“Remember the ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors.”
–Abigail Adams to her husband John, March 1776
In the era of revolution, women often lacked access to formal education and were often excluded from commenting on the philosophy of the time. However, women writers like Mercy Otis Warren and Phillis Wheatley defied traditional roles and defined a revolution beyond the battlefield.
Phillis Wheatley Peters
Boston, MA
The first African American woman to publish a book of poems, Phillis Wheatley Peters’ writings first appeared in Boston newspapers and pamphlets as early as 1767. The 1770 publication of “An Elegiac Poem, on the Celebrated Divine George Whitefield” received widespread acclaim.
Due to her rising popularity, critics questioned whether an enslaved Black woman could write like celebrated male poets of the time. Wheatley, undeterred, defended her poetry to counter these critics. Many influential Bostonians, like John Hancock, also attested to her work.
With financial support from her enslavers, Wheatley Peters traveled to London. While there, she published Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral (1773). Although Wheatley Peters did not mention enslavement often in her work, this book holds her best-known poem, “On Being Brought From Africa to America.” In it, she writes of being “brought…from my Pagan land” and later learning of Christianity’s teachings. Wheatley Peters also comments on society’s opinion of her as both a Christian and enslaved Black woman, that despite this, she too is worthy to join “th’ angelic train.”
As the fervor of revolution spread, hotbeds of philosophy sprouted up around Boston. Wheatley Peters’ work provided a sense of identity to Bostonians during a time when morality and the fabric of society were in upheaval. The country’s collective enjoyment of her poems inspired others to defend their rights with a pen.
Mercy Otis Warren
Plymouth, MA
As a poet, playwright. satirist, historian, and educated woman, Mercy Otis Warren considered herself an ardent patriot above all. In fact, she wrote of separating from England years before the Declaration of Independence. One of Warren’s earliest plays, The Adulteur (1772) advocated revolt. It also dissected Massachusetts royal governor Thomas Hutchinson and criticized his hypocrisy. Her next plays, Defeat (1773) and The Group (1775) influenced women to boycott British imports. Warren’s philosophy appeared in patriot pamphlets, fueling the revolutionary fires engulfing Massachusetts.
During the American Revolution, Warren kept detailed notes as events unfolded, resulting in a three-volume historical collection: History of the Rise, Progress, and Termination of the American Revolution Interspersed with Biographical, Political, and Moral Observations. Within, Warren discusses the moral legacy of the war for independence. Using words as her sword, she details the key characters involved and thoughts on enslavement, the mistreatment of Native Americans, and even the Founding Fathers.
