On this day 250 years ago in Plymouth, Massachusetts, Mercy Otis Warren wrote to Abigail Adams that “It is and Ever has been my poor Opinion that justice and Liberty will finally Gain a Compleat Victory over Tyrany.” She then added an interesting observation:

we have yet one Advantage peculier to ourselves. If the Mental Faculties of the Female are not improved it may be Concealed in the Obscure Retreats of the Bed Chamber or the kitchen which she is not often Necessitated to Leave. Whereas Man is Generally Called out to the full display of his Abilities but how often do they Exhibit the most Mortifying instances of Neglected Opportunities and their Minds appear Not with standing the Advantages of what is Called a Liberal Education, as Barren of Culture and as Void of Every useful acquirement as the most Triffling untutored Girl.

Source: “Mercy Otis Warren to Abigail Adams, 28 January 1775,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/04-01-02-0121. [Original source: The Adams Papers, Adams Family Correspondence, vol. 1, December 1761 – May 1776, ed. Lyman H. Butterfield. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1963, pp. 181–183.] accessed at https://founders.archives.gov/?q=%2228%20January%201775%22&s=1111311111&sa=&r=1&sr=