Abigail Adams
A Letter from Braintree
On March 31, 1776, Abigail Adams sat down to write a letter. She was at her farm in Braintree, Massachusetts. Her husband, John Adams, was far away in Philadelphia. He was at the Continental Congress. That was the meeting of leaders from all the colonies. She asked him if Congress had voted for independence yet. Independence means America would be its own country. Then she told him what she wanted in the new laws.
A Minister's Daughter
Abigail Smith was born on November 22, 1744. She grew up in Weymouth, Massachusetts. Her father was the town minister. Schools then were for boys. So she never went to school. She read the books in her father's library. In 1764 she married John Adams. He was a young lawyer.
Running the Farm
In 1774 John Adams went to Congress. After that he was away for years at a time. Abigail Adams stayed home. She raised the children. She ran the farm and the family's money.
The war came close to her home. On June 17, 1775, she heard cannons from Braintree. It was the Battle of Bunker Hill. The next day she wrote to John. She told him their friend Dr. Joseph Warren had been killed. She wrote that Charlestown "is laid in ashes."
The two wrote to each other all the time. More than 1,100 of their letters still exist.
Remember the Ladies
In her letter of March 31, 1776, she asked John to think of women. "Remember the Ladies," she wrote. She said husbands should not have all the power. She said women would not obey laws they had no voice in. The Patriots said the same thing about Britain.
John wrote back on April 14. He said he could only laugh. He called her "saucy." That summer the Declaration of Independence was signed. It said nothing about women's rights.
Against Slavery
Adams also wrote against slavery. In slavery, a person is owned by someone else. In 1774 she wrote that it was wrong to fight for freedom and take it from others. In 1797 a free Black boy named James went to a night school. A neighbor did not want him there. Adams stood up for the boy. She said he was as free as any of the young men.
First Lady
In 1797 John Adams became the second president. Abigail Adams was the First Lady. The First Lady is the wife of the president. She held that job until 1801. Later, women who wanted the right to vote used her words. Abigail Adams died at home in Quincy on October 28, 1818. She was 73.
Key facts to use in your script
For your Hook
- Schools then were for boys, so she never went to school.
- She taught herself by reading the books in her father's library.
- She married John Adams, a leader for independence (America becoming its own country).
For your Story
- John was away for years during the war.
- Abigail ran the farm, the money, and the children on her own.
- In 1776 she wrote to John to 'Remember the Ladies.'
- She wanted the new laws to protect women too.
For your Wrap
- Abigail said slavery was wrong.
- Later she was the First Lady (the president's wife).
- People still read her letters today.
Source Spotlight: A Document from the Time
"Remember the Ladies" — the letter itself Braintree, March 31, 1776
Abigail Adams wrote this letter on March 31, 1776. She wrote it at home in Braintree, Massachusetts. She sent it to her husband, John Adams. He was at the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. She wanted the new laws to be fairer to women. A tyrant is a ruler with no limits. John wrote back that he had to laugh. He called her "saucy."
Simplified version, not the source. These are not the writer’s words, so do not quote them. To quote, use the original words below.
I long to hear that you have declared independence. And by the way, you will need to make a new set of laws. In those laws, I want you to "Remember the Ladies." Be kinder to them than the men before you were. Do not give husbands all the power. Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could. If you do not take care of the ladies, we will start a rebellion. We will not obey any laws that we had no voice in making.
Read the original (the real words you can quote)
I long to hear that you have declared an independancy — and by the way in the new (the new nation's system of laws) which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make I desire you would 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. If perticuliar care and attention is not paid to the Laidies we are determined to (stir up) a Rebelion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice, or (having a say in government — the Revolution's own demand).
Make it yours: Abigail turns the Patriots' own slogan on them: no laws without a voice. Say her threat in your own words. Then tell why you think John laughed, and what his laugh shows.
Abigail Adams to John Adams, March 31, 1776 (Adams Family Papers, Massachusetts Historical Society) · See the source
On March 31, 1776, Abigail Adams wrote a letter from the family farm in Braintree, Massachusetts. Her husband, John Adams, was in Philadelphia at the Continental Congress, the meeting of leaders from all the colonies. The British army had left Boston two weeks before. In the letter she asked whether Congress had declared independence, which would make the colonies their own country. Then she told him what she wanted in the new nation's laws.
A Minister's Daughter
Abigail Smith was born on November 22, 1744, in Weymouth, Massachusetts. Her father, William Smith, was the town's minister. New England schools of that time were for boys, so she never went to school. She learned at home by reading the books in her father's library. On October 25, 1764, a month before she turned twenty, she married John Adams, a young lawyer from Braintree.
Running the Farm
In 1774 John Adams went to Philadelphia as a delegate to the First Continental Congress. For most of the next ten years he was away, first in Congress and later in Europe. Abigail Adams stayed in Braintree, raised their children, and ran the farm and the family's money.
