The Hartford Wits were a group of American writers centered around Yale University

Yale University

Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...

 and flourished in the 1780s and 1790s. Mostly graduates of Yale, they were conservative federalists

Federalism

Federalism is a political concept in which a group of members are bound together by covenant with a governing representative head. The term "federalism" is also used to describe a system of the government in which sovereignty is constitutionally divided between a central governing authority and...

 who attacked their political opponents with satirical

Satire

Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...

 verse. Members included Joel Barlow

Joel Barlow

Joel Barlow was an American poet, diplomat and politician. In his own time, Barlow was well-known for the epic Vision of Columbus. Modern readers may be more familiar with "The Hasty Pudding"...

, Timothy Dwight IV

Timothy Dwight IV

Timothy Dwight was an American academic and educator, a Congregationalist minister, theologian, and author...

, David Humphreys

David Humphreys (soldier)

David Humphreys was a American Revolutionary War colonel and aide de camp to George Washington, American minister to Portugal and then to Spain, entrepreneur who brought Merino sheep to America and member of the Connecticut state legislature...

, John Trumbull

John Trumbull (poet)

John Trumbull was an American poet.-Biography:Trumbull was born in what is now Watertown, Connecticut, where his father was a Congregational preacher. At the age of seven he passed his entrance examinations at Yale, but did not enter until 1763; he graduated in 1767, studied law there, and in...

, Lemuel Hopkins, Richard Alsop

Richard Alsop

Richard Alsop was an American merchant and author.Richard Alsop was born January 23, 1761. His father was also named Richard Alsop...

, and Theodore Dwight

Theodore Dwight

Theodore Dwight may refer to:* Theodore Dwight , Federalist member of U.S. Congress* Theodore Dwight , author, son of Theodore Dwight* Theodore William Dwight U.S. jurist...

. Works produced by the group include The Anarchiad (published in the New Haven Gazette from 1786–1787), The Political Greenhouse (Connecticut Courant, 1799), and The Echo

The Echo

The Echo may refer to:*The Echo , a novel by Minette Walters*The Echo *The Echo , opera by Frank Patterson premiered in June 1925 with tenor Forrest Lamont and soprano Marie Rappold*The Echo *Sigaw, a Filipino horror film...

(American Mercury, 1791–1805).