Mary Ellen Humphrey Book Launch

Corresponding With Marcia, The American Revolution and Other Topics

“My interest in the revolution stems from my ancestor, Mercy Otis Warren, who wrote the book, History of the Rise, Progress and Termination of the American Revolution published in 1805.

She inspired the Boston Tea Party with her popular and widely published poem, Squabble of the Sea Nymphs. Did you wonder why they dressed as natives carrying clubs and tomahawks? It was inspired by her poem. We would say today that it went viral.

She wrote patriotic propaganda that was widely read in the colonies, and she was intricately involved in the cause corresponding with many of the principals including John and Abigail Adams. Her home in Barnstable hosted many planning sessions for the revolution. Her brother James Otis was the Boston lawyer who wrote the arguments against the Writs of Assistance, with the famous sentiment, “no taxation without representation.”

Both she and her friend Martha Washington rode horseback to the army camp outside Boston to visit their husbands. Mercy’s husband was in charge of the finances, and of course, George was in charge of the army.

Post revolution, she wrote a widely read and popular pamphlet, Observations on the New Constitution, outlining objections to what many perceived would be a federal government that was too powerful and a threat to individual rights. It lists the same points as contained in the Bill of Rights. She wrote under a pseudonym to insure it would be taken seriously. It was. It encouraged the addition of the Bill of Rights to our constitution.

When I retired here to NY a few years ago, I was finally able to focus on my writing projects and this one is all the more urgent given it is the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. I am eager and excited to share Mercy’s story and her concerns about our new government, and very timely today.”