The war came close to her home. On June 17, 1775, she heard the cannon of the Battle of Bunker Hill from Braintree. The next day she wrote to John that their friend Dr. Joseph Warren had been killed and that Charlestown "is laid in ashes."
The two wrote to each other constantly. More than 1,100 of their letters survive. They are one of the best records historians have of family life during the Revolution.
Remember the Ladies
In her letter of March 31, 1776, she asked John to keep women in mind when Congress wrote the laws of the new country. She told him to "Remember the Ladies" and not to give husbands unlimited power over their wives. She warned that women would not feel bound by laws in which they had no voice. That was the same argument the Patriots made against Britain.
John Adams answered on April 14. He wrote that he could only laugh at her idea, and he called her "saucy." That summer the Declaration of Independence said nothing about women's rights.
Against Slavery
Adams also wrote against slavery. In September 1774 she told John that it seemed wrong to her to fight for freedom while taking it from others. In 1797 a free Black boy named James began going to an evening school in Quincy. A neighbor objected. Adams went to the neighbor and said the boy was as free as any of the young men and should not be kept out of school because his face was Black.
First Lady
John Adams became the second president of the United States in 1797. Abigail Adams was the First Lady, the wife of the president, from 1797 to 1801. In later years, women who worked for the right to vote quoted her 1776 letter in their own speeches and books. Abigail Adams died of typhoid fever at home in Quincy on October 28, 1818, at age 73.
Key facts to use in your script
For your Hook
- Born in 1744, when New England schools were for boys, so she never went to school.
- She learned at home by reading in her father's library.
- She married John Adams in 1764, a lawyer who became a leader of the independence movement.
For your Story
- While John served in Congress and in Europe, Abigail ran the farm and the family's money.
- She and John wrote more than 1,100 letters to each other.
- On March 31, 1776, she asked John to 'Remember the Ladies.'
- She warned that women would not obey laws they had no voice in, the same argument Patriots used against Britain.
For your Wrap
- She also wrote against slavery and stood up for a Black boy's right to go to school in 1797.
- She was the second First Lady, from 1797 to 1801.
- Women who worked for the right to vote later quoted her 'Remember the Ladies' letter.
Source Spotlight: A Document from the Time
"Remember the Ladies" — the letter itself Braintree, March 31, 1776
Abigail Adams wrote this letter on March 31, 1776, from the family farm in Braintree, Massachusetts. It went to her husband, John Adams, who was in Philadelphia at the Continental Congress. It was three months before the Declaration of Independence. She wanted the men writing the new nation's laws to treat women more fairly. The spelling in the original is hers, because spelling was not yet standard. John wrote back that he "cannot but laugh" and called her "saucy."
Simplified version, not the source. These are not the writer’s words, so do not quote them. To quote, use the original words below.
I long to hear that you have declared independence. And by the way, I suppose you will need to make a new set of laws. In those laws I ask you to "Remember the Ladies," and to be more generous and fair to them than the men before you were. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of husbands. Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could. If you do not pay special care and attention to the ladies, we are determined to stir up a rebellion. We will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice and no representation.
Read the original (the real words you can quote)
I long to hear that you have declared an independancy — and by the way in the new (the new nation's system of laws) which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make I desire you would 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. If perticuliar care and attention is not paid to the Laidies we are determined to (stir up) a Rebelion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice, or (having a say in government — the Revolution's own demand).
Make it yours: Abigail turns the Patriots' own slogan, no laws without representation, back on them. Say her threat in your own words. Then explain why you think John laughed, and what that laugh tells you.
Abigail Adams to John Adams, March 31, 1776 (Adams Family Papers, Massachusetts Historical Society) · See the source
On March 31, 1776, Abigail Adams wrote a letter from the family farm in Braintree, Massachusetts. Her husband, John Adams, was in Philadelphia as a delegate to the Continental Congress. The British army had sailed out of Boston two weeks before. In the letter she asked whether Congress had "declared an independancy." Then she told him what she wanted in the new nation's laws.
A Minister's Daughter
Abigail Smith was born on November 22, 1744, in Weymouth, Massachusetts. Her father, William Smith, was the town's Congregational minister. New England schools of that time were for boys, so she never went to school. She learned at home, reading the books in her father's library. On October 25, 1764, a month before her twentieth birthday, she married John Adams, a young lawyer from Braintree.
Running the Farm
In 1774 John Adams went to Philadelphia as a delegate to the First Continental Congress. For most of the next ten years he was away, first in Congress and later in Europe as a diplomat, an official who represents his country abroad. Abigail Adams stayed in Braintree, raised their children, and ran the farm and the family's money.
