Abigail Adams

Abigail Smith Adams ( born November 11, 1744 Weymouth, Massachusetts, British colony, now United States, † October 28, 1818 in Quincy, Massachusetts) was the wife of the second U.S. President John Adams and today is therefore U.S. as the second First Lady considered, although this term was not coined until after her death, she was also the mother of U.S. President John Quincy Adams. During her lifetime, she was known as "Lady Adams ." She had, by advising her husband often large influence on politics and sat very one for women's rights.

Life

Family and Youth

Through her ​​mother, Elizabeth Quincy (1721-1775), came from Abigail Adams from Quincy, a respected family of the colony of Massachusetts. Elizabeth and Abigail's father, the Reverend William Smith (1706-1783), married in 1740. Williams ancestors were from Dartmouth, England, emigrated to Massachusetts. Abigail Adams was the second child of her parents.

Abigail was raised to Congregationalism. Because of their poor health, she never went to school, so she was home-schooled in reading and writing. At a young age she read by the pressure of her father very much, where she was its extensive library of benefit. Abigail developed a special interest in philosophy among other things, Shakespeare and the government.

Marriage to John Adams

1764 married Abigail Smith 's lawyer John Adams ( 1735-1826 ); they were married by her father William Smith. The couple spent his early years in John's birthplace in Braintree, Massachusetts, which was renamed in 1792 in Quincy. Later, when John's law practice grew, they moved to Boston. 1787 they purchased the farm " Peace Field".

Within ten years, she gave birth to five children: Abigail Amelia (1765-1813), the future U.S. President John Quincy Adams (1767-1848), Susanna (1768-1770), Charles (1770-1800) and Thomas Boylston Adams (1772 -1832 ).

Influence on policy

Abigail Adams is famous for her letters that she wrote to her husband while he went to Philadelphia, where the Continental Congress in 1774 and the Philadelphia Convention participated. This separation was the trigger for the epistolary correspondence between the two, so that a rich archive was created. Many consider them to be invaluable eyewitness to the home front during the American War of Independence, as well as an excellent source of political comments.

John Adams frequently sought the advice of his wife; the correspondence was full of intellectual discussions on government and politics. Excerpts from these letters are displayed in a prominent place in the Broadway musical " 1776 " and in the relevant film version of 1972.

In 1788 they returned to the house Peace Field, which is now known as " Old House " and let the magnify with great energy and rebuild. It still stands today and the public as the birthplace of John Adams as part of the Adams National Historical Park is accessible.

As the wife of the first Vice President of the United States Abigail Adams was a good friend of Martha Washington and helped pulling at official appearances, from their experience at court and abroad benefit. After 1791, however, her health deteriorated, so she had to reduce their activities.

As First Lady and after

Abigail Adams was March 4, 1797 to March 4, 1801 First Lady. Your formal appearances continued it and became the first host in the unfinished White House, which they entered for the first time in November 1800. Abigail Adams had a good relationship with her ​​also descended from Englishmen daughter Louisa Adams.

The Adams retired in 1801 back to Quincy. Abigail Adams died of typhoid in 1818 and is buried next to her husband in the First Unitarian Church in Quincy.

Excerpt from the letters

This is an excerpt from a letter written by Abigail Adams to her husband of 31 March 1776.

When they Abigail once asked permission for the publication of some of its political letters, they refused. Nevertheless, arranged one of their grandchildren in 1848 the appearance of the letters -containing book, which was the first originating from a First Lady book.

Works

• Abigail Adams: The Adams Family in Auteuil, 1784-1785, As Told in the Letters of Abigail Adams. Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston 1956