Abigail Adams was born on November 11, 1744 in Weymouth, Massachusetts. Her father was William Smith, an ordained minister, and mother, Elizabeth Quincy. Abigail is the second born of three sisters and one brother. She was very short with brown hair and brown eyes. She did not go to public school, however, she was taught to read and write at home and had access to her father and grandfather’s libraries. Abigail loved poetry, reading and memorizing “poems of Shakespeare, Milton, Pope, and James Thomson” (McMichael, 1).
In the novel, Abigail Adams: A Revolutionary American Woman, Charles Akers portrays the life of a strong, revolutionary woman named Abigail Adams. She was known as the first lady of the United States under John Adams and she played an indirect role in influencing the American Revolution. She is called one of the founders of the country for her revolutionary thinking and her being a rights activist.
Dearest Friend: A Life of Abigail Adams is a New York Times bestselling biography, written by Lynne Withey. The contents of the book mainly revolved around the life of Abigail Adams, who became the most influential woman in America’s Revolutionary Period. This happened in large part due to being the wife of patriot John Adams, the nation-state 's significant second president. Throughout her life, and their marriage, Abigail maintained her and John’s farm in Braintree, Massachusetts, bore six children, and sustained an interest in politics as well as current events. John spent years traveling, first to Philadelphia and then to Paris and London, which left her to take care of everything at home, single-handedly. She eventually accompanied John to London, and to Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. when he was elected as the vice president and then inaugurated as the president of the United States.
Abigail Adams married a man destined to be a major leader of the American Revolution and the second President of the United States. Although she married and raised men that become such significant figures during their time, her herself was played an important role in the American society. The events that happened in her life, starting from childhood and ending in her adult years, led her to be a Revolutionary woman. Three main reasons behind her becoming such a strong, independent woman was the fact that she married a man who had an important role in politics, growing up with no education, and raising a family basically by herself.
As the wife of John Adams, Abigail Adams became politically involved in the government part of the American Revolution. However, only her husband hears her concerns as he begins to establish the roots of the new nation. Three months prior to the official approval of the Declaration of Independence, Abigail Adams expresses the need of inclusion of women’s rights in the new laws in a series of letters to her husband. These letters during the American Revolution show the beliefs of white male supremacy and the prejudices even among loved ones.
There were many historical events that took place in Abigail Adam’s early life that have an impact on why such a random person made a big difference in the Revolutionary War. Abigail Adams was born in Weymouth Massachusetts on November 11,1744. According to the text “Abigail Adams,” Abigail was home schooled and used her father's library that he had to improve her education. All this information that she learned would soon help her in political background knowledge in the Revolutionary war. In addition Abigail Adams was third cousins with John Adams long story short they then had feelings for each other.Three years later they got married and had 6 kids, John,Quincy,Susanna, Charles,Thomas and
“We are in the very midst of the revolution, the most complete, unexpected and remarkable of any in the history of the world.” (McCullough 127) This dynamic quote was given by John Adams. The American Revolution started when Great Britain put taxes on the colonies. Feeling that these taxes were unconstitutional, the patriots started revolts like the Boston Tea Party. The American Revolution was fought from 1775 to 1783. America fought hard to win her freedom from Great Britain. This great war was fought in New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and many other colonies. John Adams was vitally important during the Revolutionary War. He was at the forefront of America’s realization that she needed to be independent and he worked to accomplish this as a congressman, a great thinker and communicator, and a diplomat.
The author of this document is Abigail Adams, a white female that is married to John Adams. She lives in a time where women have no form of representation, and they live in the shadow of men. Because of this, Abigail takes up a woman’s traditional role and performs activities such as manufacture clothing for her family, soap making, creating gun/cannon powder for her husband, and other chores for the benefit of her household (Adams, Paragraph 12). Fulfilling this role has shaped her by securing her inferiority to her husband and other males. She as a woman lacks power both socially and politically when it comes to the opposite gender; however, it is just this that has cultivated her attitude towards her government, the male sex, and even her own spouse. By requesting that her husband remember to give rights to women, it shows that she was brave enough to present her opinions even though they were unwelcomed (Adams, Paragraph 9). She is headstrong in the sense that she is willing to rebel if she does not receive the proper representation that she is asking for. Also, by mentioning that the women would rebel, Abigail displays her intelligence because she could foresee the inevitable future if women’s rights were not improved (Adams, Paragraph 9). She sees the world for what it is, unjust. Moreover, her social and political inferiority did not result in ignorance. Based on her vocabulary, writing style, and comprehension/expression of such complex ideas, she reveals that she is
Abigail Adams’ letter stated, “I long to hear that you have declared an independency. And, by the way, in the new code of laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make, I desire you would remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands. Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation.” Abigail tells John that women will not stand for the maltreatment in a new republic, she then explains that men should not be given any authority that can be used against women, and society should treat women as equals. John not only disagree with Abigail’s letter, but also wrote back saying, “…we know better than to repeal our Masculine
On January 12, 1780, Abigail Adams writes a letter to her youngest son John Quincy Adams. Adams writes the letter for the soul purpose of informing her son on how important it is for him to travel to France. In her letter, Abigail Adams encourages her son to continue his journey of triumph. In Adams letter, she uses allusion, ethos, and pathos, to express her ideas of advise to John. Adams continuously appeals to her son’s emotions by emphasizing that she wants him to be successful in life and aiding him in realizing that she cares enough to push him to be the best that he can be.
In Abigail Adam's letter “Last Act of Defiance,” Mrs. Adams challenged the concept of individual rights by standing up against the social actions women were not allowed to do. At this time in history women, did not have the same rights as men, yet Mrs. Adams was not afraid to rise up and speak about laws where women did not have a voice in. It states in the “Last Act of Defiance,” “... she did not simply complain about the government's denial of married women's property rights. She defied.” Abigail Adams openly challenged individual rights because even though women had no political say and she knew that most people wouldn't listen to her, she had the courage to speak up. She refused the government's laws and strictly oppose the government
* After his commission to France, John was elected minister plenipotentiary which extended his stay in Europe.
As members of Congress drafted laws to guarantee the independence for which the colonies were fighting, Abigail wrote to John begging him to remember that women also needed to be given the right to independence. Her most famous letter about the need for women's rights was written to John on March 31, 1776:
Abigail Adams was and still is a hero and idle for many women in the United States. As the wife of John Adams, Abigail used her position to bring forth her own strong federalist and strong feminist views. Mrs. Adams was one of the earliest feminists and will always influence today's women.
Abigail Adams was a woman of high character and a loving soul. She was selfless in her thinking and remarkable in the way she handled people. Her management skills were above average for the normal female in the 1700s. She held many worldly interests that tied her to the political fashion of society. She was well cultured and was able to apply this to her role of a politician’s wife with great attributes towards society. She became the “buffer” with regard to her husband's temper and lack of diplomacy. She participated in many political activities. Her independent thinking, character, faithfulness, and hard work gave her the ability to succeed in society in the 17th century. Even though Abigail Adams was not formerly