“Disregard the Sentiment”: The Political World of Abigail Adams in Early America -- by Ethan Healey

“Disregard the Sentiment”:

The Political World of Abigail Adams in Early America

Ethan Healey

"Ethan Healey is a B.A. History Student at New England College in Henniker, New Hampshire where he will be graduating this upcoming May. He is currently writing a thesis about Founding Father John Adams during his retirement and why the Early American press made him retire after a nearly thirty year career in politics. Ethan's historical interests are primarily in Early America and the Atlantic World, while also researching presidential politics throughout the centuries. He hopes to be in Graduate School next Autumn. Ethan Healey currently lives in New Hampshire with his partner and Criminal Justice student, Keyanna Matos."

In October of 1764, John Adams of Boston married Abigail Smith of Weymouth, Massachusetts. Though Abigail’s parents disapproved of the marriage because of his lower social status in society, she married him anyway because of their strong friendship and bond.¹ From then on, Abigail’s involvement in John’s life extended beyond their home and went further to the complex world of politics. The Adams correspondence to each other over the years would be become some of the most in-depth letters in history. These letters have allowed historians to see the tension between them when Adams wrote about major events like the drafting of the Declaration of Independence, as well as on simpler issues like a smallpox outbreak at home while John was in Pennsylvania. The letters also make it possible to see the influence of the individual politics being inspirational for each other with Abigail in particular who had immense influence on John’s political ideas and Christian faith.²

A year before being married in 1763, Abigail Smith described to John their friendship, as well as the simple meaning of it to her: "And there is a tye more binding than Humanity, and stronger than Friendship, which makes us anxious for the happiness and welfare of those to whom it binds us. It makes their Misfortunes, Sorrows and afflictions, our own."³ They created an everlasting bond a year before marriage, and Abigail recognized that John’s political endeavors would be her own. This proved to be true when John Adams was nominated for the Continental Congress in 1775. Abigail strongly urged him to go despite the difficulties that may occur at home.⁴ She was supportive, despite her loneliness when he was away.⁵ Due to his absence, though, Abigail became more aware of politics around her and started writing about it to John in her letters. As the Adams marriage grew, their politics became nearly identical; except for that Abigail saw things from the moral perspective whereas John saw it from a simply political one. These views helped balance one another out and allowed them both to gain insight on one another.⁶

Abigail believed something that John did not, however, and that is the necessity of taking the views of women into consideration when constructing the Declaration of Independence. Five years prior to the Declaration, in a letter to her cousin Isaac Smith, she discussed the status of women in her time. On April 20^th, 1771, she wrote to Smith about his visit to England: "From my Infancy I have always felt a great inclination to visit the Mother Country as tis call'd and had nature formed me of the other Sex, I should certainly have been a rover."⁷ She wished to travel, but the duties of women in the late eighteenth century were far more important than traveling on vacation, like her male cousin had done so. In that same letter, Abigail criticized women being considered only for domestic reasons: "Women you know Sir are considerd as Domestick Beings, and altho they inherit an Eaquel Share of curiosity with the other Sex, yet but few are hardy eno' to venture abroad, and explore the amaizing variety of distant Lands."⁸ She would have loved to travel, but knew that home was more important in order to maintain her character, which reflected on her husband. This infuriated her and provided a different interpretation of gender roles throughout eighteenth century politics..

In 1775, Abigail Adams admitted to John that she knew little of the political world and her intelligence kept her from understanding it.⁹ Regardless, this did not prevent her from supporting her husband. In fact, just the opposite happened when John was in the Continental Congress in 1776. She enjoyed the idea that her husband served his country while she was home taking care of the domestic duties. One month before the Declaration was signed, Abigail wrote: "[In Boston] I can serve my partner, my family and myself, and injoy the Satisfaction of your serving your Country."¹⁰ Even before the colonies declared their independence, she believed so much in her husband, and knew of the hard work he was putting in. She took clear pride in her husband serving his country, knowing that what he was doing was important to the colonies and her life, as well. When the Declaration of Independence passed, guided by both religion and politics, John Adams wrote to his wife on July 3^rd, 1776, to tell her of victory that he had helped secure:

But the Day is past. The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America.—I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with4 Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.¹¹

