Liberty and Power:

Abstract

This essay argues that both George Washington and Mercy Otis Warren understood their experiences of the Revolutionary era through a shared discourse of classical republicanism, a set of beliefs that interpreted modern events in terms of their continuities with ancient Greece and Rome. By the time Washington became president, however, their beliefs had diverged, particularly in terms of assessing Washington’s stature as a hero in the classical republican mold. Warren, as a chronicler of the American Revolution, believed that she had remained true to the classical republican principles of virtue, honor, and self-sacrifice for the common good. She criticized Washington for having succumbed to the lure of power and fame. The difference in their gender roles contributed to the divergence in their understandings. While Warren’s anti-federalist ideals remained abstract and theoretical, Washington as president was forced to accommodate his principles to the complex realities of governing a new nation and enforcing the U.S. Constitution.