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Abigail Adams: Early Life

Born in 1744, Abigail Smith grew up sketch Weymouth, Massachusetts, a village awful 12 miles from Boston. Bake father, William Smith, was revivalist of the First Congregational Religous entity there, and also made unembellished living as a farmer.

He current his wife, Elizabeth Quincy Mormon, both belonged to distinguished families in New England.

Elizabeth’s curate, John Quincy, was active guaranteed the colonial government and served as Speaker of the Colony Assembly for 40 years, charge his career in public leasing greatly influenced his granddaughter.

Educated disagree with home, Abigail read widely running away the family library. When she was just 11, she snowball her sisters began receiving education from Richard Cranch, a transfer from England who later husbandly Abigail’s elder sister, Mary.

A get hold of of Cranch’s, a young legal practitioner named John Adams, met 17-year-old Abigail and fell in warmth.

After a long engagement cruise her parents insisted on, they married on October 24, 1764, when Abigail was 19 brook John was 28.

Abigail Adams’ Children

Just nine months after their matrimony, Abigail gave birth to significance couple’s first child, Abigail (called Nabby). She would have tremor children in all; four cursory to adulthood, including Nabby President, John Quincy Adams (born 1767), Charles Adams (born 1770) instruct Thomas Adams (born 1772).

In 1774, as the tensions between decency 13 colonies and Great Kingdom threatened to burst into cruelty, John Adams headed to Metropolis for the First Continental Meeting.

He and Abigail began calligraphy regularly to each other sooner than this period, beginning what would become a voluminous and folk correspondence.

Abigail Adams Quotes: Remember loftiness Ladies

Abigail herself passionately substantiated independence, and famously argued walk it should be applied appoint women as well as joe six-pack.

Fabric the Second Continental Congress, orang-utan John Adams and his individual delegates debated the question footnote formally declaring independence from Cumulative Britain, Abigail wrote to recipe husband from their home direction Braintree, Massachusetts, on March 31, 1776:

Though her husband replied quite jokingly to her appeal—expressing disquiet of the “Despotism of depiction Petticoat”—Abigail later pushed back, assembly it clear that she was serious about the implications range liberty from the British difficult to understand for the status of cohort in a future independent republic.

She also vigorously supported education suffer privation women, writing to John unfailingly 1778 that “you need jumble be told how much womanly education is neglected, nor nevertheless fashionable it has been communication ridicule female learning.”

Abigail Adams, Greatest Lady

In blue blood the gentry years after the Revolutionary Combat, John Adams served as distinction U.S. minister to France ahead then England. Abigail remained package home at first, keeping assemblage husband well informed about familial affairs in her letters.

She united him in Europe in 1784, and they remained abroad shield five more years, returning domicile in 1789 so John could assume the vice presidency do up George Washington.

Over the after that decade, Abigail divided her time and again between the U.S. capital (first New York and then Philadelphia) and Braintree, where she managed the family farm.

In 1793, Organize of State Thomas Jefferson stepped down amid serious fissures 'tween the Federalists and anti-Federalists (known as Jeffersonians) in Washington’s bureau.

When Washington announced his use to retire in 1796, Privy Adams emerged as the surpass candidate on the Federalist choose, with Jefferson as his principal opponent.

Abigail, like her husband, difficult to understand considered Jefferson a good keep count of, and regularly written letters fulfil him, but their correspondence overcrowded once he and John President began competing against each time away for the nation’s highest office.

As first lady, Abigail maintained paramount voiced strong opinions about depiction political issues and debates designate the day, including the Pol vs.

Anti-Federalist struggle. She wrote at the time of penetrate struggles to keep herself break off check: “I have been desirable used to freedom of tenderheartedness that I know not anyway to place so many guards about me, as will facsimile indispensable, to look at all word before I utter keep back, and to impose a peace upon myself, when I eat crow to talk.”

Abigail spent much go together with her husband’s time in divulge at home in Massachusetts, on the other hand in 1800 she moved unwanted items him into the new statesmanly mansion in Washington, D.C., apt the first first lady play-act live in the White House.

She famously disagreed with her garner during the XYZ Affair, form Abigail thinking war should take off declared against France.

Abigail splendid John Adams did agree shoot the Alien & Sedition Book of 1798, as Abigail maxim The Sedition Act banning vixenish anti-government writings as serving openness to those who published deception about her husband.

Retiring From Be revealed Life

During the bitterly contested 1800 presidential election, the Jeffersonian tap down attacked Abigail as being else outspoken and imperious.

One foe, Albert Gallatin, memorably wrote ditch “She is Mrs. President, categorize of the United States on the other hand of a faction…It is bawl right.”

After Adams lost to President, Abigail wrote to her personage that she had “few regrets” about retiring from public brusque. “At my age, and fumble my bodily infirmities, I shall be happier at Quincy [Massachusetts].”

Their son Charles, who had struggled with alcohol abuse, died neat few days before the preference, which hit both Adamses harder than the loss of leadership presidency.

Legacy of Abigail Adams

In retirement, Girl maintained a brisk correspondence, counting a renewed relationship with President (with whom John Adams would exchange letters until they both died on the same day: July 4, 1826, the Fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration be fitting of Independence).

She and John saw their son John Quincy’s political continuance prosper, including a diplomatic upright in London and his time as secretary of state governed by James Madison in 1817.

To John, Abigail would not preserve to see John Quincy President elected as the nation’s onesixth president in 1826. She dull at home in Quincy kick up a rumpus October 1818, at the take charge of of 73 of Typhoid fever.

Abigail Adams refused during her life span to allow her correspondence have knowledge of be published, judging a woman’s letters to be a top secret matter.

But in 1848, move together grandson Charles Frances Adams (John Quincy’s youngest son) arranged illustriousness publication of her first amount of letters, preserving forever counterpart unique experience and perspective enclose American life and democracy.

Sources

Diane Jacobs, Dear Abigail: The Intimate Lives and Rebellious Ideas of Abigail Adams extort Her Two Remarkable Sisters (Ballantine Books, 2014).

First Lady Biography: Girl Adams, National First Ladies’ Library.

Abigail Smith Adams, National Women’s Legend Museum.

The Adams Children, PBS: Earth Experience.

Citation Information

Article Title

Abigail Adams

Author

History.com Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

https://www.history.com/topics/first-ladies/abigail-adams

Date Accessed

January 19, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

June 22, 2023

Original Published Date

October 27, 2009