Name
Date
Abigail Adams
By Jane Runyon
If it weren't for people like Abigail Adams, we might not know how our ancestors
lived. We might not know their thoughts and opinions. We might not know their
struggles. We have learned a lot about these things because Abigail Adams loved
to write letters. She did not hesitate to put her true feelings down on paper. And
luckily for us, her letters were preserved by her family. We can now read what life
was like for her as the wife of a leader of the Revolutionary War. We can read
what life was like for the wife of the second President of the United States. We
can read about what was important to her. She wrote about changes she wanted to
make in this new country. She wrote about what she thought was fair and unfair.
Her letters have become our path to the past.
Abigail Adams was born Abigail Smith in 1744 to a Congregational minister and
his wife in Massachusetts. She did not attend school. School in those days was for
the boys. She had a very curious mind, however. This curiosity led her to seek
knowledge where she could find it. She learned to read. Reading every book she
could put her hands on helped to satisfy her strong curiosity. Her interest in books
led her to make the acquaintance of a young lawyer named John Adams. She
married John in 1764.
John Adams' law practice and future career in politics caused many separations for the couple. Abigail began her
practice of writing letters to her busy husband. She was able to make these letters seem like she was talking to him
face to face. She told of events in the household. She kept him up on community news. She offered her opinion on
the changes taking place in the colonies. In John's absence, she had the responsibility of running the family farm
without much help. Most of the men were busy fighting a war. She raised their four children and schooled them at
home. Her letters told John of her struggles and how much she missed her best friend, her husband.
After the Revolutionary War, John Adams was appointed as a minister to France. Abigail was able to go with him
and see what the life of a diplomat was like. In 1785, the Adamses were sent to England as envoys. This was a
difficult situation since the Americans had just defeated the English in a hard fought war.
In 1788, John and Abigail returned to the United States where John was to serve as the first vice president of the
United States under George Washington. Abigail became a good friend to Martha Washington. She used her
experience in Europe to become an excellent hostess. In 1791, Abigail's health started to fail. She was forced to
spend more and more time at her home in Braintree, Massachusetts.
When John Adams was elected to the presidency in 1797, Abigail accompanied him to the new capital of the
United States, Federal City. It wasn't until the death of George Washington in 1799 that this city was named
Washington, D.C. Again, Abigail's letters give us an accurate description of what this new city was like. Her new
home, later named the White House, was unfinished and lacked many of the conveniences she had been used to.
One of these conveniences seems to have been enough wood for the fireplaces. In those days, that's about the only
way they had to heat their living quarters.
When John Adams' term as president ended in 1801, John and Abigail were able to retire to their home in
Massachusetts. They spent the rest of their lives together. This was the longest period of time that they had ever
been able to spend in the same place, almost seventeen years. Abigail died in 1818.
Abigail Adams pursued a cause for most of her life. She and her husband did not agree on this cause. Abigail
Adams kept asking the founders of our country to "Remember the Ladies." She grew up in a time when education
was secondary for women. Women were considered to be the property of men and to be under the direction of the
men in their lives. They were to go from the direction of their fathers to the direction of their husbands. Abigail
Adams was a force in trying to change that thinking. She was a quiet force, but she was a force just the same. She
was one of the first women in a movement that took many years to accomplish.
Name
Date
Abigail Adams
Questions
1. How did Abigail Adams give us our history?
A. She gave speeches.
B. She told stories.
C. She was an artist.
D. She wrote letters.
2. Abigail Adams attended school in Massachusetts.
A. False
B. True
3. Why did Abigail Adams read so much?
A. She wanted to show off.
B. She was bored.
C. She was curious.
D. She wanted an education.
4. Why do you think only boys were schooled in the 1700's?
5. What was the name of the capital of the United States when John Adams became president?
A. New York City
B. Federal City
C. Philadelphia
D. Washington, D.C.
6. What talent did Abigail Adams develop while in Europe?
A. Entertaining guests
B. Writing letters
C. Running for office
D. Raising children
7. What was Abigail Adams' constant message to the Founding Fathers?
A. Write More Letters
B. Don't Give Up
C. Adams for President
D. Remember the Ladies
8. Why do you think Abigail and John Adams disagreed on Abigail's goal?
Name
Date
When our founding fathers proclaimed that all men are created equal, who were they referring to? Were
women treated equally? Why or why not?
How can historians discover what everyday life was like for people in the 1700's?