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 Founding Generation > Mercy Otis Warren
Mercy Otis Warren was a prolific writer about revolutionary politics and wrote an anonymous pamphlet fervently opposing the ratification of the Constitution without a bill of rights. Warren’s widely published writings helped plant the seeds for the American Revolution. She also regularly held meetings in her home in Plymouth with guests such as John and Abigail Adams and Samuel Adams. She opposed centralized power and aristocracy, preferring Jeffersonian democracy. One of Warren’s most significant contributions to history is her three-volume History of the American Revolution, which she started writing during the war and took 30 years to complete. Warren’s account included stories about women and children in war time, which male historians rarely touched upon. Thoughts on the Constitution and the Bill of Rights Warren, an Anti-Federalist, opposed ratification of the constitution unless it included a bill of rights. She wrote a pamphlet called Observations on the Constitution in 1788. In Observations, Warren wrote that parts of the document were undefined or vague leaving the door open for “immediate aristocratic tyranny.” The Constitution did not guarantee the freedoms of speech, religion, press, trial by jury and that the powers of the judiciary were not clearly defined. Warren argued that there was not enough representation for people in the House of Representatives and that a six-year term in the Senate was practically an appointment for life. Excerpts from Observations on the new Constitution, and on the Federal and State Conventions (1788): "…It will be allowed by every one that the fundamental principle of a free government is the equal representation of a free people." "There is no provision by a bill of rights to guard against the dangerous encroachments of power in too many instances to be named…" "…the whole constitution with very few exceptions appears a perversion of the rights of particular states, and of private citizens." "The rights of individuals ought to be the primary object of all government, and cannot be too securely guarded by the most explicit declarations in their favor." "The mode in which this constitution is recommended to the people to judge without either the advice of Congress, or the legislatures of the several states is very reprehensible…" Friends and Foes Although Warren was friends with John and Abigail Adams during the Revolution, they later became enemies for several years as their political views changed. Warren was wary of the Constitution, while the Adams family supported it. John Adams was furious with how Warren portrayed him in History of the American Revolution. Toward the end of her life, Warren and Abigail Adams renewed their friendship. back to Founding Generation |
Mercy Otis Warren biography Massachusetts Historical Society |
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