The Hartford Wits were a group of young writers from

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

in the late eighteenth century and included

John Trumbull John Trumbull (June 6, 1756November 10, 1843) was an American artist of the early independence period, notable for his historical paintings of the American Revolutionary War, of which he was a veteran. He has been called the "Painter of the Rev ...

, Timothy Dwight, David Humphreys,

Joel Barlow Joel Barlow (March 24, 1754 – December 26, 1812) was an American poet, and diplomat, and politician. In politics, he supported the French Revolution and was an ardent Jeffersonian republican. He worked as an agent for American speculator Wil ...

and

Lemuel Hopkins Lemuel Hopkins (June 19, 1750 – April 14, 1801) was an American poet and physician who was a member of the Hartford Wits, a group of literary satirists active in the late eighteenth century. A politically conservative Federalist, he coauthored ...

. Originally the Connecticut Wits, this group formed in the late eighteenth century as a

literary society A literary society is a group of people interested in literature. In the modern sense, this refers to a society that wants to promote one genre of writing or a specific author. Modern literary societies typically promote research, publish newsle ...

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

and then assumed a new name, the Hartford Wits. Their writings satirized an outmoded curriculum and, more significantly, society and the politics of the mid-1780s.

Over the span of American Revolution

Their dissatisfaction with the Articles of Confederation appeared in '' The Anarchiad'' (1786–1787), written by Humphreys, Joel Barlow, Trumbull (the oldest Wit), and Hopkins. In satirizing democratic society, this mock-epic promoted the federal union delineated by the 1787 Federal Convention at

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. Despite writing in a satiric tone, some of the Wits—in particular, Humphreys and Barlow—joined the Continental army. Moreover, Dwight became a minister, serving as chaplain to the Connecticut Continental Brigade along with writing poems and songs. He wrote several songs devoted to the soldiers of the Revolution, including “Columbia”:

Columbia, Columbia, to glory rise, The queen of the world, and the child of the skies!

Trumbull was the only member of the Wits who did not join to the Continental Army and wrote a satiric poem called "M’Fingal" where the British cause was mocked. Simultaneously, Humphreys became colonel of the Continental Army and published “Address to the Armies of the United States of America” along with other patriotic poems.

Later careers

The Connecticut Wits eventually followed their interests in divergent directions. After The Anarchiad, Trumbull turned away from poetry and increasingly devoted his attention to law and politics. Barlow ultimately repudiated the Federalist politics of the Wits altogether. Dwight became the eighth president of Yale in 1795 and used his position as a platform from which to continue his attacks on the enemies of social order. The second generation of Wits included physician and playwright

Elihu Hubbard Smith Elihu Hubbard Smith (September 4, 1771 – September 19, 1798) was an American author, physician, and man of letters. Early life and education Smith was born in Litchfield, Connecticut, to Dr. Reuben Smith and Abigail Hubbard Smith. He entered ...

References

External links

* An essay on the use and advantages of the fine arts: Delivered at the public commencement, in New-Haven. September 12, 1770 Culture of Yale University {{US-arts-org-stub