Abigail Adams an American Woman was written by Charles W. Akers.

His biographical book

is centered on Abigail Adams the wife of John Adams, the second president of the United
States, and the mother of John Quincy Adams, the sixth president. She was the All-American
woman, from the time of the colonies to its independence. Abigail Adams was America's
first women's rights leader. She was a pioneer in the path to women in education,
independence, and women's rights.

Adams recognized the limited role women were allowed to play in the world at that time.
However, she insisted that a woman's role carried an equal amount of importance and
responsibility to a man's. She believed that women deserved the opportunities and rights
including education and that that would enable them to live to their fullest capacity. She
believed that education was as important for women as for men. Educational courses were
not taught to women, but Abigail persisted in self-education. She received little formal
education; just enough to manage her duties as a housewife and mother; but was
encouraged to pursue what were considered more feminine pastimes, such as sewing,
music, letter writing, and hosting. She always complained of being denied the proper
education necessary to bring her spelling, punctuation, and grammar up to literary
standards of her day. The lack of knowledge in these areas is apparent in her letters. She
even created her own words. She agreed with other women that if mothers were in charge
of early education for their children, they must be educated to be able to perform this duty.
Her commitment to promoting education for women was so strong that she pressed her
husband to inco...

... middle of paper ...

...s were introduced. American women are truly lucky to have had Abigail Adams. Abigail
Adams' efforts have given education for females. Charles W. Akers, the author of Abigail
Adams an American Women, as well as I believe that if Abigail hadn't spoken out on these
subjects, who else would have? Even though she did not accomplish her crusades, she
planted the idea of her goal and objective into other minds. For her courageous foresight,
women now have equal rights. Abigail was a talented letter writer, a supporter of her
husband in his long civic career, and the mother of the most significant family dynasty in
American public life. Abigail Smith Adams was the first fully liberated woman in American
history and an inspiration to women for generations to come.

Work Cited

Akers, Charles W., Abigail Adams: An American Woman. (Boston: Little, Brown & Company,
1980).
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Abigail Adams an American Woman by Charles W. Akers

Abigail Adams an American Woman was written by Charles W. Akers. His biographical book is
centered on Abigail Adams the wife of John Adams, the second president of the United States,
and the mother of John Quincy Adams, the sixth president. She was the All-American woman,
from the time of the colonies to its independence. Abigail Adams was America's first women's
rights leader. She was a pioneer in the path to women in education, independence, and
women's rights.

Adams recognized the limited role women were allowed to play in the world at that time.
However, she insisted that a woman's role carried an equal amount of importance and
responsibility to a man's. She believed that …show more content…
Her quest for knowledge was brave on her part.

As members of Congress drafted laws to guarantee the independence for which the colonies
were fighting, Abigail wrote to John begging him to remember that women also needed to be
given the right to independence. Her most famous letter about the need for women's rights
was written to John on March 31, 1776:

I long to hear that you have declared an independence--and by the way in the new Code 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 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 (Akers 48).

Adams' ideas were shared with other women and spoke of appealing to Congress to regard
these "radical" issues. Congress never appealed to her "bluff" but as a result, John seemed to
have taken her ideas to heart and to have given the matter considerable thought as he
struggled with the issue of voters' rights. He understood that a government built on the
principles of freedom and equality and carried out with the consent of the people must by…
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Abigail Adams, an American woman
Author: Charles W Akers

Publisher: Boston : HarperCollins, 1994, ©1980.

Series: Library of American biography (New York, N.Y.)

Edition/Format: Print book : Biography : English : [Pbk. ed.]View all editions and formats

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Subjects  Adams, Abigail, -- 1744-1818.

 Adams, John, -- 1735-1826.
 Presidents' spouses -- United States -- Biography.
 View all subjects

More like this  Similar Items

Genre/Form: Biography

Named Person: Abigail Adams; John Adams; Abigail Adams; John Adams

Material Type: Biography

Document Type: Book

All Authors / Contributors: Charles W Akers

ISBN: 0673393186 9780673393180

OCLC Number: 985488656

Notes: Edition statement from P. [4] of cover.

Originally published: Boston : Little, Brown, ©1980.

Description: x, 207 pages : genealogical table ; 20 cm.

Series Title: Library of American biography (New York, N.Y.)

Responsibility: Charles W. Akers.

This remarkable biography of Abigail Adams, wife of the second president of the
United States, John Adams, and mother of the sixth, John Quincy Adams, tells not
only of her extraordinary life but of the major political and social developments of
the time In Abigail Adams: An American Woman [ISBN 0-316-02041-9] Charles W.
Akers presents a brilliantly written, well-researched account of the life of the
extraordinary woman who was the wife of the second president of the United StaItes
and the mother of the sixth.

Abigail Smith Adams [1744-1818] was the second of four children born to Elizabeth
Quincy Smith and William Smith. Her mother's prominent family had been public
officials, merchants and landowners. Her father, also from a prosperous family, was
an ordained minister of the North Parish Congregational Church of Weymouth,
Massachusetts. The family lived in a comfortable house, with fine furnishings and
enough room for the children, servants, and visiting relatives. Despite this, her
father supervised, and often worked on, the parsonage farm and another he had
acquired north of Boston. He planted potatoes, barley and corn, gathered hay, and
saw to the care of the many sheep. Abigail and her sisters “…learned to be both
household managers and workers.”

