Abigail Adams was a very impressive woman, but that almost goes without saying. Yet people said it quite a lot. Her husband, John Adams, wrote to her, “You are really brave, my dear, you are an Heroine… the worst that can happen, can do you no Harm. A soul, as pure, as benevolent, as virtuous and pious as yours has nothing to fear”. Her son, John Quincy Adams, called her “an Angel upon Earth”. But what made her so amazing?
Abigail Adams felt strongly about many social issues, women’s education and financial freedom most famously. It does not take more than a 30 second Google search to find out that Abigail once wrote to John to “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.” She even told him that “If perticuliar care and attention is not paid to the Laidies we are determined to foment a Rebelion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice, or Representation”, clearly referencing the popular “no taxation without representation” belief rapidly spreading throughout the American colonies.
She practiced what she preached. She undoubtedly had - or more accurately gave herself - more financial freedom than other women at the time. When John was in Paris to help support the Revolutionary War, leaving Abigail a single mother to their 3 youngest children, she ran their farm entirely and “supplemented the farm income by selling and trading small European items that John procured for her”. She invested this money in war bonds and other “causes of which her husband did not approve”. She defended her financial choices by reminding him that it was her own personal money- something married women were not allowed to have- or as she called it, her “pin money”.
There is no debating that Abigail was a genius with money. In fact, she was the main reason John Adams died debt-free when his presidential successor Thomas Jefferson died with so much debt he had to sell his Monticello estate. For example, “Abigail showed her husband that his farmland returned as little as 1 percent annually, while she could earn as much as 25 percent each year speculating in depreciated government securities”. She and John did continue to buy real estate, and she was clever about that as well. When looking into a new plot of land to buy, Abigail “sometimes had third parties approach potential sellers on her behalf”. This way, the seller would be unaware that they were selling to the wealthy and well-known Adams’s- if they knew, they most likely would have increased the price past what the land was worth. She negotiated with taxmen, had independent money- illegally- and then hid it by having letters pertaining to the money sent to her young daughter, Abigail “Nabby” Adams, so John would not find out.
She even wrote a will in 1816, despite the fact that married women did not legally have any money or property of their own; it all belonged to their husbands. Nonetheless, much in the same way she bought and sold property despite not being allowed to, she wrote the will anyway.
Women’s financial independence was not the only social issue Abigail cared deeply about. Abigail was also a staunch abolitionist. This perspective is most clear in her letters to family from her time in the White House. She wrote in November of 1800 that the slaves helping to build the White House were “half fed, and destitute of cloathing… whilst the owner waches about Idle”.
Once again, she led by example. She and John paid everyone who worked for them, regardless of skin color. She helped to educate her Black servants, mostly by herself in her parlor, but she did send at least one child, James, to school. She faced backlash from her neighbors for this, and defended her choice by saying “The Boy is 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? Is this the Christian principle of doing to others, as we would have others do to us? Tell them… that I hope we shall all go to Heaven together” (Abigail Adams to John Adams, 13 February, 1797). Apparently after this response, she did “not [hear] any more upon the subject” from any judgmental neighbors.
This drive and determination went past her beliefs of equal education. She advised her husband in various situations throughout his political career, to the point of being referred to as “Mrs. President”. She edited his papers and speeches, assisted in his decision making, and even potentially “influenced his choice of some appointees” (Miller Center). In fact, she worked so hard at her role as First Lady- hosting dinners and receptions, meeting with diplomats’ wives, and taking part in service- that some scholars believe that her near-death illness in 1798 was brought on from overwork and stress. When she recovered, she got right back to work. John admired her tenacity and determination, and considered her the “best, dearest, worthiest, wisest friend in this World” (Miller Center), as well as a brilliant stateswoman, letter writer, and all around wonderful human being. Maybe that is why historian Woody Holton describes Abigail as “the most illustrious woman of the founding era” (Holton).
Works Cited
“Abigail Adams.” Miller Center, https://millercenter.org/president/adams/adams-1797-abigail-firstlady. Accessed 5 September 2024.
Adams, John Quincy. “1 November 1818.” John Quincy Adams Digital Diary, vol. 30, 2024, pp. 430-431, https://www.primarysourcecoop.org/publications/jqa/document/jqadiaries-v30-1818-11-p430--entry1?redirectFromPubs=1. Accessed 5 September 2024.
“Biography: Abigail Adams | American Experience | Official Site.” PBS, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/adams-abigail/. Accessed 7 September 2024.
Ellis, Joseph J. First Family: Abigail and John Adams. First Vintage Books edition. New York, Vintage Books, 2011. Accessed 20 May 2024.
Georgini, Sara. “Abigail's Window | Beehive.” Massachusetts Historical Society, 30 July 2016, https://www.masshist.org/beehiveblog/2016/07/abigails-window/. Accessed 7 September 2024.
Holton, Woody. “‘Abigail Adams,’ by Woody Holton.” The New York Times, 11 December 2009, https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/13/books/excerpt-abigail-adams.html. Accessed 18 April 2024.
Holton, Woody. “Woody Holton -- Financial Advice From Abigail Adams.” Washington Post, 5 July 2009, https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/02/AR2009070201756.html. Accessed 4 June 2024.
Letter from Abigail Adams to John Adams, 31 March - 5 April 1776 [electronic edition]. Adams Family Papers: An Electronic Archive. Massachusetts Historical Society. http://www.masshist.org/digitaladams/. Accessed 11 April 2024.
Letter from Abigail Adams to John Adams, 13 February 1797 [electronic edition]. Adams Family Papers: An Electronic Archive. Massachusetts Historical Society. http://www.masshist.org/digitaladams/. Accessed 7 September 2024.
Letter from John Adams to Abigail Adams, 7 July 1775 [electronic edition]. Adams Family Papers: An Electronic Archive. Massachusetts Historical Society. http://www.masshist.org/digitaladams/. Accessed 5 September 2024.
Cover Image From: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Abigail-Adams
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