Abigail Smith was born and raised in Massachusetts. Her father was a liberal minister, her mother was a member of the famous Quincy family mother, and she had two sisters. At a time when women were not allowed to receive a formal education, she was homeschooled and satisfied her appetite for knowledge at the family’s library, forming progressive views.
After a two-year courtship, she married John Adams, a country lawyer, and became his closest advisor and partner. They settled in the house John had inherited from his father in Braintree, MA. When his practice expanded, John had to frequently travel while Abigail managed their finances, investments, household, and growing family. For a while, they even moved to Boston next to his practice. Between 1784 and 1788, Abigail joined John in his diplomatic missions in Paris and London.
On March 4th, 1797, John became the second president of the United States, and she was the first lady. They lived in the Presidential Mansion in Philadelphia and later in the White House in Washington, DC. She was a politically active first lady, made frequent public appearances, and was involved in the decision-making process, paving the way for future first ladies to be proactive figures. When John lost presidential re-election, the family retired to Peacefield in Quincy in 1800.
During his frequent travels before and during the presidency, the couple corresponded in more than 1100 letters, where Abigail demonstrated her talent for writing and opinionated spirit. In one of those letters, she urges her husband to consider women’s rights in the new legislation after independence, warning that if not given equal representation: “women will rebel.”
He dismissed her suggestion by writing back that it makes him laugh, but her words “remember the ladies” became an iconic feminist slogan.
Before her death, she wrote a will favoring her female relatives. It was an act of protest against the laws prohibiting married women from owning assets.
Abigail Adams
Abigail Adams was the wife of John Adams, who was the second President of the United States, and the mother of John Quincy Adams, the sixth. She was the first Second Lady of the United States, and the second First Lady of the United States.
Adams is remembered for the many letters she wrote to her husband while he stayed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, during the Continental Congresses. John frequently sought the advice of Abigail on many matters, and their letters are filled with intellectual discussions on government and politics. The letters serve as eyewitness accounts of the American Revolutionary War home front.
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“I desire you would Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favourable to them than your ancestors.”
“I desire you would Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favourable to them than your ancestors.”
Fun Facts
- She managed the household by herself during the American Revolutionary War, providing refuge for soldiers and melting utensils to make bullets.
- The Adams were the first presidential couple to reside in the White House in Washington, DC.
- As opposed to her father, who was a slaver, she supported abolition.
- She gave birth to six children. Her son, John Quincy Adams, was the 6th president.
- In 1948, during a campaign swing, US President Harry Truman said at the steps of the Church of the Presidents that Abigail Adams "would have been a better president than her husband."
- In 1997 a statue of her with her son, the 6th US President John Quincy Adams, was dedicated in Quincy, MA. In 2018 it was removed and stayed in storage till today.
- She is one of the three women featured in the Boston Women's Memorial, alongside, Lucy Stone, the founder of the ‘Woman’s Journal,’ and Phillis Wheatley, the enslaved poet. The memorial was dedicated in 2003 and created by the renowned sculptress Meredith Bergmann.
- In November 2022, a new statue of her was dedicated in Quincy, MA, standing close to her husband and son's statues.
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Abigail Adams
Abigail Adams was the wife of John Adams, who was the second President of the United States, and the mother of John Quincy Adams, the sixth. She was the first Second Lady of the United States, and the second First Lady of the United States.Adams is remembered for the many letters she wrote to her husband while he stayed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, during the Continental Congresses. John frequently sought the advice of Abigail on many matters, and their letters are filled with intellectual discussions on government and politics. The letters serve as eyewitness accounts of the American Revolutionary War home front.
Website: http://www.thestoryofliberty.net
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Story-of-Liberty-hosted-by-John-Bona/140594739344241
Blog: http://thestoryoflibertyblog.com/
This post is also available in:
Español