Because of poor health Abigail did not go to school. Although she had no formal
tutor, her mother taught her to read and write; members of her family had
extensive libraries so she was very well read. When Abigail was eleven years old,
Richard Cranch came to the parsonage to tutor the children. His passion for
scholarship, his technical skills [including watchmaking], and his knowledge of the
classical languages and biblical and secular topics, made him a remarkable teacher.
All the Smith children received fine educations. In fact, their educations were so fine
that the Smith girls were concerned that they might not marry; they intimidated
many of the young men who were husband material. The eldest, Mary, solved this
problem by marrying Richard Cranch. The youngest Betsy, did not marry for many
years. That leaves Abigail.

John Adams had known Abigail's father since 1759; by the end of 1761 he began to
court her. Her family, the Smiths and the Quincys, “…considered John an unworthy
suitor because his family was at best of middling quality and the law was a
disreputable profession.” However, he overcame their objections; Abigail and John
were married on October 25, 1764. Altogether, they had five children, the first,
Abigail [called Nabby] being born in 1765 and the second, John Quincy, [named for
Abigail's beloved grandfather who died two days after the child's birth], in 1767.

John Adams was frequently absent from their home in Braintree. As a lawyer with a
flourishing practice [he had as many cases as he could handle] he attended court
sessions in several cities of Massachusetts, including Boston. Later, as a member of
the Continental Congresses he was also away for extended periods of time. During
these long absences Abigail had sole responsibility for the family, household finances
and the farm. She was an astute manager.

We are indebted to these prolonged absences for the many letters exchanged
between Abigail and John. We learn of her feelings about women [“…that sex roles
should be fully reciprocal, that men be as accountable for their obligations as women
for theirs…”; women should have extensive educations, opportunities, and property
rights, without being offensive or pushy], politics, and religion.

She felt that women should be highly educated, ethical and moral creatures so that
they could be helpful to their husbands and, most important, properly shape the
minds and characters of their children. “I am sensible I have an important trust
committed to me…and tho I feel my-self very uneaquel to it tis still incumbent upon
me to discharge it in the best manner I am capable of.” Her upbringing of John
Quincy Adams is generally credited with his development into the extraordinary man
he became. “Denied a public voice, she helped shape the political views of her
husband and sons.”

After the Revolutionary War, John was, again, frequently away because of his court
cases. However, a major blow came to Abigail when Congress appointed him as one
of the three commissioners representing the United States in France. Their eldest
son, John Quincy, joined his father while Abigail stayed at home with Nabby and the
two younger boys. She would not see her husband and son for four and one-half
years.
At the end of the commission John returned to Braintree, MA in August 1779. “After
a short rest, Adams plunged into the work of the Massachusetts Constitutional
Convention”, helping to frame the document that became the model for the federal
constitution of 1787. His time at home was short-lived. In October, 1779, Congress
chose Adams as the sole minister to negotiate peace with Great Britain. This time he
took two sons with him, John Quincy and the nine-year-old Charles. While
negotiating the peace treaty they lived in Paris, and made several trips throughout
Europe.

John wanted Abigail to join them, but she was afraid of the long sea voyage. Finally,
in 1784 she left, first for Paris, where the family lived for nine months and, then, for
England, where John was the first US Minister to the Court of Saint James. They did
not return to Quincy until 1788.

During these European stints Abigail became more sophisticated regarding politics,
fashion and food – good preparation for her later roles as wife of the first vice
president of the US [1789-1797] and its second president 1797-1801]. When first
elected president John Adams lived in Philadelphia, which was then the capital. In
1800, he and his family moved to Washington, DC. Abigail was the first woman to
live in the “President's House” as the White House was then called.

Abigail's attributes made her an extraordinary First Lady. She is said to have been
one of the most politically astute and erudite women to have that role. Her influence
on her husband's thinking cannot be overrated.

Abigail died in 1818 from typhoid fever. She did not live to see the son she had
formed so carefully become the sixth president of the United States.
Best part of story, including ending:I liked the book because it was
extraordinarily well researched, highly readable, and showed how the political,
religious, and social events of the day helped to form Abigail's personality.

Best scene in story:In my favorite scene, on July 10th, 1777, Abigail goes into
labor “…at about the same time that a letter from John was handed to her. She
answered the letter between contractions, writing not only of her condition but of
the high prices of food, the problems of the farm, and the course of the war.”

Opinion about the main character:I liked Abigail Adams, as presented, because
of her extraordinary courage, her hard work, and because she pushed the limits of
what women could accomplish while at no time causing offense.
Genre/Form: Biography

Additional Physical Print

Format: Akers,
Abigail Adams, a
New York :
(DLC)
(OCoLC)43649796

Named Person: Abigail Adams; John Adams; Abigail Adams; John Adams

Material Type: Biography, Document, Internet resource

Document Type: Internet Resource, Computer File

All Authors / Contributors: Charles W Akers

OCLC Number: 679593810

Reproduction Notes: Electronic reproduction. [S.l.] : HathiTrust Digital Library, 2010. MiAaHDL

Description: 1 online resource (x, 240 pages) : illustrations.

Details: Master and use copy.

Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions
of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002.

Contents: Editor's Preface. 1. "You May Take Me" 1744-1764.

2. "An Important Trust" 1764-1774.
3. "Remember the Ladies" 1774-1776.
4. "Bereft of My Better Half" 1776-1778.
5. "Patriotism in the Female Sex" 1778-1784.
6. "The Amazing Difference" 1784-1785.
7. "I Will Not Strike My Colours" 1785-1788.
8. "In Their Proper Sphere" 1788-1792.
9. "Telegraph of the Mind" 1792-1797.
10. "Fellow Labourer" 1797-1798.
11. "What I Cannot Remedy" 1798-1801.
12. "The Mother of Such a Son" 1801-1818.
A Note on the Sources. Acknowledgments. Index.

Series Title: Library of American biography (New York, N.Y.)

Responsibility: Charles W. Akers.