lves bound by any laws in which we have no voice, or representation."The reaction of John Adams was less than satisfactory. He responded by telling Abigail that he had laughed at her request. He called her letter saucy and told her he had more to deal with than the request of women.This angered Abigail and she wrote to Mercy Otis Warren on April 27, 1776:"He is very saucy to me in return for a List of Female Grievances which I transmitted to him. I think I will get you to join me in a petition to congress. I thought it was very probable our wise statesmen would erect a new government and form a new code of laws. I ventured to speak a word on behalf of our sex, who are rather hardly dealt with by the laws of England which gives such unlimited power to the husband to use his wife.""I believe I even threatened formenting a Rebellion in case we were not considered and assured him we would not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we had neither a voice nor representation."This letter is a fine example of Abigail Adams' strong feminist and strong federalist views. These letters represented the turmoil felt by women during the uncertain times facing the colonies. The views of Abigail Adams became the first in a long line of cries out for women's equality.The American Revolution may have won equal rights for men, but women were left treated unequally. The words of Abigail Adams went overlooked during the eighteenth century. They did not change John Adams' view on the women's place in the home and the government. In her final letter pleading with her husband Abigail wrote:"But you must remember that Arbitrary power is like most other things which are very hard, very liable to be broken- and notwithstanding all your wise Laws and Maxims we have it in our power not only to free ourselves but to subdue our masters, and without violence throw both your natural and legal authority at our feet."Abigail could not have known that with the...