The war came close to her home. On June 17, 1775, she heard the cannon of the Battle of Bunker Hill from Braintree. The next day she wrote to John: "The Day; perhaps the decisive Day is come on which the fate of America depends." She told him that their friend Dr. Joseph Warren had been killed and that "Charlstown is laid in ashes."
The two wrote to each other constantly. More than 1,100 of their letters survive, and they are one of the best records historians have of family life during the Revolution.
Remember the Ladies
In her letter of March 31, 1776, she asked John to keep women in mind when Congress wrote the laws of the new country. "I desire you would Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favourable to them than your ancestors," she wrote. "Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could." She warned that if the laws ignored women, "we are determined to foment a Rebelion," and that women would not be bound by "any Laws in which we have no voice, or Representation." The Patriots had made the same argument against Britain, that Parliament could not tax people who had no representation, no one to speak for them in the government.
John Adams answered on April 14. "As to your extraordinary Code of Laws, I cannot but laugh," he wrote, and he called her "saucy." That summer the Declaration of Independence said nothing about women's rights.
Against Slavery
Adams also wrote against slavery. In September 1774 she told John that it had "allways appeard a most iniquitious Scheme to me" to fight for liberty while "daily robbing and plundering" it from people who had as good a right to it. In 1797 a free Black boy named James began attending an evening school in Quincy. A neighbor objected. Adams went to the neighbor and defended the boy. "The Boy is a Freeman as much as any of the young Men," she wrote afterward, "and merely because his Face is Black, is he to be denied instruction."
First Lady
John Adams became the second president of the United States in 1797, and Abigail Adams was the First Lady, the wife of the president, from 1797 to 1801. In later years, women who campaigned for the right to vote quoted her 1776 letter in their own speeches and books. Abigail Adams died of typhoid fever at home in Quincy on October 28, 1818, at the age of 73.
Key facts to use in your script
For your Hook
- Born 1744 in Weymouth, Massachusetts; never went to school because New England schools were for boys.
- Learned at home from her father's library and became one of the best-read women of her time.
- Married John Adams on October 25, 1764, a month before she turned 20.
For your Story
- Ran the family farm and finances through the war years while John served in Congress and in Europe.
- She and John exchanged more than 1,100 letters, now one of the best records of family life in the Revolution.
- Her March 31, 1776 letter asked him to 'Remember the Ladies' and warned that 'all Men would be tyrants if they could.'
- John replied that he 'cannot but laugh' and called her 'saucy'; the Declaration said nothing about women.
For your Wrap
- In 1774 she called it 'a most iniquitious Scheme' to fight for liberty while taking it from others.
- She served as the nation's second First Lady from 1797 to 1801 and died in 1818.
- Later women's-rights campaigners quoted 'Remember the Ladies' in their speeches and books.
Source Spotlight: A Document from the Time
"Remember the Ladies" — the letter itself Braintree, March 31, 1776
Three months before the Declaration, Abigail Adams writes to John at the Continental Congress. The spelling is hers — "Laidies," "Rebelion" — because spelling was not yet standard and she had taught herself. John wrote back that he "cannot but laugh" at her ideas and called her "saucy." Read what she actually threatened.
I long to hear that you have declared an independancy — and by the way in the new (the new nation's system of laws) which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make I desire you would 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. If perticuliar care and attention is not paid to the Laidies we are determined to (stir up) a Rebelion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice, or (having a say in government — the Revolution's own demand).
Make it yours: Abigail turns the Patriots’ own slogan — no laws without representation — back on them. Say her threat in your own words. Then: why do you think John laughed, and what does that laugh tell you?
Abigail Adams to John Adams, March 31, 1776 (Adams Family Papers, Massachusetts Historical Society) · See the source
On March 31, 1776, Abigail Adams wrote a letter from the family farm in Braintree, Massachusetts. Her husband, John Adams, was in Philadelphia as a delegate to the Continental Congress. The British army had sailed out of Boston two weeks before, ending a siege that had lasted since April 1775. In the letter she asked whether Congress had "declared an independancy." Then she told him what she wanted in the new nation's laws.
A Minister's Daughter
Abigail Smith was born on November 22, 1744, in Weymouth, Massachusetts. Her father, William Smith, was the town's Congregational minister. New England schools of that time were for boys, so she never went to school. She learned at home, reading the books in her father's library, and her spelling stayed her own for the rest of her life, because English spelling was not yet standard and she had taught herself. On October 25, 1764, a month before her twentieth birthday, she married John Adams, a young lawyer from Braintree.
Running the Farm
In 1774 John Adams went to Philadelphia as a delegate to the First Continental Congress. For most of the next ten years he was away, first in Congress and later in Europe as a diplomat, an official who represents his country abroad. Abigail Adams stayed in Braintree, raised their four children, and ran the farm and the family's money. She kept the family's accounts and reported to John on prices, taxes and the harvest.
