Abigail Adams and the Declaration of Independence

Show notes

"Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could. 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." Abigail Adams to John Adams, 31 March 1776

For our Women's History Month episode, we explore the amazing life of Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams, the second president, and mother of John Quincy Adams, the sixth president.

Topics include the following:

-Abigail Adams' childhood and upbringing and her relationship with John

-Her eye-witness accounts of battles, like the Battle of Bunker Hill (17 June 1775)

-Her correspondence with John about the Declaration of Independence and its future celebrations

-Her own experience with enslaved people, her views on the institution of slavery, and her advocacy for Black education

-Her views on women's education, political rights, and property rights

-Her friendship and correspondence with Thomas Jefferson

-Her interest in science and the natural world

Here is a link to the Adams Papers Digital Archive at the Massachusetts Historical Society.

Here is a link to Hobson Woodward's book: A Brave Vessel: The True Tale of the Castaways Who Rescued Jamestown

More information about the Adams family's religious beliefs can be found in Sara Georgini's Household Gods: The Religious Lives of the Adams Family