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Mercy Otis Warren Research Papers

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Mercy Otis Warren was a well-known poet, dramatist, and historian born in 1728. Her family was heavily involved in politics as her father was a practicing lawyer as well as her brother. Much like most women of the time she had no formal education but would often sit in on the lessons of her brothers’. She would later go on to marry James Warren who served as state legislature to Massachusetts. Throughout her lifetime her family had several ties with political figures and events leading to her involvement within the American Revolution. Otis Warren used her experiences to first publish anonymous on political ideologies as well as be a confidant to political figures such as Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. Otis Warren would not be the political …show more content…

The two were second cousins who met at Harvard through James Otis. James Warren was a practicing lawyer and a known vocal critic of the British government. He served a 12-year term in Massachusetts General Court (1766) and elected speaker in 1775. James Warren was also a member of the Sons of Liberty working closely with the Otis and Adams families. He fought in the Battle of Bunker Hill and later served as Paymaster General of the Continental Army (1776). This allowed him to grow close relations with George …show more content…

She often wrote and exchanged letters with a Catherine Sawbridge Macaulay. Macaulay was a well-respected British political writer who during the time of writing to Otis Warren published a book The History of England from the Revolution to the Present Time. In the book Macaulay provides a patriot point of view, acknowledging the monopolization of British imports. “On the subject of this last abuse of power and trust…raised by the arts of corruption.” It was Macaulay who gave Otis Warren the confidence to transition from fireside talks to publications. Otis Warren did start out publishing anonymously allowing herself to think critically of the events happening around her while simultaneously maintaining a specified female gender role (a housewife) in the public

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