"A declaration of the independence of America, and the sovereignty of the United States, was drawn by the ingenious and philosophic pen of Thomas Jefferson, Esquire, a delegate from the state of Virginia"
About this Quote
The phrase "sovereignty of the United STates" carries a telltale emphasis. Warren isn’t just praising independence from Britain; she is asserting the legitimacy of a new political character on the world stage. The capitalized, slightly awkward "STates" registers the era’s unfinished experiment: are these states united as a single sovereign entity, or a coalition of jealous jurisdictions? By coupling "independence" with "sovereignty", she tries to settle the question rhetorically, even if the Constitution hasn’t yet made it fully true.
Then there’s the social coding. "Esquire" and "delegate from the state of Virginia" signal deference to rank and locality, a reminder that the revolution’s authorship is elite, regional, and male. Coming from a woman who wrote plays and political history in a culture that routinely minimized women’s intellectual authority, the crediting is also strategic. She secures her narrative by anchoring it to an unimpeachable figure, smuggling her own interpretive power into the record: if the revolution is philosophy on paper, then the historian-playwright has standing to judge its fidelity to its ideals.
Quote Details
| Topic | Freedom |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Warren, Mercy Otis. (2026, February 20). A declaration of the independence of America, and the sovereignty of the United States, was drawn by the ingenious and philosophic pen of Thomas Jefferson, Esquire, a delegate from the state of Virginia. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/a-declaration-of-the-independence-of-america-and-6787/
Chicago Style
Warren, Mercy Otis. "A declaration of the independence of America, and the sovereignty of the United States, was drawn by the ingenious and philosophic pen of Thomas Jefferson, Esquire, a delegate from the state of Virginia." FixQuotes. February 20, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/a-declaration-of-the-independence-of-america-and-6787/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"A declaration of the independence of America, and the sovereignty of the United States, was drawn by the ingenious and philosophic pen of Thomas Jefferson, Esquire, a delegate from the state of Virginia." FixQuotes, 20 Feb. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/a-declaration-of-the-independence-of-america-and-6787/. Accessed 22 Feb. 2026.
