Abigail Adams and Mercy Otis Warren Letters Timeline
I have discovered the complexity of both Mercy Otis Warren and Abigail Adams through reading their letters. It began with politeness, almost small talk between the two but developed into a conversation of real substance. I would say the most surprising thing I found from the letters was how soft spoken Mercy was talking about the revolution and current oppression colonists were experiencing. In one of the first letters Mercy wrote to Abigail, she told her that she would “will write anything fearless of his eye.” It was a bold statement which lead me to believe that she would continue her criticisms within the letters. Mercy had work published which directly called out the British and the mistreatment of the colonies. She seemed to have an aggressive, and harsh response to her current responsive. Although Mercy had strong opinions, Abigail was the aggressor in creating the imagery of the pain she felt about the colonies. I think Abigail’s staunch beliefs were a product of her husband John Adams. John was deeply involved with state politics at the time. He witnessed laws of oppression and unjust be passed to the colonies. He was probably blamed for some of the injustice being seen by the average colonists. John’s frustrations were passed to Abigail through the letters they exchanged. The pair exchanged hundreds of letters while John was traveling. His negative words were probably frustrating to hear. Abigail, being stuck at home, looked to transfer some of that frustration on to Mercy.
I used Voyage to analyze popular words and sentences within each letter. The vocabulary and sentence structure was very similar between the two women. Both Abigail and Mercy were educated and able to properly convey their ideas. The popular words used by the two were also similar in most letters. Although there were some interesting shifts seem between letters. For example, in the first letter from Abigail, her most used words are blessings, happy, and little. It is an introductory letter so it makes sense that she would keep the message light and polite. In the response to Abigail, Mercy takes a more philosophical approach. Her most used words included think, mind, shall, and ask. In the letter, she interprets Abigail’s ideas and asks her to respond. Ambition was used four times in Abigail’s third letter which stuck out from the rest. Ambition is a trait which the Patriots relied on to receive support for their fight. It took ambition to take the leap of faith to go against Britain. Abigail’s third letter is the most passionate and well-spoken of all of them. She attacks oppression, the separated factions of men, and touches on figures like Alexander the Great.
The influence of Abigail and Mercy should not go understated. Mercy’s work in developing a message for Massachusetts is shown in her work. Even though Abigail may not have been a great writer like Mercy, she was still present in her town. In the letters, she speaks of town hall meetings that were held to discuss issues in the state. In conjunction with her husband John Adams, Abigail was a trusted voice in the community. From analyzing the letters, it showed me that the discussion of the Revolution was a controversial issue. Both women were Patriots but did not seem to agree completely.