Who was Mercy Otis Warren?

Mercy Otis Warren (September 14, 1728 – October 19, 1814) was born in Barnstable, Massachusetts. As a young child, Mercy loved reading, writing, and discussing politics. She would always listen to her brother and father when they discussed politics. She married James Warren in 1754 and moved to Plymouth, Massachusetts. Mercy had five sons. Her favorite color was blue. She wore blue bonnets and blue dresses lined with lace. She felt it was her duty to participate in the Patriot cause during the American Revolution. Her brother was the noted patriot lawyer James Otis, and they were descended from Mayflower passenger Edward Doty. Her husband James was a descendant of fellow Mayflower passenger Richard Warren. Mercy married James in the year 1754, when she was 26.

In 1772, she published her play, The Adulateur. After the war, in 1790, Mrs. Warren published a volume of poetry in her name. In 1805, she wrote History of the Rise, Progress, and Termination of the American Revolution. Congress had first asked Thomas Paine to write the history of the American Revolution, but he declined. Warren died in Plymouth in 1814.

Mercy Otis Warren has been called one of the most literate American women of the 18th century. Prior to the American Revolution, she hosted political meetings in her home. In addition, she was close to both John Adams and Abigail Adams, until a political difference left them estranged. "Probably under prodding from Abigail, Adams began to repair the damage he had done with Warren, so that by 1814 the friendship was fully reinstated".

Warren was likely responsible for anti-federalist newspaper contributions under the pseudonym "A Columbian Patriot."