Abigail Adams

Abigail Adams was born to a Puritan family in Weymouth, MA, just outside of Boston, on 11 November 1744. Abigail's father was a minister and the family was arguably well respected in the community. As a child Abigail was educated, but never attended school as it was customary for women to receive their education at home. The Adamses introduced their children to literature, history and foreign language. Edith B. Gelles, author of A Writing Life, writes that Abigail was a fan of Shakespeare but a critic of Moliere. Gelles also suggests that Abigail had an exceptional education for her time, but Abigail's letters are evidence of her informal education as they lack consistent grammar, spelling and punctuation. Letters to her husband are Abigail's legacy (women were not typically published in her time). While her husband, John Adams, was away in Philadelphia and abroad, they exchanged letters of love and politics. Abigail's letters show her "feminist" bent, as well as her concerns about slavery and religion. It is said that Abigail greatly influenced her husband's political career and was even regarded as "Mrs. President" while her husband was commander-in-chief. One of Abigail's sons was also president. Abigail Adams died 28 October, 1818 from typhoid fever.

Probably the most well-known letter that Abigail wrote to John is the one which reads "remember the ladies." In the letter, Abigail asks her husband to "remember the ladies" while he is in Philadelphia drafting the constitution. She writes of the differences in male and female education, efforts in the war, womens' subordination, and male titles of "master." Thomas Jefferson and Abigail Adams also conversed about the power differentials between men and women, and Jefferson responded that women actually hold more power over men than men do over women... Anyway... this is the last time any surviving correspondence between John and Abigail Adams contains the issue of women receiving governmental representation. The letter is related to issues of the time because it directly and indirectly addresses the issue of slavery and subjection to a master. It also addresses the issue of equality of individuals.

Gelles also makes an interesting point about the mode of communication that is letter writing. She describes the 18th century as "the golden age of letter writing." According to Gelles, letters are meant to create a certain intimacy between its writer and reader. One very important thing to note about letter writing is that it allowed the author to fully develop an idea or feeling that would be inhibited by conversation. Gelles says, "There are no discursive interruptions to writing, so a letter serves a mediative function in which ideas may grow and flourish creatively."

*The letters are not exclusive to her husband. Adams writes to friends and politicians as well (ones that would have been friends of the family, like Jefferson, for example).