Abigail Adams an American Woman by Charles W. Akers
Abigail Adams an American Woman was written by Charles W. Akers. His biographical book is centered on Abigail Adams the wife of John Adams, the second president of the United States, and the mother of John Quincy Adams, the sixth president. She was the All-American woman, from the time of the colonies to its independence. Abigail Adams was America's first women's rights leader. She was a pioneer in the path to women in education, independence, and women's rights.
Adams recognized the limited role women were allowed to play in the world at that time. However, she insisted that a woman's role carried an equal amount of importance and responsibility to a man's. She believed that
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Her quest for knowledge was brave on her part.
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:
I long to hear that you have declared an independence--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 (Akers 48).
Adams' ideas were shared with other women and spoke of appealing to Congress to regard these "radical" issues. Congress never appealed to her "bluff" but as a result, John seemed to have taken her ideas to heart and to have given the matter considerable thought as he struggled with the issue of voters' rights. He understood that a government built on the principles of freedom and equality and carried out with the consent of the people must by
John Adams claimed that children and apprentices grew disobedient, schools and colleges became restless, Indians ignored elders, slaves grew disrespectful, and women grew discontent. All of these groups have no voice and unequal treatment in common. A connection is that women could not vote until relatively recently. That was man’s claim on control of how things were run. I honestly am appalled at what came out of his response as far as ,”subjection to the unfair rule of women.” Hypocrisy at its finest there because how do you think the women felt about subjection to the Despotism of the egotisticals? Yeah, probably not that great.
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.
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
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 wrote a letter to her husband John Adams called Remember the Ladies. Abigail is writing this letter during the Revolutionary War. The timing of the letter is significant because the country is at war for freedom and equality. In her letter Abigail pleas with her husband for women’s equality. Abigail’s purpose for writing to John regarding women’s equality is so that he will think of women as they adopt new laws. Throughout the letter Abigail uses different points of view, word choice, and varying tones to persuade her husband to see the need for laws that are considerate of women.
Women were considered by the majority of the population to be rightfully subservient to men because of both tradition and religious practices. While women were undoubtedly called upon to take care of the home front while their men were called away to war, and in some cased supported the war directly, they were not given any political rights worth noting. They could not vote, could not hold political office, and could not legally join the military. Abigail Adams, advocated for the political rights of women in her letters to her husband John with little effect. While John Adams did address this issue in a letter to James Sullivan, he did not support this as a right. It seemed that there was little political will for women to be treated the equal with men, even slave men. (Brown & Carp,
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
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.
The revolution affected groups differently based on their identity because it supported some of their ideals while failed to support others. In Abigail Adams letter to her husband, John Adams (document four), it is evident that the revolution would be able to advance separatist women’s rights due solely to the fact that the American Revolution was based on equality and natural rights. Adams tells her congressman husband to “remember the ladies” in the new code of laws or else they would form a rebellion. Through this, she is able to show that like those who wish to have a voice/ representation from England, the women also wish to obtain the same thing. In turn, the revolution would affect white, educated women who were separatists because
Abigail Adams was the wife of John Adams and was vital for his successes. Before she became his wife she was part of a “picture perfect nuclear family” (Biography), with her father being a minister; she was “early introduced to public service and civic responsibility” (Biography) and was self-educated. Even though John Adams wanted to be too because he didn’t get enough from schooling, he eventually went into law. She was an advocate
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.
Once again, the only way Abigail could communicate with him were letters. The letters this time were full of even more meaning because Abigail would report what she knew about the British and what they were doing. She knew how important this all was. She even took young John Quincy to the top of Penn’s Hill to watch the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17,1775. Although not all the people saw eye to eye with Abigail on her ideas, her husband agreed with her. In June of 1776 John was appointed to the committee of five men to help create the Declaration of Independence. Abigail was very please but she still longed for more. She had a broader idea then the delegates, she believed both sexes should have equal rights. In one of her most famous letter she wrote “remember the ladies, and be more favorable to the than your ancestors”. While they did adopt the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776 it failed to give rights to women or blacks. Abigail was not discouraged and that was good because there would be many more chances for her to make a difference. John was soon appointed head of the Board of War and would turn to Abigail in seek of help many times. He valued his wife’s opinion and once even wrote “I want to hear you think or see your thoughts”. In a letter she wrote to him at one point of his job as the board leader said “These are times a genius would wish to live…great necessities call out great virtues (Page
Our founding fathers paved the way for America. They fought for us and put in countless hours, often away from their families, as they planned and debated about our countries future. But as I like to think, behind every great man is a great women, and Founding Mothers by Cokie Roberts tells the story of many of these historic women. While many of the women in this book were truly great, Abigail Adam, who played a huge part and contributed so much to our country, inspired me the most. Abigail Adams was a wealth of information about current events in the colonies and a fountain of idea about the future United States to her husband, John Adams and in turn to Congress.
John and Abigail Adams were also relieved to see the British leave America. John Adams was an involved figure in the passage to freedom. He was also an instrumental figure in the creation of the Declaration of Independence. His wife, Abigail, was also involved in the fight towards freedom judging by her correspondence with her husband during the war. In her letter on March 2nd, 1776, she states, "I heartily wish every Tory was Extirpated [from] America, they are continually by secret mean [undermining] and injuring our cause" (98).
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.