Abigail Adams
Abigail Adams by Benjamin Blythe, 1766 PD image from http://www. ...
2nd First Lady of the United States
In office March 4, 1797 – March 4, 1801
Preceded by	Martha Washington
Succeeded by	Martha Jefferson Randolph
1st Second Lady of the United States
In office May 16, 1789 – March 4, 1797
Preceded by	None
Succeeded by	Anna Thompson Gerry
Born	November 11, 1744(1744-11-11) Weymouth, Province of Massachusetts Bay
Died	October 28, 1818 (aged 73) Quincy, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
Spouse	John Adams
Relations	William and Elizabeth Quincy Smith
Children	"Abigail "Nabby"", John Quincy, Susanna, Charles, Thomas and Elizabeth (stillborn)
Occupation	First Lady of the United States, Second Lady of the United States
Religion	Congregational

Abigail Adams (née Smith) (November 11, 1744 – October 28, 1818) was the wife of John Adams the second President of the United States and mother of John Quincy Adams, the sixth, and is regarded as the first Second Lady of the United States and the second First Lady of the United States though the terms were not coined until after her death. First Lady Laura Bush and former first ladies (from left to right) Rosalynn Carter, Sen. ... is the 63rd day of the year (64th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1797 (MDCCXCVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 11-day-slower Julian calendar). ... is the 63rd day of the year (64th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Union Jack, flag of the newly formed United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. ... This article is about the first First Lady of the United States. ... Martha Washington Jefferson Randolph (September 27, 1772 – October 10, 1836) , was the daughter of Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States, and his wife Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson. ... Lynne Cheney, the current Second Lady of the United States The Second Lady of the United States is an unofficial title for the wife of the Vice President of the United States styled relatively to the formal title of the First Lady who is wife to the President and principal... is the 136th day of the year (137th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1789 (MDCCLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ... is the 63rd day of the year (64th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1797 (MDCCXCVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 11-day-slower Julian calendar). ... is the 315th day of the year (316th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... // Events The third French and Indian War, known as King Georges War, breaks out at Port Royal, Nova Scotia The First Saudi State founded by Mohammed Ibn Saud Prague occupied by Prussian armies Ongoing events War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748) Births January 10 - Thomas Mifflin, fifth President... Location in Norfolk County in Massachusetts Coordinates: , Country State County Norfolk Settled 1630 Incorporated 1635 Government  - Type Mayor-council city  - Mayor Sue Kay (D) Area  - Total 21. ... A map of the Province of Massachusetts Bay. ... is the 301st day of the year (302nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1818 (MDCCCXVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Location in Massachusetts Coordinates: , Country State County Norfolk County Settled 1625 Incorporated 1792 Government  - Type Mayor-council city  - Mayor William J. Phelan Area  - City  26. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... For other uses of terms redirecting here, see US (disambiguation), USA (disambiguation), and United States (disambiguation) Motto In God We Trust(since 1956) (From Many, One; Latin, traditional) Anthem The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington, D.C. Largest city New York City National language English (de facto)1 Demonym American... For other persons named John Adams, see John Adams (disambiguation). ... Abigail Nabby Adams Smith (July 11, 1765-August 15, 1813), was the firstborn daughter of Abigail and John Adams. ... John Quincy Adams (July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was a diplomat, politician, and the sixth President of the United States (March 4, 1825 – March 4, 1829). ... First Lady Laura Bush and former first ladies (from left to right) Rosalynn Carter, Sen. ... Lynne Cheney, the current Second Lady of the United States The Second Lady of the United States is an unofficial title for the wife of the Vice President of the United States styled relatively to the formal title of the First Lady who is wife to the President and principal... Congregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation indepedently and autonomously runs its own affairs. ... is the 315th day of the year (316th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... // Events The third French and Indian War, known as King Georges War, breaks out at Port Royal, Nova Scotia The First Saudi State founded by Mohammed Ibn Saud Prague occupied by Prussian armies Ongoing events War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748) Births January 10 - Thomas Mifflin, fifth President... is the 301st day of the year (302nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1818 (MDCCCXVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... For other persons named John Adams, see John Adams (disambiguation). ... Federal courts Supreme Court Circuit Courts of Appeal District Courts Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Local Government Other countries Atlas  US Government Portal      For other uses, see President of the United States (disambiguation). ... John Quincy Adams (July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was a diplomat, politician, and the sixth President of the United States (March 4, 1825 – March 4, 1829). ... Lynne Cheney, the current Second Lady of the United States The Second Lady of the United States is an unofficial title for the wife of the Vice President of the United States styled relatively to the formal title of the First Lady who is wife to the President and principal... First Lady Laura Bush and former first ladies (from left to right) Rosalynn Carter, Sen. ...

