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She was a descendent of the Qunicys', a very prestigious family in the colonies, on her mothers' side. On her fathers' side Abigail was a descendent of Congressional Ministers. During a time when women did not receive a formal education, her grandmother at home taught Abigail. Her eagerness to learn and to read is what created a bond between John Adams and her. Abigail was married to John Adams in 1764. Their marriage has been described as one of the mind and the heart. The young couple moved to a small farm in Boston as Johns' law practice expanded. In the next ten years Abigail gave birth to three sons and two daughters. The main goal in her life had now become watching over the family and home without her husband. The time apart from John was spent teaching her children, dealing with wartime shortages, inflation, and running the farm with little help and writing letters to ease her loneliness. It was in these letters that Abigail Adams views on government and feminism were made apparent to John Adams. While John was away helping the country declare independence, Abigail wrote her most famous letter to him. On March 31, 1776 Abigail wrote: " 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 would desire you would Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favourable to them than your ancestors." "Remember all men would be tyrants if they could. If perticular 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." 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 these words she had predicted the future of the country. Abigail joined her husband in 1784 at his diplomatic post in Paris, where she took great interest in the manners of the French. Abigail also took on the role of wife of the first United States Minister to Great Britain, a very difficult role. In 1788 she and John returned to their home in Quincy, which they had just recently purchased. Abigail used the manners she had learned in the courts and societies abroad to become a wonderful hostess as the first Vice Presidents wife. In 1791, Mrs. Adams was forced back to Quincy by illness. The Adams's retired in 1801 to their home in Quincy and enjoyed each others company, something which they had missed during most of their marriage, for the next seventeen years. Abigail died in 1818. She is now buried beside her beloved husband in the United First Parish Church. Abigail Adams left behind a legacy of strong federalist and strong feminist views. She used her position in life to try to better the lives of women everywhere. Mrs. Adams was one of the earliest feminists and will always influence every generation of American women. Bibliography: Bibliography Abigail Smith Adams. The First Ladies. http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/glimpse/firstladies/html/aa2.html Abigail Adams. The Women of The Hall. http://www.greatwomen.org/adams.htm Abigail Adams and John Adams Letters, Abigail Adams Letter to Mercy Otis Warren (1776). The American People. http://longman.awl.com/nash/primarysource_6_2.htm Abigail Adams. Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. http://gi.grolier.com/presidents/aae/first/02pw.html Remembering The Ladies. Janelle Collett. http://www.feminist.com/rtl4.htm Word Count: 921
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