Mercy Otis Warren’s Letters about the Constitution

Letters were one of the chief forms of communication used during the post-Revolutionary period.  They served as important historical documents, revealing the cultural and political views of society during that important era.  For Mercy Otis Warren, “...a letter was a document - private to be sure, but also meant for a public - a record of evolving citizenship in the suddenly emergent United States.” (1) She used her letters as a vehicle to deliberately and self-consciously engage in defining what an American should and could be.  In addition, she used her letters as an instrument to express her ideas as a woman in a male dominated society. (2)  

In a letter written to Catharine Macaulay Graham, a British Whig historian and supporter of the Revolutionary War, Warren explained her stance on the Constitution.  The letter, dated December 18, 1787, followed the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia and the publication of her essay titled, “Observations on the New Constitution, and on the Federal and State Conventions, by a Columbian Patriot.”  In the letter, Warren outlined the states that were going to adopt the Constitution and the states that were still in doubt.  In addition, Warren identified the representatives at the Convention that were opposed to the draft constitution in the states of South Carolina, Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, and Massachusetts.  Warren also indicated that the Anti-Federalists, “...all feared unfettered power in the hands of a central government and thus the conditions for the tyranny they had just fought to overthrow.” (3)  Furthermore, Warren stated that the new government had a fondness for honorary distinctions and that it would continue its relationship with England for support.  She ended her letter to Graham by telling her to read the attached pamphlet entitled the “Columbian Patriot” in order to understand more of her ideas and the consequences associated with the quick adoption of the Constitution’s new form of government. (4)

In another letter to Catharine Macaulay Graham, Warren provided an update and her thoughts on the new Government.  In the letter dated July 1789, Warren stated that even with a new organized government and George Washington as the President, the United States “...was too poor for Monarch, too wise for Despotism, and too dissipated, selfish, and extravagant for Republicanism.” (5) Warren stated that the infant government still had to deal with issues related to commerce, manufacturing, agriculture, taxes, and employee salaries.  Warren also indicated that she wanted to leave America in order to see how the American experiment was influencing other countries like France, who were undergoing their own revolution.  In addition, Warren wondered if the people of France were actually reaping greater advantages of the spirit of liberty than Americans.