Hannah Griffitts (1727-1817) was an American poet and revolutionary. A member of a prominent Philadelphia family, she vigorously advocated for independence from Britain. She was active in the Daughters of Liberty, who supported boycotts against the British. When the American revolutionary movement became violent, she continued to support a negotiated settlement. Griffitts wrote prolifically about resistance to the British, including The Female Patriots and the Battle of Long Island, as well as on peace and women’s rights. She also composed elegies for parents who had lost their children. During her lifetime, with a few exceptions, her verse was unpublished and shared only with her women friends. About 60 of her poems were preserved in Milcah Martha Moore’s commonplace book, under the pen name “Fidelia”.
Griffitts came from an old Quaker family, her grandfather the well-known Friend Isaac Norris. Due to her Quakerism, she supported peace, and she was raised to believe women were the equals of men. As a child of 10, she dedicated herself to poetry, vowing to God that she would write about “no trifling themes”. Several of her poems were addressed to Quaker friends.
Hannah Griffitts was a good poet, writing at a time when Quakers opposed poetry.
From The Battle of Long Island:
“Oh! Speak contending brethren into Peace,
Bid the sweet Cherub bless our weeping Shores,
And friends again in her soft Bands unite.”
Gary Sandman
September 2025