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Abstract

An active proponent of republican government, Mercy Otis Warren had a significant role in the revolutionary period. She was a woman who was close to the action, well-acquainted with the central figures, and instrumental in bringing about the monumental changes in America in the late 1700s. Referred to as the “muse of the revolution,”[1] Mercy Otis Warren used her pen to significantly broaden the colonial understanding of a republican form of government and passionately promote it. From a collection of early poems and political satires written in the years preceding the war to her epic history of the revolution published when she was in her seventies after the Constitution had been ratified, her pen spanned the spectrum of the entire revolutionary period. She corresponded with a broad array of revolutionary figures, and her letters articulately illuminate the political principles of the era. Thus, her writings contributed to the political landscape during the revolutionary movement. She had an extremely influential impact on the American founding process, yet her role has been far too often minimized or even disregarded.

Warren was unable to be a Founding Father herself due to the limitations of her social role at the time, but she certainly exerted an influence over the patriotic leaders and earned their respect. Through her letters, satirical dramas, essays, poems, and most of all her History of the Revolution, Mercy was unquestionably a compelling contributor to the history of the nation. Relentlessly pursuing what was right by promoting limited government and maximum liberty in all the ways available to her, Warren encouraged her generation to place their faith in God, not man, and certainly not in any form of government. Deeply committed to making the world a better place, she pursued lofty goals to the best of her ability and trusted God with the result.

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