Adams is remembered today for the many letters she wrote to her husband while he stayed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, during the Continental Congresses. John Adams frequently sought the advice of his wife on many matters, and their letters are filled with intellectual discussions on government and politics. The letters are invaluable eyewitness accounts of the Revolutionary War home front as well as excellent sources of political commentary. Nickname: City of Brotherly Love, Philly, the Quaker City Motto: Philadelphia maneto (Let brotherly love continue) Location in Pennsylvania Coordinates: Country United States State Pennsylvania County Philadelphia Founded October 27, 1682 Incorporated October 25, 1701 Mayor John F. Street (D) Area    - City 369. ... The Continental Congress was the first national government of the United States. ... For other persons named John Adams, see John Adams (disambiguation). ... The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), also known as the American War of Independence, was a war fought primarily between Great Britain and revolutionaries within thirteen of her North American colonies. ...

Early life and family

Abigail was born in the North Parish Congregational Church at Weymouth, Massachusetts on November 11, 1744 to Rev. William Smith and Elizabeth Quincy Smith. By the calendar used today, it would be November 22. On her mother's side, she was descended from the Quincys, a well-known family in the Massachusetts colony, by whom she descended from King Edward I of England and King Edward III of England.^[1][2] Her father (1707-1783), a liberal Congregationalist, and other forebears were Congregational ministers, and leaders in a society that held its clergy in high esteem. However, he did not preach about the predestination, original sin, or the full divinity of Christ, instead emphasizing the importance of reason and morality.^[3] Location in Norfolk County in Massachusetts Coordinates: , Country State County Norfolk Settled 1630 Incorporated 1635 Government  - Type Mayor-council city  - Mayor Sue Kay (D) Area  - Total 21. ... is the 315th day of the year (316th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... // Events The third French and Indian War, known as King Georges War, breaks out at Port Royal, Nova Scotia The First Saudi State founded by Mohammed Ibn Saud Prague occupied by Prussian armies Ongoing events War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748) Births January 10 - Thomas Mifflin, fifth President... is the 326th day of the year (327th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a crown colony organized October 7, 1691 in North America by the monarch of England. ... Edward I (17 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), popularly known as Longshanks[1], also as Edward the Lawgiver or the English Justinian because of his legal reforms, and as Hammer of the Scots,[2] achieved fame as the monarch who conquered Wales and tried to do the same to Scotland. ... This article is about the King of England. ... Congregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs. ...

Although she did not receive a formal education, her mother taught her and her sisters Mary (1746-1811) and Elizabeth (known as Betsy) to read, write, and cipher; her father's, uncle's and grandfather's large libraries enabled them to study English and French literature.^[3] As an intellectually open-minded woman for her day, Abigail's ideas on women's rights and government would eventually play a major role, albeit indirectly, in the founding of the U.S.

Marriage to John Adams and family

Abigail Smith met John Adams in 1759, and the two were exchanging love letters by 1762; John called her 'Miss Adorable' and Abigail called him 'Dearest Friend'. They married on October 25, 1764, just before Abigail's 20th birthday. John and Abigail Adams lived on a farm in Braintree (later renamed Quincy) before moving to Boston where his law practice expanded. In ten years she gave birth to five children: Abigail (1765-1813), the future President John Quincy Adams (1767-1848), Susanna Boylston (1768-1770), Charles (1770-1800), and Thomas Boylston (1772-1832). A sixth child, Elizabeth, was stillborn in 1775. She looked after family and home when he went traveling as circuit judge. "Alas!" she wrote in December 1773, "How many snow banks divide thee and me...." For other persons named John Adams, see John Adams (disambiguation). ... is the 298th day of the year (299th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1764 was a leap year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... For geographic and demographic information on the census-designated place Braintree, please see the article Braintree (CDP), Massachusetts. ... Nickname: City on the Hill, Beantown, The Hub (of the Universe)1, Athens of America, The Cradle of Revolution, Puritan City, Americas Walking City Location in Massachusetts, USA Counties Suffolk County Mayor Thomas M. Menino(D) Area    - City 232. ... Abigail Nabby Adams Smith (July 11, 1765-August 15, 1813), was the firstborn daughter of Abigail and John Adams. ... John Quincy Adams (July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was a diplomat, politician, and the sixth President of the United States (March 4, 1825 – March 4, 1829). ...

In 1784, she and her daughter Abigail, who was known in the family as Nabby, joined her husband and her eldest son, John Quincy, at her husband's diplomatic post in Paris. After 1785, she filled the role of wife of the first United States Minister to the Kingdom of Great Britain. They returned in 1788 to a house known as the "Old House" in Quincy, which she set about vigorously enlarging and weird findings. It is still standing and open to the public as part of Adams National Historical Park. Nabby later died of breast cancer. This article is about the capital of France. ... For an explanation of terms such as Scotland, Wales, England, (Great) Britain and United Kingdom, see British Isles (terminology). ... ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

Wife of the Vice President

As wife of the first Vice President, Abigail became a good friend to Martha Washington and a valued help in official entertaining, drawing on her experience of courts and society abroad. After 1791, however, poor health forced her to spend as much time as possible in Quincy. Illness or trouble found her resolute; as she once declared, she would "not forget the blessings which sweeten life." This article is about the first First Lady of the United States. ...