In response, Abigail Adams did not focus on the events that John discussed, but instead shared her opinions about women and their influence politics. She talked about how men should learn from women, and that if they did so, their intelligence would increase. She wrote to him a few months after the colonies declared their independence, saying that: "If we mean to have Heroes, Statesmen and Philosophers, we should have learned women. The world perhaps would laugh at me, and accuse me of vanity, But you I know have a mind too enlarged and liberal to disregard the Sentiment.”¹² She admitted to her mind being too carefree and that she wouldn’t care if people accused her of being too prideful. This showed how dedicated she was to the idea that women needed to be represented more in late eighteenth-century politics, an idea that wouldn’t be normalized until two centuries later. Abigail Adams was able to see moral representation of politics unlike her husband and used religion as a tool to help her better understand the situations around her. This allowed her to be more optimistic than her husband who was much more cynical about certain areas of politics.¹³

In the modern world, Abigail Adams is seen as one of the first feminists of her day and is seen as a strong voice for the politics of women. She was most certainly seen this way in the eyes of her husband, as he also cared about women’s rights, but felt it wasn’t the right time to push the issue yet. John believed that the issue at hand of independence was far more important, even though John Adams didn’t forget when he was helping draft the Declaration.¹⁴ The distance of John and Abigail from each other while he was in Philadelphia caused them loneliness for years, but she knew the work that he was undertaking was important and John felt it was his duty to be involved. Abigail had an impactful influence on her husband, but the evolution of her politics would engage women for centuries to come and would help the cause of all women in history. Her influence on American politics is still relevant, as her words have lasted, and her impact is still just as important as it was in the eighteenth century.

Bibliography

Abrams, Jeanne. First Ladies of the Republic: Martha Washington, Abigail Adams, Dolley Madison, and the Creation of an Iconic American Role. First. New York: New York University Press, 2018.

Adams Papers. Massachusetts Historical Society. Boston. http://www.masshist.org/publications/adams-papers/.

Crane, Elaine Foreman. “Political Dialogue and the Spring of Abigail’s Discontent.” The William and Mary Quarterly 56, no. 4 (October 1999): 745–74. https://doi.org/10.2307/2674234.

Georgini, Sara. Household Gods: The Religious Lives of the Adams Family. First. New York, New York: Oxford University Press, 2019.

Withey, Lynne. Dearest Friend: A Life of Abigail Adams. First. New York, New York: Touchstone (Simon & Schuster), 2001.

1^ Jeanne Abrams, First Ladies of the Republic: Martha Washington, Abigail Adams, Dolley Madison, and the Creation of an Iconic American Role, (New York: New York University Press, 2018), pg. 105.

2^ Sara Georgini, Household Gods: The Religious Lives of the Adams Family, First (New York, New York: Oxford University Press, 2019).

3^ Abigail Smith to John Adams, August 11, 1763, Adams Papers, vol. 1, December 1761 - May 1776, Massachusetts Historical Society, http://www.masshist.org/publications/adams-papers/index.php/view/ADMS-04-01-02-0007#sn=0. For the purposes of this paper, any sign of “Abigail Smith” means prior to her marriage to John. Anything after their marriage, she is referred to as “Abigail Adams.”

4^ Lynne Withey, Dearest Friend: A Life of Abigail Adams, First (New York, New York: Touchstone (Simon & Schuster), 2001), pg. 55.

5^ Withey, pg. 44.

6^ Withey, pgs. 48, 54.

7^ Abigail Adams to Isaac Jr. Smith, April 20, 1771, Adams Papers, vol. 1, December 1761 - May 1776, Massachusetts Historical Society, http://www.masshist.org/publications/adams-papers/index.php/view/ADMS-04-01-02-0058#sn=0.

8^ Adams to Smith.

9^ Abigail Adams to John Adams, October 9, 1775, Adams Papers, vol. 1, December 1761 - May 1776, Massachusetts Historical Society, http://www.masshist.org/publications/adams-papers/index.php/view/ADMS-04-01-02-0195#sn=2.

10^ Abigail Adams to John Adams, June 3, 1776, Adams Papers, vol. 2, June 1776 - March 1778, Massachusetts Historical Society, http://www.masshist.org/publications/adams-papers/index.php/view/ADMS-04-02-02-0003.

11^ John Adams to Abigail Adams, July 3, 1776, Adams Papers, vol. 2, June 1776 - March 1778, Massachusetts Historical Society, http://www.masshist.org/publications/adams-papers/index.php/view/ADMS-04-02-02-0016.

12^ Abigail Adams to John Adams, August 14, 1776, Adams Papers, vol. 2, June 1776 - March 1778, Massachusetts Historical Society, http://www.masshist.org/publications/adams-papers/index.php/view/ADMS-04-02-02-0058#sn=5.

13^ Georgini, Household Gods, Pg. 30.

14^ Elaine Foreman Crane, “Political Dialogue and the Spring of Abigail’s Discontent,” The William and Mary Quarterly 56, no. 4 (October 1999): Pg. 752, https://doi.org/10.2307/2674234.