Philip Morin Freneau

author

Philip Morin Freneau

1752–1832

A sharp-tongued voice of the American Revolution, this early American poet mixed lyric feeling with politics, satire, and life at sea. He is often remembered as the “Poet of the American Revolution” and as one of the young republic’s most spirited newspaper editors.

3 Audiobooks

The Poems of Philip Freneau, Poet of the American Revolution. Volume 1 (of 3)

The Poems of Philip Freneau, Poet of the American Revolution. Volume 1 (of 3)

by Philip Morin Freneau

The Poems of Philip Freneau, Poet of the American Revolution. Volume 2 (of 3)

The Poems of Philip Freneau, Poet of the American Revolution. Volume 2 (of 3)

by Philip Morin Freneau

The Poems of Philip Freneau, Poet of the American Revolution. Volume 3 (of 3)

The Poems of Philip Freneau, Poet of the American Revolution. Volume 3 (of 3)

by Philip Morin Freneau

About the author

Born on January 2, 1752, in New York, Philip Morin Freneau became one of the most distinctive literary voices of the Revolutionary era. He studied at the College of New Jersey, now Princeton University, where he was a classmate of James Madison, and he went on to build a varied life as a poet, sea captain, and editor.

His writing moved easily between subjects: nature, public affairs, humor, and fierce political argument. During and after the Revolution, he wrote poems and essays that championed the American cause, and his newspaper, the National Gazette, made him an important Republican critic of Federalist leaders in the 1790s.

Freneau’s work helped shape an early American literary identity, blending literary ambition with the urgency of a new nation finding its voice. He died on December 18, 1832, but his poems and political writing still offer a lively window into the hopes, conflicts, and energy of the early United States.