FREE ESSAY ON ABAGAL ADAMS

ABAGAL ADAMS

Abigail Adams
I. Early Life
A. Born on November 11, 1744 at Weymouth, Massachusetts
1. Family was of great prestige in the colony.
2. Her father was a Congregational minister, a leader in a society that held its clergy
in high esteem. Smith was one of Weymouth's most prosperous and best-educated citizens.
3. Learned that it was the duty of the fortunate to help those who were less fortunate by
her father.
B. Lacked formal education but read avidly the books at hand.
C. Married John Adams in 1764.
1. In 10 years she bore 3 sons and 2 daughters (Abigail, John Quincy, Charles, and
Thomas).
II. Accomplishments
A. She became a trusted and influential political adviser to her husband.
B. She opposed slavery.
C. She expressed the need for equal education for boys and girls.
D. She became an early feminist.
III. Style
A. Abigail was a descriptive writer.
B. Very well read and politically sensitive writer.
C. Wrote hundreds of letters in excellent English style.
IV. Major Works
A. In her letters:
1. Recorded the history of our young country.
2. Told the story of woman who stayed at home to struggle with wartime shortages and
inflation, to run the farm with a minimum of help, and to teach their children when
formal education was interrupted.
V. Abigail died on October 28, 1818, in Quincy.
A. Their grandson, Charles Francis Adams, published their letters in 1875.