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Page 76
 Page 76 - Abigail Adams Calls for Women's Rights

The reading selection

   Parts of two letters written by Abigail and John Adams are found in this reading selection.
 
   In the first letter, Abigail Adams is writing to John from the family's home and farm near Boston.  Her husband is at the Continental Congress meeting in Philadelphia.  Independence has not yet been declared, but is not far off.  It is March, 1776.  The second letter is an excerpt from John's response.
 
   Abigail and John's many letters showed they loved each other and felt free to share what they were thinking about.  Abigail was thinking about the English laws that governed the legal status of women, and she wanted changes.  Many of the laws dated back to the Middle Ages, and left women subordinate to men.  (Remember that in the social system of the Middle Ages, everyone, even a knight or baron, was subordinate to someone else.)
 
   The spelling in Abigail's letter shows that she, like other Colonial era women, did not have much formal education.  But the letter also shows she was bright, thoughtful, and independent minded.

 
 The picture

   The picture shows a modern drawing of Abigail Adams dressed in a style of the Colonial era.  Abigail was later First Lady when John Adams served as the nation's second president.

Group discussion questions

   The main argument that Abigail uses is that people should not be forced to obey laws that they have no voice in writing.
 
   Although women played vital roles in the Revolution, there were no women delegates to the Continental Congress.  Abigail does not quite say there should be, although she comes close when she writes about women having "no voice, or Representation" in the process.  She does clearly demand that "care and attention" be paid to women's concerns when new laws are developed by the Congress.
 
   Her arguments are, of course, based on the same principle as the colonists' cry of "No taxation without representation."
 
   John's reply is an interesting point of view.  He knew how powerful the force of love was in his relation to Abigail.  He apparently believes that such a force gives women so much power over the hearts of men that written laws are "little more than Theory."  In fact, he says that the balance of power in reality leaves men as "the subjects," that is, as the subordinate sex.  He jokingly expresses the hope that "General Washington, and all our brave Heroes would fight" to preserve what power men do have.

   Abigail Adams was probably not amused.






Copyright Notice

   Copyright 2018 by David Burns.  All rights reserved.  Illustrations and reading selections appearing in this work are taken from sources in the public domain and from private collections used by permission.  Sources include: the Dover Pictorial Archive, the Library of Congress, The National Archives, The Hart Publishing Co., Corel Corporation and its licensors, Nova Development Corporation and its licensors, and others.  Maps were created or adapted by the author using reference maps from the United States Geological Survey and Cartesia Software.  Please see the home page for this title for more information.