The war came close to her home. On June 17, 1775, she heard the cannon of the Battle of Bunker Hill from Braintree. The next day she wrote to John: "The Day; perhaps the decisive Day is come on which the fate of America depends." She told him that their friend Dr. Joseph Warren had been killed, that "Charlstown is laid in ashes," and that "the constant roar of the cannon is so distressing that we can not Eat, Drink or Sleep." Their son John Quincy Adams, then seven years old, later recalled that he saw the fires with his own eyes.
The two wrote to each other constantly. The Massachusetts Historical Society holds 1,160 letters between them, written from 1762 to 1801, and the family saved them. They are one of the best records historians have of family life during the Revolution.
Remember the Ladies
In her letter of March 31, 1776, she asked John to keep women in mind when Congress wrote the laws of the new country. "I desire you would Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favourable to them than your ancestors," she wrote. "Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could." She warned that if the laws ignored women, "we are determined to foment a Rebelion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice, or Representation." The Patriots had made the same argument against Britain, that Parliament could not tax people who had no representation, no one to speak for them in the government. Under the laws of the time, a married woman's property and earnings were controlled by her husband, and no woman in Massachusetts could vote.
John Adams answered on April 14. "As to your extraordinary Code of Laws, I cannot but laugh," he wrote. He said he had heard that the war had loosened every kind of authority, that "Indians slighted their Guardians and Negroes grew insolent to their Masters," but that her letter was the first hint "that another Tribe more numerous and powerfull than all the rest were grown discontented." He joked that giving up the men's authority would subject them "to the Despotism of the Peticoat," and he added, "you are so saucy, I wont blot it out." That summer the Declaration of Independence said nothing about women's rights.
Against Slavery
Adams also wrote against slavery. In September 1774 she told John that it had "allways appeard a most iniquitious Scheme to me" to fight for liberty while "daily robbing and plundering" it from people who had as good a right to it. In February 1797 a free Black boy named James began attending Master Heath's evening school in Quincy. A neighbor named Faxon objected to his being there. Adams went to Faxon and defended the boy. "The Boy is a Freeman as much as any of the young Men," she wrote on February 13, "and merely because his Face is Black, is he to be denied instruction."
First Lady
John Adams became the second president of the United States in 1797, and Abigail Adams was the First Lady, the wife of the president, from 1797 to 1801. In later years, women who campaigned for the right to vote quoted her 1776 letter in their own speeches and books. Abigail Adams died of typhoid fever at home in Quincy on October 28, 1818, at the age of 73.
Key facts to use in your script
For your Hook
- Born Nov. 22, 1744, to a Weymouth minister; schools were for boys, so she taught herself from her father's library.
- Married John Adams on Oct. 25, 1764; the Massachusetts Historical Society holds 1,160 letters between them.
- Heard the cannon of Bunker Hill from Braintree on June 17, 1775, and wrote the next day: 'The Day; perhaps the decisive Day is come.'
For your Story
- Ran the Braintree farm, hired the hands and reported on prices and taxes while John was in Congress and Europe.
- Her 1776 letter turned the Patriots' own argument on them: women would not be bound by 'any Laws in which we have no voice, or Representation.'
- John's April 14 reply called her 'saucy' and joked about 'the Despotism of the Peticoat.'
- The Declaration of Independence that summer said nothing about women's rights.
For your Wrap
- In 1797 she defended a free Black boy's place in a Quincy evening school: 'merely because his Face is Black, is he to be denied instruction.'
- No law changed because of her letter; the Declaration of 1776 said nothing about women.
- Suffragists later quoted 'Remember the Ladies' as evidence that American women had asked for equality in 1776.
- She died at home in Quincy on October 28, 1818, at age 73.
Source Spotlight: A Document from the Time
"Remember the Ladies" — the letter itself Braintree, March 31, 1776
Three months before the Declaration, Abigail Adams writes to John at the Continental Congress. The spelling is hers — "Laidies," "Rebelion" — because spelling was not yet standard and she had taught herself. John wrote back that he "cannot but laugh" at her ideas and called her "saucy." Read what she actually threatened.
I long to hear that you have declared an independancy — and by the way in the new (the new nation's system of laws) which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make I desire you would 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. If perticuliar care and attention is not paid to the Laidies we are determined to (stir up) a Rebelion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice, or (having a say in government — the Revolution's own demand).
Make it yours: Abigail turns the Patriots’ own slogan — no laws without representation — back on them. Say her threat in your own words. Then: why do you think John laughed, and what does that laugh tell you?
Abigail Adams to John Adams, March 31, 1776 (Adams Family Papers, Massachusetts Historical Society) · See the source