed with Biographical, Political and Moral Observations (3 volumes), 1805

Mercy Otis Warren, American writer, sister of James Otis, was born in Barnstable, Massachussets in 1728. She married James Warren (1726—1808) of Plymouth, a college friend of her brother, in 1754. Her literary inclinations were fostered by both these men and she began writing poems, dramas, and essays.

Because her husband took a leading part in events leading up to, during, and after the American Revolution — as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives (1766—74) and its speaker (1776—77; 1787—88), as well as a member (1774—1775) and president (1775) of the Provincial Congress — Warren was keenly interested in following its progress.

Her gift of satire was used in her political dramas, The Adulator (1773) and The Group (1775). Abigail Adams, a close friend of Warren’s, approved and encouraged her efforts — as did her husband, John Adams.

Warren’s tragedies The Sack of Rome and The Ladies of Castile, were included in her Poems, Dramatic and Miscellaneous (1790), dedicated to General Washington. Apart from their historical interest, her poems and dramas are not generally read today. In 1805 she published The Rise, Progress and Termination of the American Revolution, a history of the revolution that included personal criticism of John Adams — which he took issue with and bitterly resented.

Surviving her husband by nearly six years, Mercy Otis Warren died on 19 October 1814 at the age of 86.

ADAPTED FROM:
Encyclopedia Britannica, 1911 ed.

CONNECTED TO:
| Adams, John | Otis, James Jr. | Warren, James

Categories
Anti-Federalist
Boston Revolutionary
Massachusetts
Playwright
Writer

George Washington ordered his overseers to begin the 1767 wheat harvest on June 24, a hot, cloudy Saturday at the end of a dry week. Thus began twenty days of unrelenting exertion for Mount Vernon’s slaves and no little anxiety for their master, who for the first time had given over his holding almost entirely to the cultivation of grain. Much depended on the success of this experiment, which was a crucial element in Washington’s scheme to free himself of the debts he had accumulated over the years of failing to produce tobacco that would sell on London’s finicky market. Rich as he was in land, he feared that, like so many of his fellow planters, he too would become permanently dependent on his English merchant creditors. It was a fate he dreaded above all, for to suffer it meant that he would lose the essence of a gentleman’s character, independence, and with it the capacity to behave in a truly virtuous way.

— Fred Anderson
Crucible of War: The Seven Years’ War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754 - 1766 (2000)