First Lady

When John Adams was elected President of the United States, she continued a formal pattern of entertaining, becoming the first hostess of the yet-uncompleted White House. The city was wilderness, the President's House far from completion. Her private complaints to her family provide blunt accounts of both, but for her three months in Washington she duly held her dinners and receptions. She mentioned that fires had to be lit constantly to keep the cold, cavernous place warm and she describes setting up her laundry in one of the great rooms. She took an active role in politics and policy, unprecedented by Martha Washington. She was so politically active that her political opponents came to refer to her as "Mrs. President". Federal courts Supreme Court Circuit Courts of Appeal District Courts Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Local Government Other countries Atlas  US Government Portal      For other uses, see President of the United States (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see White House (disambiguation). ...

The Adamses retired to Quincy in 1801 after John Adams' defeat in his bid for a second term as President of the United States. She followed her son's political career earnestly as her letters to contemporaries show.

Death

Adams later in life

Abigail Adams died on October 28, 1818 of typhoid fever, several years before her son became president, and is buried beside her husband in a crypt located in the United First Parish Church (also known as the Church of the Presidents) in Quincy, Massachusetts. She was 73 years old; John Adams was 90 when he died. PD image from http://www. ... PD image from http://www. ... is the 301st day of the year (302nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1818 (MDCCCXVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... For a similar disease with a similar name, see typhus. ... The United First Parish Church, Quincy, Massachusetts. ...

Her last words were "Do not grieve, my friend, my dearest friend. I am ready to go. And John, it will not be long."

Political viewpoints

Women's Rights

Adams was an advocate of married women's property rights and more opportunities for women, particularly in the field of education. Women, she believed, should not submit to laws not made in their interest, nor should they be content with the simple role of being companions to their husbands. They should educate themselves and thus be recognized for their intellectual capabilities, so they could guide and influence the lives of their children and husbands. She is best known for her March 1775 letter to John Adams and the Continental Congress, requesting that they For other uses, see March (disambiguation). ... Year 1775 (MDCCLXXV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ...

...remember the ladies, and be more generous and favorable 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 particular care and attention is not paid to the Ladies we are determined to foment a Rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice, or Representation.^[3]

To this, John answered:...as to your extraordinary code of laws, I cannot but laugh...Depend upon it, we know better Than to repeal our masculine systems...

Slavery

Along with her husband, Adams believed that slavery was not only evil, but a threat to the American democratic experiment. A letter written by her on March 31, 1776 explained that she doubted most of the Virginians had such the "passion for Liberty" they claimed they did, since they "depriv[ed] their fellow Creatures" of freedom.^[3] is the 90th day of the year (91st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see 1776 (disambiguation). ...

A notable incident regarding this happened in 1791, where a local slave came to her house asking to be taught how to write. Subsequently, she placed the boy in a local evening school, though not without objections from a neighbor. Abigail responded that he was "a Freeman as much as any of the young Men and merely because his Face is Black, is he to be denied instruction? How is he to be qualified to procure a livelihood? ... I have not thought it any disgrace to my self to take him into my parlor and teach him both to read and write."

Religious beliefs

Abigail Adams, as well as her husband, was an active member of the First Parish Church in Quincy, which became Unitarian in doctrine by 1753. In a letter to John Quincy Adams dated May 5, 1816, she wrote of her religious beliefs: Historic Unitarianism believed in the oneness of God as opposed to traditional Christian belief in the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). ... is the 125th day of the year (126th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1816 (MDCCCXVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ...

I acknowledge myself a unitarian—Believing that the Father alone, is the supreme God, and that Jesus Christ derived his Being, and all his powers and honors from the Father ... There is not any reasoning which can convince me, contrary to my senses, that three is one, and one three.^[3]

She also asked Louisa Adams in a letter dated January 3, 1818, "when will Mankind be convinced that true Religion is from the Heart, between Man and his creator, and not the imposition of Man or creeds and tests?" Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams (February 12, 1775 – May 15, 1852), wife of John Quincy Adams, was First Lady of the United States from 1825 to 1829. ... is the 3rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1818 (MDCCCXVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ...

