History of the Rise, Progress, and Termination of the American Revolution
(Warren's spectacularly detailed account of the American W...)
Warren's spectacularly detailed account of the American War of Independence remains an authoritative, much-read source on the subject: this edition contains all three volumes, complete with notes. First published in 1805, when memories of the Revolutionary War were fresh in the minds of many Americans, Mercy Otis Warren's history became a sensation for its intense detail and depth. Aiming to give a precise, blow by blow account of the War of Independence, Warren ventures through the major turning points of the conflict. She takes us from the many causes of the Revolution itself, through the principle battles, to the eventual surrender and defeat of the British, and the establishment of the United States. Warren personally lived through the entire conflict and was good friends with several of the men who were to become the Founding Fathers of the United States. Her connections, assertive nature and prominent place in the nascent colonial society allowed Warren to publish a number of works which were popular.
(This volume gathers more than one hundred letters-most of...)
This volume gathers more than one hundred letters-most of them previously unpublished-written by Mercy Otis Warren (1728-1814). Warren, whose works include a three-volume history of the American Revolution as well as plays and poems, was a major literary figure of her era and one of the most important American women writers of the eighteenth century. Her correspondents included Martha and George Washington, Abigail and John Adams, and Catharine Macaulay.
Mercy Otis Warren was an American poet, dramatist, and historian. Her proximity to political leaders and critical national events gives particular value to her writing on the American Revolutionary period. She is considered by some to be the first American woman to write primarily for the public rather than for herself.
Background
Mercy Warren was born Mercy Otis on September 14, 1728, in Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States, to the family of Colonel James Otis and Mary Allyne. She was the third of thirteen children and the first daughter. Only six of her siblings survived to adulthood. One of her brothers was the political activist and firebrand James Otis, who was early involved in events leading to the American Revolution.
Education
Mercy Otis Warren received no formal schooling but managed to absorb something of education from her uncle, the Reverend Jonathan Russell, who tutored her brothers and allowed her to study by their side in all subjects except Latin and Greek. She took a particular interest in history and politics. She also made extensive use of her uncle’s large book collection to educate herself.
Career
In 1754, Mercy Otis wed the politically active James Warren, a classmate of her brother’s at Harvard, who encouraged her to pursue writing. The couple had five sons. After James Warren’s election to the Massachusetts Legislature in 1766, the Warrens began hosting leading citizens in their Plymouth home, particularly those opposed to British policies. In fact, Warren herself would maintain a lifelong, though at times tumultuous, friendship with John Adams, which included extensive letters on the nature of the new republic.
An avid patriot, Warren began writing political dramas that denounced British policies and key officials in Massachusetts, notably Governor Thomas Hutchinson. Her 1772 satire, "The Adulator" (published anonymously in the Massachusetts Spy newspaper), criticized the British colonial governor’s policies a full four years before Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. Warren also published two additional plays skewering British colonial leaders, Defeat (1773) and The Group (1775). She supported the Boston Tea Party and boycotts of British imports and urged other women to follow suit.
From the outset of the American Revolution, Warren began writing its history, which was published in 1805 as History of the Rise, Progress, and Termination of the American Revolution. This was among the first nonfiction book published by a woman in America, and she was the third woman (after Anne Bradstreet and Phillis Wheatley) to publish a book of poems. Some of her other works - Poems, Dramatic and Miscellaneous, for example - were similarly influenced by her first-hand experiences with the war.
Warren lived to age eighty-six. She remained vital even in her final years, continuing to write and correspond with political friends.
Warren was a Protestant. Her ancestors included Puritans (a Protestant group who advocated strict moral conduct and reform of the Church of England) who arrived at Plymouth, Massachusetts, on the Mayflower in 1620.
Politics
After her brother James was brutally beaten by colonial revenue officers in 1769, Warren was increasingly drawn to political activism and hosted protest meetings at her home that resulted in the organization of the Committees of Correspondence. Warren, who embraced the natural rights philosophy that undergirded the Patriot cause, was hopeful that it would lead to egalitarian and democratic policies in the new republic and beyond. A Jeffersonian Republican, she took a firm stand against ratification of the Constitution, which put her at odds with a conservative political friend, John Adams, a champion of the document. As the young United States, and Massachusetts in particular, began to move in a Federalist direction following the war, Warren remained steadfastly Republican.
In 1805 Warren completed a three-volume history titled A History of the Rise, Progress, and Termination of the American Revolution. The work deliberately avoided dull accounts of "military havoc" in favor of knowledgeable comments on the important personages of the day, which remain especially useful. Its marginalizing and sharply critical treatment of John Adams led to a heated correspondence and a breach in Warren’s friendship with the Adamses that lasted until 1812.
Views
Likely based on her personal experiences, Mercy Warren opposed women’s lack of access to formal education.
Quotations:
"No single step contributed so much to cement the union of the colonies."
"Every domestic enjoyment depends on the unimpaired possession of civil and religious liberty."
"America stands armed with resolution and virtue, but she still recoils at the idea of drawing the sword against the nation from whom she derived her origin. Yet Britain, like an unnatural parent, is ready to plunge her dagger into the bosom of her affectionate offspring."
Personality
Mercy Otis Warren was characterized by bright intelligence and a sharp sense of humor.
Physical Characteristics:
By the early 1800s, Mercy's eyes gave her so much trouble that she gave up reading and writing on her own. Her eldest son, James Jr., assisted her in working with manuscripts and correspondence.
Connections
In 1754 Mercy Otis married James Warren, a merchant, and farmer who went on to serve in the Massachusetts legislature and bore five children: Charles Warren, James Warren, George Warren, Winslow Warren, and Henry Warren.