Catharine Macaulay’s An Address to the people of England, Scotland, and Ireland, on the Present Important Crisis of Affairs

Research Services Librarian Rachel Nellis discusses Catharine Macaulay, a radical English writer and historian sympathetic to the American cause, and her 1775 pamphlet, An Address to the people of England, Scotland, and Ireland, on the Present Important Crisis of Affairs. Using events such as Parliament’s passing of the Stamp Act and the Boston Massacre, Macaulay’s pamphlet was written as an appeal to Great Britain to change its policies towards the colonies. This Lunch Bite will not only examine the contents within the pamphlet, but various components of Macaulay’s life and her close friendships with leading figures of the American Revolution, including John and Abigail Adams and Mercy Otis Warren.