Legacy

Memorials

An Adams Memorial is proposed in Washington, D.C., honoring Abigail, her husband, and other members of their family. A cairn now crowns the nearby hill from which she and her son John Quincy Adams watched the Battle of Bunker Hill and the burning of Charlestown. At that time she was minding the children of Dr. Joseph Warren, President of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress, who was killed in the battle The Adams Memorial is a proposed United States presidential memorial to honor Presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams as well as Abigail Adams an other members of the Adams family. ... The Abigail Adams Cairn, Quincy, Massachusetts. ... For a list of numerous places and things that are named after this battle, see Bunker Hill. ... This article is about the American doctor, soldier and statesman during the American Revolutionary War. ...

Theatre

Passages from Adams' letters to her husband figured prominently in songs from the Broadway musical 1776 . (In the musical, their time apart is given a comically suggestive twist, when she agrees to send him saltpeter, ostensibly to help with the preparation of gunpowder, but perhaps to quell down his sexual frustration as well.) 1776 is the title of a 1969 Broadway musical and its 1972 film adaptation. ... R-phrases   S-phrases   Supplementary data page Structure and properties n, εr, etc. ...

Television

Adams was played by Kathryn Walker in the 1976 PBS mini-series The Adams Chronicles. In the mini-series "John Adams", which premiered in March 2008 on HBO, Adams was played by Laura Linney. Not to be confused with Public Broadcasting Services in Malta. ... For other uses, see HBO (disambiguation). ... Laura Leggett Linney[1][2] (born February 5, 1964) is an Academy Award-nominated and Emmy Award-winning American actress, active in movies, television, and theatre. ...

Portrait on currency

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Abigail Adams

The First Spouse Program under the Presidential $1 Coin Act authorizes the United States Mint to issue 1/2 ounce $10 gold coins to honor the first spouses of the United States. Abigail Adams's coin was released on June 19, 2007, and sold out in just hours. Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Wikiquote is one of a family of wiki-based projects run by the Wikimedia Foundation, running on MediaWiki software. ... Reverse of Presidential dollar coin The Presidential $1 Coin Program is part of an Act of Congress, Pub. ... Reverse of Presidential dollar coin The Presidential $1 Coin Program is part of an Act of Congress, Pub. ... Seal of the U.S. Mint Denver United States mint building The United States Mint primarily produces circulating coinage for the United States to conduct its trade and commerce. ... is the 170th day of the year (171st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ...

Obverse Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 600 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (2000 × 2000 pixel, file size: 1. ...

Reverse Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 600 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (2000 × 2000 pixel, file size: 2. ...

References

Bibliography

• Nagel, Paul C. 1987. The Adams Women: Abigail and Louisa Adams, Their Sisters and Daughters. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195038746

• Bober, Natalie S. 1995. Abigail Adams: Witness to a revolution New York: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division.

External links

• Short summary of Abigail's Life
• Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography, edited by James Grant Wilson, John Fiske and Stanley L. Klos. Six volumes, New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1887-1889
• Adams family biographies - Massachusetts Historical Society
• Collection of Abigail Adams Letters
• My Dearest Friend: Letters of Abigail and John Adams, Harvard University Press
• The Adams Women: Abigail and Louisa Adams, Their Sisters and Daughters, Harvard University Press
• Descent from Glory: Four Generations of the John Adams Family, Harvard University Press
• Adams Family Correspondence. Cambridge: Harvard University Press
• Abigail Adams Birthplace - Museum in Weymouth, Massachusetts

v • d • e First Ladies of the United States

M. Washington · A. Adams · M. Jefferson Randolph · D. Madison · E. Monroe · L. Adams · E. Donelson · S. Jackson · A. Van Buren · A. Harrison · J. Harrison · L. Tyler · P. Tyler · J. Tyler · S. Polk · M. Taylor · A. Fillmore · J. Pierce · H. Lane · M. Lincoln · E. Johnson · J. Grant · L. Hayes · L. Garfield · M. McElroy · R. Cleveland · F. Cleveland · C. Harrison · M. McKee · F. Cleveland · I. McKinley · Edith Roosevelt · H. Taft · Ellen Wilson · Edith Wilson · F. Harding · G. Coolidge · L. Hoover · Eleanor Roosevelt · B. Truman · M. Eisenhower · J. Kennedy · C. Johnson · P. Nixon · B. Ford · R. Carter · N. Reagan · B. Bush · H. Clinton · L. Bush

v • d • e Second Ladies of the United States

A. Adams · A. Gerry · H. Tompkins · F. Calhoun · L. Tyler · S. Dallas · A. Fillmore · M. Breckinridge · E. Hamlin · E. Johnson · E. Colfax · E. Hendricks · A. Morton · L. Stevenson · J. Hobart · E. Roosevelt · C. Fairbanks · C. Sherman · L. Marshall · G. Coolidge · C. Dawes · M. Garner · I. Wallace · B. Truman · J. Barkley · P. Nixon · C. Johnson · M. Humphrey · J. Agnew · B. Ford · H. Rockefeller · J. Mondale · B. Bush · M. Quayle · T. Gore · L. Cheney