Abigail Adams
By Jennifer J. Foster
I went to the Internet to grab the text of Abigail Adams’ “Remember the Ladies” letter for you, and I couldn’t resist providing the complete record of this exchange she had with her husband, the future president:
ABIGAIL ADAMS to JOHN ADAMS; Braintree, Mass.; March 31, 1776:
I long to hear that you have declared an independancy—and by the way in the new Code of Laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make I desire that you would Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favourable 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 perticular care and attention is not paid to the Ladies we are determined to foment a Rebelion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice, or Representation.
That your sex are Naturally Tyrannical is a Truth so thoroughly established as to admit of no dispute, but such of you as wish to be happy willingly give up the harsh title of Master for the more tender and endearing one of Friend. Why then, not put it out of the power of the vicious and the Lawless to use us with cruelty and indignity with impunity. Men of Sense in all Ages abhor those customs which treat us only as the vassals of your Sex. Regard us then as Beings placed by providence under your protection and in imitation of the Supreme Being make use of that power only for our happiness.
JOHN ADAMS to ABIGAIL ADAMS; April 14, 1776:
As to Declarations of Independancy, be patient. Read our Privateering Laws, and our Commercial Laws. What signifies a Word.
As to your extraordinary Code of Laws, I cannot but laugh. We have been told that our Struggle has loosened the bands of Government every where. That Children and Apprentices were disobedient—that schools and Colledges were grown turbulent—that Indians slighted their Guardians and Negroes grew insolent to their Masters. But your Letter was the first Intimation that another Tribe more numerous and powerfull than all the rest were grown discontented. This is rather too coarse a Compliment but you are so saucy, I wont blot it out.
Depend upon it, We know better than to repeal our Masculine systems. Altho they are in Full Force, you know they are little more than Theory. We dare not exert our Power in its full Latitude. We are obliged to go fair, and softly, and in Practice you know We are the subjects. We have only the Name of Masters, and rather than give up this, which would compleatly subject Us to the Despotism of the Peticoat, I hope General Washington, and all our brave Heroes would fight. I am sure every good Politician would plot, as long as he would against Despotism, Empire, Monarchy, Aristocracy, Oligarchy, or Ochlocracy.
(Ochlocracy: a form of government in which the common people rule; i.e, mob rule)
ABIGAIL ADAMS to JOHN ADAMS; Braintree, Mass.; May 7, 1776:
I can not say that I think you very generous to the Ladies, for whilst you are proclaiming peace and good will to Men, Emancipating all Nations, you insist upon retaining an absolute power over Wives. But you must remember that Arbitrary power is like most other things which are very hard, very liable to be broken—and notwithstanding all your wise Laws and Maxims we have it in our power not only to free ourselves but to subdue our Masters, and without violence throw both your natural and legal authority at our feet—-
“Charm by accepting, by submitting sway
Yet have our Humour most when we obey”.
(More here.)
Now, having read that, think about this: Was Abigail Adams more Nancy Reagan or Michelle Obama? Was she more Jackie or Hillary?
All I’m saying is, First Ladies have their own minds. It’s worse than a shame—it’s a travesty—that they aren’t expected to use them.
Abigail Adams was:
This nation’s first Second Lady;
This nation’s second First Lady;
Mother of the sixth president, John Quincy Adams;
One of the few voices calling for women’s rights and equality during the Revolutionary War period; and
Called “Mrs. President” because of her involvement with her husband’s presidency. (Who does that sound like?)
Read more about Abigail and her extraordinary life in her official White House bio and her National First Ladies Library bio.
